You Have A Duty To Taste Test Candy Cane Cookies; Christmas Cookies Knocked-Off Early

The Joe-Joes and the Os -- all peppermint

There are some questions that can only be decided by the expertise of a great food blog -- and then there are taste tests you have a duty to run for yourself.

It's peppermint cookie season.

Two years ago, we were enthralled by Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joes.  Then last year, we were shut out when we waited to late to buy ourselves a box of the Oreo knock-offs with peppermint chunks in the cream filling.

So this year, we acted early.  I found peppermint knock-offs at both Trader Joe's and Wegmans, and I brought them home for an epic battle that you can recreate with a quick run to the store.  They both have chocolate cookies.  They are both filled with cream.  They both add peppermint for that seasonal twist.

Joe-Joes at Trader Joes

The question:  Which cookies should you eat?

The answer:  Mrs. HowChow says both.  They're both dangerously delicious.  Crunch.  Cream.  Peppermint.  They're similar enough that she got a bit overconfident and guessed wrong about which was the Trader Joe's original.  Wegmans double-stuffs its Os, so you get more cream in each cookie.  But Trader Joe's put bigger slivers of peppermint in its Joe-Joes, so you get a more-exotic crunch.  Mrs. HowChow happily ate both.

(And I sampled another plate as I wrote this.  It's all in the name of science.)

This is definitely a fun taste-test for you to run at home.  I'd love your comments -- including candy cane Oreos because I assume that the true originals have gone peppermint for the holiday as well.  The only down side is hearing two open  bags of cookies call your name from the pantry.

Candy Cane Joe-Joes At Trader Joe's

Better than Oreos.

There, I've said it.  I will start with the heresy.  Trader Joe's has created a sandwich cookies for Christmas that isn't just a good knock-off.  It's better than the original.

Not that you should go to the Columbia Trader Joe's and buy the Candy Cane Joe-Joes.  Mrs. HowChow wants you to leave them alone so that there are more for her to buy and sock away for winter.

The Peppermint Joe-Joes are absolutely terrific.  Crisp chocolate cookies with a cream inside.  Except this filling is more creamy, less grainy that even the Oreo original.  Plus, it is laced with shards of peppermint candy.  This is a "sealed box" type of cookies -- as in "you need to keep the box closed or you'll eat them all."

Trader Joe's sells a separate product where they have dipped the Candy Cane Joe-Joes in chocolate.  That's great too.  It's good chocolate and the right ratio of coating to cookies.  But it is an extra that isn't worth getting only 10 cookies in a box.  The original Joe-Joes -- or at least the original knock-off of the Oreo -- is all you need.

Chocolate Covered Pomegranates At Trader Joes

The best part of the chocolate-covered pomegranates is actually the texture when you bite.

Someone could write an entire blog about little finds at Trader Joes, and I love the place.  But the first item that really surprised me enough to want to shout from HowChow was the plastic clamshell filled with chocolate-covered pomegranates.

Dark chocolate is delicious.  Pomegranates are very special around here.  But they were even better than I had expected.  They have the slightest crunch -- not the liquid squirt of a liquor-filled chocolate, but a crunch and the light, diffuse flavor of fruit.  I palmed them all in less than two days -- including one bowl of ice cream that I topped with  a small handful.

If you haven't found the Trader Joe's in Howard County, look for the Costco and the Best Buy on Rte 175 just west of I-95.  TJ's is across from the Costco.  You need to turn north onto Rte 108 from Rte 175, then turn right into the shopping center.  Full warning:  The seeds aren't cheap, and Mrs. HowChow thought that they weren't all that.  But I'm infatuated.

Quick Cook Oats at Trader Joes

I go through oatmeal phases -- weeks at a time when I get myself organized in the morning to make oatmeal that I eat on the way to the train.

Oatmeal is boring.  I admit that.  The key is having a variety of nuts or fruit to mix into the bowl and even different grains to make the dishes taste different.

For weekdays, my new discovery is the Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats at Trader Joe's at Rte 175 and Rte 108.  As the name promises, they're a variation on the steel cut oats, which take 40 minutes to cook so they're weekend fare like millet or quinoa.  They're cut somehow that they cook in about eight minutes, making them a reasonable variation on the regular quick oats that I buy bulk at My Organic Market or Roots.

I know that Trader Joe's is a chain, and I try to write about the local spots in Howard County.  But TJ is really a treasure if you're looking for interesting food.

Trader Joe's

6610 Marie Curie Dr
Elkridge, MD 21075
(410) 953-8139

NEAR:   Trader Joe's is in the shopping center with the Lowes and Best Buy at Rte 175 and Rte 108.  It is actually in the separate building that backs up on Rte 108.  Down the row are a great liquor store Perfect Pour and Fatburger.