Nabisco started advertising their SnackWell's cookie cakes in 1992. In the commercials, hordes of women were going crazy over these devil's food cookie cakes.
SnackWell's were supposed to be a healthier alternative to traditional store-bought cookies, and consumers were encouraged to go wild with them--although the suggested serving was one cookie cake, which contained 50 calories.
They looked good, so I bought a box and tried them. I thought they were okay, but they weren't something I just had to have--unlike the hordes of women in their commercials.
A few years later, though, I noticed two new varieties: black forest and chocolate mint. Something told me I'd like them much better than the original, and I was right. They were soooooooo good. I couldn't decide which one I preferred. I think it was whichever one I was eating at the time.
I bought both new flavors regularly, and no, I didn't eat an entire box in once sitting; I actually stopped after a cookie or two. Then one day, the inevitable happened: they were gone from the shelves. Nabisco had discontinued both the black forest and the chocolate mint flavors. Both of them? Seriously? The original devil's food cookie cakes were still available.
The devil's food cookie cakes were discontinued at some point but eventually came back, possibly with a different recipe. This time around, they contain HFCS. It's possible that the devil's food always did, but the black forest and chocolate mint contained maltitol instead.
I found this compilation of all 23 of the classic SnackWell's commercials.
SnackWell's Black Forest and Chocolate Mint Cookie Cakes
Pitter Patter Cookies
Pitter Patter cookies used to be one of my favorite after-school snacks. Here is a photo of a package of these cookies, which were made by Keebler.
Pitter Patter cookies were sandwich cookies filled with peanut butter creme. The cookies themselves were crunchy and made with oats. I liked to take them apart, eat one of the hard cookies, and then eat the remaining one with the peanut butter creme.
These were similar to Do-Si-Dos, the Girl Scout version of a peanut butter sandwich cookie. The main difference was that Pitter Patters were much harder and crunchier, whereas Do-Si-Dos tend to be crumbly and somewhat easier on the teeth.
Keebler Opera Cremes
Opera Cremes were sandwich cookies. That may not sound like anything special, but they were special. One package of Opera Cremes came with two kinds of cookie: chocolate and vanilla. What made them so good was that the creme filling was lemon.
I always gravitated toward the chocolate ones. Chocolate sandwich cookies with lemon creme filling are incredible. It's just such a delicious combination. I don't know why they were discontinued or why they haven't been resurrected. All I know is I would love to see them return to the store shelves. I would definitely be buying them.
