More Chips Ahoy!
The makers of Chips Ahoy! cookies, who recently debuted four new flavors at once, have dialed it down, but not all the way. Now there are two more new kinds of Chewy Chips Ahoy! (the soft-cookie version of Chips Ahoy!). Once more: The exclamation point is part of the cookie's name, not an indication of any particular enthusiasm on the part of Mr. Tidbit.
In both new versions there is a bit of goo in the middle of the soft cookie. The packages refer to them as "filled" cookies, but Mr. Tidbit thinks that word exaggerates the dimension of the substance in question. He would say it is a thin layer.
In any case, in addition to the thin white layer in the middle of one new version, some of the chips are brightly colored. That one's called Birthday Frosting filled Chewy Chips Ahoy! Mr. Tidbit isn't sure whether it's a Birthday Chewy Chips Ahoy! (whatever that is) filled with frosting or a Chewy Chips Ahoy! filled with birthday frosting (whatever that is).
The other cookie is called Oreo Crème filled Chewy Chips Ahoy! This is surely the first time that the filling of an Oreo cookie got a description that involved a diacritical mark. (Heck, even the people who make Oreos call their extra-filling version "Double Stuf" — and they don't even give "stuff" two Fs.)
As for the whole idea of Oreo filling in a Chips Ahoy! cookie, Mr. Tidbit believes it is entirely possible that we will someday see that favor returned — Oreo cookies filled with Chewy Chips Ahoy! Cookie Dough.
The packages of the original flavors of regular and Chewy Chips Ahoy! cookies both contain 13 ounces. Variants (including the two new ones) contain 9.5 or 9.6 ounces and sell for the same price, so they cost about 35 percent more per ounce. Oddly, many standing variations of Oreos (Mint, Double Stuf and more) come in slightly larger packages than the current 14.3-ounce bags of original and Golden Oreos. But the most recent Oreo filling variants (Cookie Dough, Marshmallow Crispy, Watermelon, Banana Split) are in 12.2-ounce bags, making them 17 percent more expensive per ounce.
Al Sicherman
