"Pinks & Whites" sounds like something you might read on the front door of a racist establishment. The "whites" would obviously be, you know, normal Caucasian folk. And the "pinks" would be, well...people like me. And Jim Gaffigan. And possibly Russ, too. You know, gingers. People like poor Sonia would walk up to the door and the xenophobic host would say, "Sorry, ma'am. Pinks and Whites only," gesturing to the sign on the door.
But make no mistake: these pink and white cookies are intended for all colors and ethnicities, even in these times of high racial tension. These flower-shaped snacks are all-inclusive. Well, except maybe for the gluten-intolerant. And the lactose-intolerant (yogurt coating is the number one ingredient). And those with allergies to soy, egg, peanut, or coconut. And vegans.
But other than those unlucky folks, these cookies are super-unifying and good at bringing people together. Because they flaunt a delicate shortbread taste, a milky-sweet frosting, and a generous amount of happy, colorful sprinkles that just about anyone can enjoy. They made Sonia and I feel like kids again.
Because we both had ginormous bags of pink and white cookies when we were young—except they were animal-shaped back then. No, not Barnum's Animals. They were Mother's. No, not my mother's. Ha! My mother never baked anything in her life. Mother's brand. Apparently, they're still on the market.
A quick glance at TJ's ingredients versus Mother's ingredients reveals that Trader Joe's is once again far less deadly. Mother's infused a little vitamin B into their cookies to make them seem healthy. I mean, B1 and B2 can't hurt, but they probably won't offset the hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup they snuck in there too. Jeez.
At any rate, the Trader Joe's version tastes just as good as, if not a little better than, those old-school animal cookies. Buttery, sweet, and highly-snackable, they're everything you've ever wanted in a yogurt-coated shortbread cookie. Both Sonia and I wish these had been around when we were kids.
Truth be told, I'm not often in the mood for such cookies these days, but since they're as good as this kind of cookie gets, I can't go lower than three and a half stars. Sonia will give them an even four.
Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.
Would be ideal if the pinks were strawberry flavored
ReplyDeleteYes!
Delete!!! I know Exactly which Mother's cookies you're talking about... ! Those were some of my favorites as a kid- i don't know why they're not sold nationally.
ReplyDeleteObviously i will be making a special trip to TJs for these cookies as soon as possible
Ttrockwood
When you're a kid, there's just something super-exciting about animal-shaped cookies...
DeleteKeebler, target and Walgreens make similar versions too.
DeleteMy husband and I LOVE these. And yes my first thought was of the Mother's Circus cookie except the TJ version tastes way better
ReplyDeleteThey do taste better, and have better ingredients too!
DeleteYea I ate the whole box in 2 days... I can't buy them again... Lol too good!
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm, maybe I'm the minority here being of essentially of European origin. Cookies like these are basically like overly sugared kids paste to me with a bit of vanilla flavoring. Not worth the calories. Am I wrong?
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit late to the party, but I love these cookies and I was curious if you had ever reviewed them. As a child, I also loved Mother's frosted animal crackers. They were awesome! Unfortunately, I have a fairly negative reaction to red dye 40 and was overjoyed when I ran across the pinks and whites. They look like my favorite cookies, well they are pink and white with sprinkles, and even taste great without the danger of bringing on the the craziness red dye causes. The only difference I note in flavor is that the P&W cookie portion seems to have a bit of a citrus flavor that complements the sweet while Mother's were just super sweet. I really hope they make these little flowers forever.
ReplyDeleteA small note on the beginning of the review, comparing the name to racism is quite a reach and honestly a little silly. Let's look for trouble where it really exists and recognize that the name pinks and whites is likely a TJ version of the Black and White cookies, which were never called racist.