Sugar Savvy

Newman’s Own Organics is expanding its Newman-O’s Cookie line to include a new Peanut Butter Crème Filled Chocolate Cookie, and has generously sent me a sampler box so that I may review them for our Sugar Savvy readers.

For those of you not familiar with the company, Newman’s Own Organics was founded by actor Paul Newman’s daughter, Nell Newman, as a division of Newman’s Own.  It became a separate company in 2001. The company focuses primarily on offering improved versions of the products most Americans loved as kids, by taking them one step further and using organic ingredients.

The Peanut Butter Crème Filled Chocolate Cookies are the latest addition to their line of Crème Filled Cookies, which include: Original Crème, Chocolate Crème, Mint Crème, Crème Filled Ginger and Wheat Free, Dairy Free Crème.  All the Crème Filled Cookies will be available in the original 16 oz. size, as well as a new “inflation fighter” 9 oz. size.  The smaller size is being marketed as more economical and is geared towards smaller families, but it can also be a great way to practice portion control for those of us with a sweet tooth.

I have considered both taste and nutrition in my review since Newman’s Own Organics line of cookies is geared towards a more health conscious market.

Taste – Upon opening the package I was struck by the intense aroma of peanut butter. The cookies themselves are composed of two chocolate wafers with a peanut butter crème sandwiched in between.  The chocolate wafers are crisp and crunchy with an intense and slightly bitter cocoa flavor that is not very sweet and can be described as having a more mature taste.  The wafers easily twist open to reveal a nice slab of peanut butter filling that has a slightly salty, all-natural roasted peanut flavor.  I found that the quality of the ingredients really came through in the intensity of all the flavors; this is not your typical overly sweet mass-marketed cookie, and as such, should most easily appeal to an adult audience.

Nutrition – 2 cookies (28g) are 120 calories and have 5 grams of fat: 1.5g saturated fat, and 0g trans fat.  While not a low calorie food, the cookies do offer the advantage of being trans fat free since they are made with organic palm fruit oil instead of partially hydrogenated oils.  They are also made with unbleached wheat flour and organic sugar, instead of enriched white flour and high fructose corn syrups often used in processed cookies.

All this leads me to wonder why more companies are not following Newman’s Own Organics’ lead, since they have clearly demonstrated that it is possible to make a cookie without using processed and artificial ingredients.  Wouldn’t it be nice if all our favorite treats were made with natural ingredients, and we could feel good about indulging?

* Photo courtesy of Newman’s Own Organics