Taco Bell (in)famously reconfigures the same few ingredients into “brand new” menu items quite often. If they ever wanted to offer actual new products and services, there are a few obvious candidates.
They could sell single servings of Pepto-Bismol, hand out business cards for good local plumbers, or provide complementary euphemisms for gastrointestinal unrest when the explanation, “I drunkenly ate a Taco Bell Party Pack at 2 a.m.” just won’t do. Investing in a new line of bakery goods wasn’t an obvious choice, but that’s the direction Taco Bell went with their new Cookie Sandwich and Churro.
On the Friday night after Thanksgiving, while you were likely getting ready for your high school reunion or engaging in the cherished annual tradition of contemplating how you could murder that one annoying cousin and make it look like an accident, I decided to venture out to the Taco Bell in my hometown. After downing a couple Doritos Locos Tacos (the fake Brad Pitt ad is really effective marketing), I tried out these new dessert offerings.
At first glance, the cookie sandwich looked almost like a toy, as though three layers of Play-Doh had been hastily pushed through a miniature pie mold. My tactile first impression was also quite negative, since the cookie sandwich was cold, hard, and clearly just removed from a storage fridge.
Taste-wise, the item performed a bit better, but not by much. The cookies were fine – appropriately sweet and chewy, and with a decent number of chocolate chips. After 10 seconds in the microwave, I imagine they could’ve resembled a poor man’s Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie.
The frosting, however, was awful. It was much too sweet, much too rich, and much too much, as the excessive frosting quickly made eating the cookie sandwich a very messy experience.
For my tastes, the churro fared significantly better. It came out as warm as the cookie sandwich was cold, with a noticeable and pleasant scent from the exterior dusting of cinnamon sugar.
The shell was nice and crispy, and provided a great contrast to the soft, moist innards (which was just barely on the good side of the line between moist and mushy). I actually thought this product could’ve used a little more sugar, and I wished there had been a dipping sauce on the side. But for 99 cents, the churro provided solid value.
While I’ve written a mixed review, I do like that the folks at Taco Bell, between these items and the Cantina offerings, are making real strides in adding to their menu, and I definitely enjoyed my churro. Next time you drop in for your Doritos Locos Tacos fix, make sure to pick up a couple churros, too.
And if you happen to be a plumber, maybe consider leaving some business cards there. You never know how else Taco Bell might be trying to improve the business.
(Nutrition Facts – Cookie Sandwich – 390 calories, 160 calories from fat, 17 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 56 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein. Churro – 190 calories, 80 calories from fat, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.)
Other Taco Bell Cookie Sandwich reviews:
Grub Grade
Brand Eating
The Smidview
Item: Taco Bell Cookie Sandwich and Churro
Purchased Price: $1.29 (Cookie Sandwich)
Purchased Price: 99 cents (Churro)
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Taco Bell
Rating: 3 out of 10 (Cookie Sandwich)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Churro)
Pros: Cookies were appropriately sweet and chewy with decent number of chocolate chips. Churro was warm and smelled great. Churro’s crispy shell and moist inside contrasted nicely. Taco Bell offering actual new items. SNL Brad Pitt ads. Seeing high school friends over Thanksgiving break. 2 a.m. Taco Bell runs.
Cons: Cookie sandwich was cold and looked toy-like. Frosting was awful. Churro could’ve used more sugar or a dipping sauce. Your annoying cousin. 2 a.m. Taco Bell runs.
The center of the cookie sandwich is frosting? Sweet baby Jesus. I thought it was ice cream this whole time – now that I know that it is just a slab of frosting in the middle, I am completely horrified at my wanting to try this. Taco Bell Cookie Sandwich, when you haven’t had enough lard with your ‘dinner’.
I’m becoming nostalgic for the days when Taco Bell would come out with at new 99 cent burrito every month or two; the Beefy Crunch Burrito, the 5-layer Burrito for 99 cents, what’s not to love!
I disagree entirely with your review on the cookie, the sandwich I just ate was nothing what you just described. I loved it!, all 380 or so calories of it!;)
I agree with you Sinclair, 100%!!!!
I’m with Sinclair. I thought the cookie sandwich was delicious. The cookie was soft and flavorful, and the cream filling was perfect. Granted, it was very rich, so I split it with my 4-year-old son. I think eating an entire one myself would leave me with a stomach ache.
Both me and my fiance were disgusted with this ‘desert’. The frosting had solidified on the outside leaving a very unpleasant texture in your mouth. The cookie tasted like a large chewy chips ahoy cookie which had been rejected at the factory for too little or too much of one ingredient, which presumably was then quickly bought up by a capitalistic Taco Bell and sold with cheep cake frosting shoved between it.
Conclusion: Save your money, or if you feel the need to try it, buy one and split it with someone else so you don’t waist the money should you throw it out.
Gotta say this is delicious, it is a Ms. Fields dupe, that is if it isn’t already a Ms. Fields cookie who knows? It’s not big enough to become overhwhelmingly sickening due to the icing in the midding. It really is a delicious treat on occasion. The review of this is 100% inaccurate….try one yourself and I do belive you will be impressed.
Also, let me point out, these are made to order, so if for some reason you are the “it’s too sweeeeeeeeeeeet” type, you can always ask for light icing. Although I swear anyone who has a problem with it is probably already an unpleasable weirdo.
Fully agree on the cookie review. BLECH, most disgusting thing I’ve ever had.
The churros are terrific! It might be nostalgia for me (used to always get a churro when my family went to disnelyand), but they are made just right! Also, they aren’t supposed to be super sweet, hence the lacking of sauce or more sugar. It’s just supposed to be a light, fluffy, doughy treat. The dough is the most important element, and they hit the nail on the head.
So, I just went through the drive-through and ordered 2, yes 2 of the cookie sandwiches. At first the icing seemed to make me cringe, is it like those cupcakes that have the extra thick, nasty icing?, yes and no. The icing IS VERY sweet, but not in a gross way, though those who can’t handle a sugar rush should avoid altogether. The 2 cookies that encompass the deleting, are surprisingly delicious and perfect, with just the right combination of soft and moist. I think these are absolutely delicious, no complaints here!
So, I just went through the drive-through and ordered 2, yes 2 of the cookie sandwiches. At first the icing seemed to make me cringe, is it like those cupcakes that have the extra thick, nasty icing?, yes and no. The icing IS VERY sweet, but not in a gross way, though those who can’t handle a sugar rush should avoid altogether. The 2 cookies that encompass the icing, are surprisingly delicious and perfect, with just the right combination of soft and moist. I think these are absolutely delicious, no complaints here!