Opportunity cost can be a bitch, and as you get older, it only gets worse. Especially when it comes to food. Sure; There may have been days during our youth in which we burned bright with a metabolism that allowed us to have our cake and eat it too (along with a large pizza, a bag of Fritos, and a Dr Pepper Big Gulp) but the further we get from our college days, the more those extra calories force us to make decisions when it comes to things like chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

We can’t have both. Decisions, decisions…Don’t get me wrong, it truly tears at the inner child to choose between such scrumptious things, but sometimes it’s better to banish one than risk an abrupt sugar crash or the onset of Type 2 Diabetes. Nevertheless, does one go with the buttery and chewy texture of the cookie, or the fudgy, oh-God-yes crunchy edges of a chocolate brownie?

Apparently the folks at Nabisco are not immune to feeling the effects born from the tyranny of opportunity cost, because their new Chewy Chips Ahoy! Brownie Filled Chocolate Chip cookies promise all the best qualities of both cookies and brownies. To quote the monochrome dudes from the Guinness commercials: BRILLIANT!

Opening the box, you’ll find yourself greeted by that signature Chewy Chips Ahoy! aroma. You know the one I mean. The kind of unmistakable boxed chocolate chip cookie smell that tells you, “it’s not homemade, but if I’d have to throw an exclamation point to any boxed chocolate chip cookie, it’d be this one.” It’s also an aroma that is completely unlike the stale aroma of regular Chips Ahoy! cookies, which if you ask me just smell like a synthesis of the stuff in the back of your office fridge.

The cookies have plenty of mini chocolate chips and are definitely chewy, but I wouldn’t call them brownie filled. Nay, they’re more like brownie stuffed, because aside from taking up most of the interior volume of the cookie, the brownie flavor definitely dominates each complete bite.

It’s closer to a mellow cocoa flavor than over-the-top fudgy decadence though, and while each bite is moist there’s also a graininess that puts these brownies more into the tender and cake-like department than melt-in-your-mouth chewy. If you’re the kind of person who has a habit of eating uncooked Duncan Hines brownie mix batter, you’ll find the tastes oddly reconcilable. I find that mostly a good thing, but I do miss the chance to indulge in the crunchy edge that makes brownie fanatics and frequent fliers, like me, impulsively buy brownie edge pans 30,000 feet in the air from a SkyMall catalogue.

I also found myself mourning the fudgy flavor typical of brownies, and wished there was an extra oomph of cocoa butter to round out the flavor and decrease the slightly artificial vibe. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the ingredients show no sign of cocoa butter – neither in the chocolate chips of the cookie, nor in the brownie.

Speaking of that cookie, it’s kind of an afterthought. Despite having so many chocolate chips and smelling like your standard Chewy Chips Ahoy! cookie, the expected sweet burst of chocolate just doesn’t come through.

I appreciate the effort from Chips Ahoy! to make an acceptable escape clause to the tyranny of dessert opportunity cost decisions, and when measured up against the spectrum of Chips Ahoy! innovations, this is definitely up there with the most creative. It’s a good packaged cookie, but that’s about all.

It’s not quite fudgy or chocolaty enough to really convince you it’s a brownie (even a packaged brownie like the one Fiber One makes) and not quite as classic tasting as a chocolate chip cookie, so I can’t guarantee it’ll satisfy your craving for either.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cookie – 80 calories, 30 calories from fat, 3.5 grams of fat, 2.0 grams of saturated fat, 1 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 65 milligrams of potassium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, less than 1 grams of protein.)

Other Brownie Filled Chewy Chips Ahoy! reviews:
Junk Food Guy

Item: Nabisco Brownie Filled Chewy Chips Ahoy!
Purchased Price: $1.98
Size: 9.5 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Inside tastes like brownie batter. Moist and chewy cookie. Lots of chocolatey chips per cookie. Saying to opportunity cost, “Screw you I can have a brownie too.”
Cons: Brownie lacks richness. A bit grainy and cake-like. More cocoa flavored than fudgy, and not sweet enough. Fake chocolate chips. Chocolate chip cookie flavor was overwhelmed by brownie.