Tag: Nabisco

I was a weird kid when it came to food. You know how some young people have old souls or they’re mature for their age. Well, I had mature tastebuds. In other words, I ate foods kids wouldn’t eat, but old folks would.

Every week, our hair-netted school cafeteria workers would put a trio of prunes covered with heavy syrup on our green green gasoline lunch trays in order to meet FDA nutritional guidelines for school lunches. While those prunes helped the cafeteria food meet nutrition standards, they did not meet the taste standards of my fellow classmates.

While everyone else dumped their prunes into the large food waste bins designated to become pig slop, I ate them. And I liked them. I even once asked my fellow classmates if I could have their prunes, but later learned the consequences of eating too many prunes and I never wore those brown corduroy Sears Toughskins pants again.

But I still eat prunes…on occasion…in moderation. Not only did I eat and enjoy prunes at a young age, I also liked Fig Newtons.

While everyone else would ask their parents for Oreo cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or whatever the Keebler elves made with magic, I would sneak into the shopping cart some chewy Fig Newtons. Sure, the girls in my class said I was weird and the boys would tease me about my Fig Newtons, but I didn’t care because they were yummy in my tummy.

I was also teased about the fact that I read many of the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories.

Over the years Nabisco has developed a few other fruit Newtons, like Strawberry and Raspberry Newtons, but for some strange reason, I prefer the fig version over them. The latest fruits to be turned into chewy Newtons cookies are peaches and apricots.

The new Sweet Peach & Apricot Newtons aren’t just any Newtons, they’re made with 100 percent whole grain, which means their texture is going to be a little weird compared with regular Newtons. Each serving provides five grams of whole grain and three grams of fiber. Thanks, whole grain! But their texture isn’t as cakey as regular Newtons and they’re also a bit drier. Thanks, whole grain!

One thing I can’t blame the whole grain for is how odd these Sweet Peach & Apricot Newtons taste. Despite them being made with real fruit, there’s something slightly artificial tasting about them. The apricot puree used to create the filling tastes much like the dried apricot you’d find next to the dried prunes at your local grocery store, but the peach puree in it isn’t so peachy. It tastes similar to peach candy I’ve had which used artificial flavors. The artificialness is surprising because according to the upper right corner of the packaging, it’s made with “Natural Flavor with Other Natural Flavor.”

Thanks to their flavor and texture, the Sweet Peach & Apricot Newtons are my least favorite chewy Newton cookie by far.

They’re weird.

They’re weirder than I was in grade school.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cookies – 100 calories, 15 calories from fat, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat*, 0.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 0 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 100 milligrams of sodium, 45 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, less than 1 gram of protein, and 2% iron.)

*made with partially hydrogenated oil

Item: Nabisco Sweet Peach & Apricot Newtons
Price: $3.59 (on sale)
Size: 12 ounces
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Made with whole grain. Made with real fruit. Decent source of dietary fiber. Prunes. Fig Newtons. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories.
Cons: Odd flavor. Whole grain texture. My least favorite Newtons. Artificial tasting peach flavor. Made with partially hydrogenated oil. Being teased for being a nerd. Eating too many prunes.

People love Nabisco Newtons Fruit Thins.

Actually, I don’t know how accurate that statement is because I’m basing it on the 60+ positive comments attached to our news post about them last year.

Those commenters sounded so excited about them that I’m surprised every single one of those comments weren’t all in caps and included excessive exclamation points!!!!!!! Here are some words they used to describe the cookies and how often they showed up.

The word “love” was used in 14 comments, “delicious” was used four times, “great” was used three times, “wonderful” was used three times, “awesome” was used four times, “good” was used four times, “can’t stop eating” was used three times, “new favorite” was used three times, “addictive” was used three times, “yummy” was used three times, and “yummola” was used once.

Despite all those positive adjectives and praise, I had yet to buy any Newtons Fruit Thins flavor until I picked up the newest varieties — Apple Cinnamon Oat and Lemon Crisp.

If you’re later than me to the Newtons Fruit Thins party, these aren’t like the soft, cake-like Newtons you might be used to. These are crispy cookies with bits of real fruit baked into them. But you shouldn’t consider Newtons Fruit Thins to be health food because the fruit in them provides no real nutritional benefits. Instead, you should think of them as a slightly healthier cookie substitute for other popular Nabisco cookies.

Let’s compare.

Three Chips Ahoy! cookies have 160 calories, 8 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 11 grams of sugar. Three Oreo cookies have 160 calories, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 14 grams of sugar. But, three Apple Cinnamon Oat Newtons Fruit Thins have 140 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 1 gram of fiber, and 8 grams of sugar.

Oh, but nutrition facts aren’t the only difference. If high fructose corn syrup bothers you like the poor ratings of NBC’s Thursday night comedies bother me, then you’ll be happy to know Newtons Fruit Thins don’t have any, which can’t be said of the other two.

The aromas that wafted out from the Apple Cinnamon Oat and Lemon Crisp Newtons Fruit Thins packages made me wish Renuzit made air freshener cones that smelled as pleasant. Each cookie is shaped like a pastie and is two and a half inches in diameter, which is slightly bigger than a Chips Ahoy! cookie and significantly smaller than any clock that has hung from Flavor Flav’s neck.

With these cookies there are two different textures, the crunchiness of the oat cookie and the chewiness from either the dried lemon peel or dried apple baked into them. However, some of the cookies had dried lemon peel bits that were unpleasantly tough. My molars did not like. Even though the fruit pieces weren’t evenly distributed throughout the cookie, I could taste fruit in every bite. The Lemon Crisp had a pleasant citrus flavor that’s more sweet than tart, while the Apple Cinnamon Oat had a wonderful balance of fruit and spice, but both cookies don’t have an overwhelming flavor or sweetness.

Apple Cinnamon Oat and Lemon Crisp Newtons Fruit Thins are delightful…or in the words of commenters they’re delicious, great, wonderful, awesome, good, addictive, and yummy cookies that I can’t stop eating because I love them and they’re my new favorite cookie. Yummola.

(Nutrition Facts – 3 cookies – 140 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 45 milligrams of potassium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 7 or 8 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.)

Item: Nabisco Newtons Fruit Thins (Apple Cinnamon Oat and Lemon Crisp)
Price: $3.59 (on sale)
Size: 10.5 ounces/30 cookies
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Apple Cinnamon Oat)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Lemon Crisp)
Pros: Delightful. Made with real fruit. Not overwhelmingly sweet. Slightly healthier than popular Nabisco cookies. Pleasant aroma. Crunchy oat cookie. 8 whole grains per serving. Fruit flavor in every bite.
Cons: Some dried lemon peel pieces were a bit hard. The word “yummola.” Ratings of NBC’s Thursday night comedies. Blog comments all in caps. There aren’t any Renuzit baked goods air fresheners.