Oreo ended 2018 in peak novelty fashion with the release of the Oreo Music Box – a tiny turntable that “plays” Oreo cookies. Place any regulation-size Oreo on the disc and you’ll hear a selection of pre-loaded music. You can also record your own audio that subsequently gets tacked onto the start of the music. It comes in a tin with a selection of Oreos inside (as if anyone who would buy this doesn’t already have a stash?)

I was really happy to see an Oreo holiday item that wasn’t flavor-related. I love the flavor releases, but I appreciate it when well-known brands go deep with imagination and whimsy. This product debuted in China in Fall of 2017. I was thrilled to hear it was landing on our shores and even more so to find one under my Christmas tree.

The music box itself felt surprisingly sturdy, despite the cardboard and plastic exterior. When I placed an Oreo on and moved the stylus into place, it did “play” music. The volume was decent, and audio quality was exactly what I expected – not great, but not bad for what was essentially a novelty toy.

As promised, as I bit chunks from the cookie, the music tracks changed. Each cut was a slightly different take on a vaguely familiar tune I think I’d heard in past Oreo campaigns. Adorable! I was a little disappointed there was no way to program your own music or audio beyond the 30-second record feature.

The record feature also worked fine, although the volume was a notch lower than the pre-loaded music and the instructions had error in them. (The double red light never appeared – it went right to green and was recording.)

I say “play” in quotes because this music box doesn’t work like a record player. It’s not reading information stored in the cookie. It’s reading the presence and position of an object on the turntable to trigger a programmed audio clip.

As best I can tell, it works based on five sensors on the turntable. As long as one of them is covered by a solid object, it will spin and “play.” I tried it with various objects – a Wheat Thin, a pat of butter, a quarter and a tiny slip of paper. The only one that didn’t work was the paper, I suspect because the light in the stylus could shine through to the sensor.

This is a great gift for an Oreo-lover or toy for a child. It’s cute and does exactly what it says. I loved it. It’s well-made and could last, but the limited audio options make it something that may not hold attention long. The price point is a bit high for a novelty you use a handful of times, but possibly worth it in sheer delight.

Music Courtesy of Loyalty Freak Music.

Purchased Price: $19.99
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Amazon
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: N/A

Hey, did you guys finish your Halloween ensemble yet?

Are you starting to think about which side dishes you’re gonna be cooking up for Thanksgiving?

Well, guess what? None of that matters anymore, because it’s officially Christmas season.

Sorry, but I don’t make the rules, Nabisco does, and with the release of new Peppermint Bark Oreo, you might as well start duct-taping the Christmas lights to your gutter. It’s here. There’s no fighting it.

Peppermint Bark still feels like a relatively new thing to me. I feel like I never had it until about a decade ago, but it has already become one of my winter staples.

Chocolate and peppermint have always been a winning combo. But there’s something about the mix of white and dark chocolate with those peppermint pieces that do it for me. It’s as if someone reinvented a Hershey-style bar AND the candy cane while improving on both of them. (Hershey’s Candy Cane bar is also excellent.)

Peppermint Bark feels like a natural progression for the Oreo assembly line, and I couldn’t be more excited to try ’em.

This probably goes without saying, but these cookies smell fantastic. Just imagine that waft you get when tearing open a sleeve of Thin Mints because the scent is identical to that.

You get your standard chocolate Oreo wafers that are “always made with real cocoa” according to the packaging. Perhaps someone was calling the validity of the chocolate into question, so they felt the need to reassure everyone. I guess it’s nice to know.

While you can never go wrong with the iconic chocolate Oreo, the peppermint flavored crème is the star of the show here. It toes the line between minty and sweet nicely. I’m always a bit nervous companies will go overboard with the peppermint oil, and leave me feeling like I ate an Altoid instead of a cookie.

Not only does it taste good, it’s crispy. Yes, “Crispy Crème,” which I’m pretty sure Nabisco couldn’t flaunt due to trademark laws. The crème is peppered with sugar crystals that mimic peppermint candies. They give it a nice little crunch, and unlike actual candy canes, don’t chew like shards of glass.

Nabisco’s willingness to get creative with the crème has been my favorite thing about this seemingly endless Oreo-issance. Whether it be adding popping candies or rice crisps, any inclusion made to the crème has enhanced the Oreo. The peppermint crème and sugar crystals are so good here that I didn’t even bother eating the actual cookies a few times.

I know Oreo has had mint flavors in the past, but they’ve perfected it here. Peppermint Bark Oreo Cookies are a winner.

Here’s hoping these last on shelves long into the new year. If you love Peppermint Bark, but don’t feel like paying lots of money for the fancy tin it comes in, pick up Peppermint Bark Oreo, it’ll do the trick.

Purchased Price: $2.98
Size: 10.7 oz. package
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar (includes 13 grams of “added sugar.”) and less than 1 gram of protein.

As National Ice Cream Month comes to a close, there’s only one non-frozen way to bid July adieu, and that’s with a brand spankin’ new Oreo.

Earlier in the month, Nabisco dropped its first 2018 ode to the creamy category with the Good Humor-branded Strawberry Shortcake Oreo, which tasted a lot like a really crunchy generic strawberry cookie. While I found that one a bit underwhelming, I know some folks loved it, and since I’m way more of a chocolate boy when it comes to ice cream, I’m vibin’ on the idea of Nabisco saving the best for last.

Rocky Road Trip Oreo is a cookie with marshmallow bits, rocky road-flavored crème, and, in an attempt to not only stay vegan but also nut free, the very clunky “soy nut inclusions.” I’ve never had a soy nut before, but if there’s a surefire easy way to get me to try something new it’s toss that oddity in an Oreo.

Good news cookie travelers, this road trip isn’t all that rocky. The cookies are splattered sporadically with white marshmallow bits that give a nice chompy chew and immediate textural difference from the usual wafer.

The crème is incredibly dark, gooey, and rich in a way that reminds me a lot of 2015’s Brownie Batter Oreo but with an extra marshmallow kick. A genuine vanilla-leaning sweet marshmallow flavor comes through convincingly with the melty chocolate. Although it’s not nearly as stiff, I get a little bit of that freeze-dried crunch to go along with ‘mallow taste.

The only minor speedbump is the lack of nutty flavor. The soy nut inclusions within the crème do a great job of giving the chomp nuts would provide in a luscious scoop of rocky road, but I miss the fatty almond that finishes the rocky trinity that I truly desire. I understand why Nabisco chose to leave them out – no risk of allergy, lower in fat, and more cost-effective, but a touch of nuttiness would have gone a long way in making this cookie road trip closer to perfect.

Much less important, but also worth noting, is that the design of the package is excellent. A couple of cars traversing over a massive mount of rocky road sets the tone for an enjoyable snack, and between this and Ben & Jerry’s excellent Glampfire Trailmix, it feels like the once stale rocky road profile is making a whimsical comeback.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cookies – 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 10.7 oz. package
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Great chocolate marshmallow flavor. Nutty crunch. Rich decadent crème. Super fun packaging.
Cons: No nutty flavor to go along with the texture.