I've been talking to you guys for about nine months now which means that this blog is fully gestated and we're all family now. So strap in, I'm going to start laying some truth on you.
Winter is the best season*. People generally look adorable in winter clothes (hats, mittens, scarves, tights, perfect). Wearing giant fuzzy socks and a second cardigan at the office gets 30 percent fewer disapproving looks. Holding hot steaming mugs of hot steaming liquids. Christmas lights! Coats! ETC.!
In the fall, Aldi (and frankly this blog) went a little overboard with the pumpkin spice. When winter started to settle in, Aldi switched to a very intense study of gingerbread flavoring. That was two to three weeks ago. (They are now moving into peppermint/chocolate peppermint season). I am not a big fan of gingerbread. I don't mind a gingersnap every now and then and I do like straight up ginger, although now that I think about it, I'm not totally convinced that ginger and gingerbread are actually related (outside of letters). Anyway, I felt like I had to participate in the gingerbread madness and tried to pick something promising. I chose Cafe Bistro's Soft Gingerbread Cookies.
The package had two types of cookies described on the box as "iced and chocolate covered gingerbread on wafers." Like a real food critic, I tried both AT THE SAME TIME. Neither were even remotely edible.
Don't let the fork in the photo fool you, a fork couldn't cut all the way through these cookies. At first I thought that was because there was some sort of paper or parchment stuck to the bottom of each cookie. After reading the description, I guess this paper layer was the 'wafer'? But it ripped like paper and tasted like paper and you know the old saying "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is NOT a wafer." Also the chocolate coated the paper on the chocolate ones. These were light on sweetness but heavy on the spice. I want to say that after paperlike-ness, the next take-home was almost peppery with spice, and then dry (then again, I might have actually eaten paper?). I give Cafe Bistro's Soft Gingerbread Cookies an I. No. Just, no.
Don't let the fork in the photo fool you, a fork couldn't cut all the way through these cookies. At first I thought that was because there was some sort of paper or parchment stuck to the bottom of each cookie. After reading the description, I guess this paper layer was the 'wafer'? But it ripped like paper and tasted like paper and you know the old saying "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is NOT a wafer." Also the chocolate coated the paper on the chocolate ones. These were light on sweetness but heavy on the spice. I want to say that after paperlike-ness, the next take-home was almost peppery with spice, and then dry (then again, I might have actually eaten paper?). I give Cafe Bistro's Soft Gingerbread Cookies an I. No. Just, no.
*In the south.
That wafer is called "Oblaten.". It's a (fairly) common cookie ingredient in Europe...ithe batter is placed on it so the cookie doesn't stick to the pan while baking. The closest thing I've seen in the US is a communion wafer...and an old time candy called spaceships (two wafers fused together with candy sugar pellets in the middle.)
ReplyDeleteThese cookies....Lebkuchen....are sold by the millions in Germany this time of year for about $1.50 for this size package and are usually pretty good, depending on freshness. A higher quality version, Nüremburger Lebkuchen cost much more because they have a higher percentage of ground nuts and fruit vs. flour...and taste great. They also come with/without the Oblaten.
I love these cookies....even when not so fresh :-)
I have dissolved a lot of communion wafers in my mouth over the first 18 years of my life - and you're right, it was a little wafer-like. This blog is helping realize just how stereotypically American my tastes are. Oreos? Yes please. Something not filled to the brim with sugar and fat? No thank you!
DeleteI do have my fingers crossed for an Aldi version of Digestives someday soon.
Thanks for commenting!
I have to disagree with the reveiwer on this one and agree with bosmuc on these cookies.
DeleteI grew up in a 1/2 German household and have eaten these cookies since I was a little child [many Christmases].
We only used to get these if our relatives in Germany sent them or the odd German butcher would carry them.
I have tasted these ALDI cookies last year and again this year and find them to be very authentic and tasty. Even my 9 yr old son loves them.
Brings back very fond memories. They may be an acquired taste, but one I happily acquired a long time ago. Rated A from me!
different strokes for different folks!
You guys are making me think I need to go and buy a new package and re-review them. But then I remember trying to eat them the first time...
DeleteI recently picked up these cookies and loved them! Gonna go back to get some more :-)
DeleteWish I could get them year round. Love the spicy taste, and the different textures. I give it an A+ and am glad Aldi's carries them at least at Christmas time.
DeleteMy mom is from Munich Germany and introduced these cookies to me when I was very young. Every Christmas her mom (still lived in Munich) sent at least one package of these cookies along with other gifts. I loved them when I was a kid and still love them at 57. My mom is now 81, and on a recent shopping trip to ALDIs, we re-discovered these simple little cookies. You never saw two more happy people. The both of us almost finished off an entire package before we got home. Way to go ALDIs!
ReplyDeleteMy son was gifted a package of the Café Bistro Gingerbread cookies by his boss in Atlanta to bring home to CA for his family to try, as he or his wife is of German heritage. I, who bake cookies for my family during Christmas held off eating cookies until Christmas Eve. Well I decided to try these Gingerbread cookies rather than the ones I made, and immediately understood the goodness of the cookie. Savoring the Gingerbread, Chocolate, both dark and milk chocolate varieties, on top of the wafer, which is like a rice paper cookie, in every bite, I ended up eating 3/4 of the package. I did share some pieces with my husband and daughter and soon who brought them. I just had the last one this morning. These cookies were absolutely soft when opened and a good size dessert cookie. These german cookies travelled lots of Miles to get to Atlanta and then to CA for me to enjoy and appreciate. Next year my son will be bringing these back, and I will share them with others!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(^ not my real name) I came across this blog because I got these cookies and me and my girlfriend were wondering what the hell was with paper stuck to the back, apparently I missed the "on wafers" on the box. The wafer part actually makes me sick to eat, as a kid I used to always chew on Styrofoam cups and trays at lunch so eating these they just seem like something your not supposed to swallow just biting through that wafer on the bottom makes me think I"m chewing Styrofoam and gingerbread together and it makes me want to gag. I can see how people could enjoy these cookies if you lived in or come from a different country with a different taste palate but I think that wafer really ruins it for us Americans.
ReplyDeleteYou know what these taste like to me? Jägermeister.
ReplyDeleteI received these in a gift basket of goodies. No thanks! I love ginger snaps and ginger cookies but these were so bland and tasteless. They are soft but not moist. I ate part of one and I am throwing the rest away. On a scale of 1-10 these would be a 1.
ReplyDeleteI received these in a gift basket of goodies. No thanks! I love ginger snaps and ginger cookies but these were so bland and tasteless. They are soft but not moist. I ate part of one and I am throwing the rest away. On a scale of 1-10 these would be a 1.
ReplyDeleteI'm sending these in my favorite things holiday gifts! The wafer adds snap to what would be a soft cookie, as does the hard icing. And those bits of orange with the nuts....yum. Not sure why you thought they were bland, Carol. All ginger flavored treats don't have to have bite.....
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't grow up with Lebkuchen, you may never like it. But for those of us who did,
ReplyDeletethis review is a joke. Lebkuchen ("soft Gingerbread cookies") are one of Germany's national treasures. Christmas wouldn't be the same without them.