I guess I should have paid more attention to the packaging when I picked up Benton’s Candy Cane Sandwich Cookies from Aldi.  I made the mistake of assuming that what I was getting was peppermint-flavored creme in between two chocolate cookies–to that end, I was partially right.  But Benton’s goes one step farther, by putting actual pieces of peppermint candy inside the icing, too.  And I do not like it.

I’ll be honest, I was just looking for a light-to-moderate peppermint flavor, and that’s completely what I was expecting.  I feel like most mainstream products shy away from being too aggressive when it comes to taste, so that they can appeal to the widest variety of people possible.  At first, biting into the creme for the first time, I thought they had hit the nail on the head…that is, until I started biting into what felt like little pieces of glass (which were unexpected pieces of peppermint candy, thanks to me not examining the packaging a little closer), which brought even more peppermint flavor, that I have to admit took it beyond what I was looking for.  I can dig small amounts of peppermint, but I got sick of these after just two.  And I don’t mean “well that’s enough for now, I’ll grab some again in the future” sick; I mean I was “here you go, honey, you can have the rest of this entire package of cookies” sick.  The blend of sweet and minty was just too much for me.

In the end, it all boils down to the fact that these just simply aren’t my cup of tea.  And that’s alright–we’ve all bought things that we thought we would enjoy, only to discover that they didn’t quite hit our palates the way we thought they would.  If you enjoy candy canes, or peppermint in general, you will like these way more than I do, and you really should give them a shot.  The package claims they are double-stuffed with crème, and all it takes is one quick glance at one of them to substantiate those claims–there is a generous helping of peppermint frosting in between each cookie.  The chocolate cookies themselves, when eaten alone (I do the ol’ twist-off method and eat the cookie with the least amount of crème in it first, saving the one with the most for last) taste fresh, and very close to the national brand, if not exact.

I guess this is kind of a cop-out, but sometimes, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Overall: 4/10.  These just weren’t my cup of tea.  I like moderate amounts of peppermint, but the addition of actual little pieces of peppermint candy in the crème not only made it too pepperminty for my liking, but also made it feel like I was chewing on glass.  Needless to say, I was not a fan of the texture.  Dipping them in milk (my favorite way to eat chocolate sandwich cookies) made them a little better, but I got sick of them after just two cookies, to the extent that I will allow my wife to eat the rest.  If you love candy canes, or just peppermint in general, then you will probably like these a lot more than I did.

(And for what it’s worth, my wife won’t eat them, either.)