Shortbread Showdown!

You know you've lost your mind when you buy a copy of "Field Guide to Cookies."  I kid you not - I bought this book. I felt that I needed some expert guidance on what good shortbread was.  And I got some!  The Guide says that the color of shortbread should be "barely golden" which backs up my assessments of some of these as being overdone.  It goes on to say that texture is paramount and describes it as tender and crumbly.  I take that to mean "not rock hard and crumbly" as some of the lesser brands have been.  So I feel vindicated in my shortbread assessments.

I've started the reviews with plain shortbread - we are going to cover shortbread with fruit fillings, with chocolate, and with various flavorings.  But I think plain is a great place to start.  A baker might be able to trick me by covering bad shortbread with chocolate.  This is naked shortbread  - no place to hide.

Let's start with Maclean's (a Scottish company that I ran across at the Fancy Food show.  The sales reps were wearing kilts which I thought was pretty cool.  If only they had bagpipes!!  at least there was no haggis):

This is delicious - tender, crumbly, cooked to perfection.  Wow!  It literally melts in your mouth.  The only problem is finding it!  The box I found had been beaten to hell in T.J. "Ghetto" Maxx.  I practically had to crawl under some shelving to get it.  Hardly a fine way to acquire shortbread.

This is Willa's traditionally southern shortbread bites:

It's made in North Carolina - not the shortbread capital of the world.  But as I mentioned in the last shortbread post, we have some Scottish heritage here in NC.  Willa's is also very good - although less tender than Maclean's, a tad drier.

Archer Farms surprised me by being very good:

While it is overcooked a bit (see the edges) the texture is still very good.  I think it's better than Willa's, but not nearly as perfect as Maclean's.  It has a different flavor than the other shortbreads - I'm not sure why - the ingredients are similar.

Campbell's (a Scottish company) has a solid shortbread:

But, it's a bit overdone - the bottom especially is overcooked.  Hmmmm.....these are about as good as Willa's.  I actually like Archer Farms better.

This is from the Shortbread House of Edinburgh:

This one has a fabulous flavor, but as you can see in the picture, a little overdone and a little too crumbly, not tender enough.  Just a tad too dry.  But the flavor - YUM! 


And then there's Walkers - how fabulous are these tins?

This is what's inside:

Here are Walkers Shortbread Highlanders:

Walkers always seem to be cooked just right.  And the flavor is terrific.  And you can FIND them!!!  In an amazing variety.

These are the cookie equivalent of crack cocaine:

I don't know why, but I can't stop eating these!  They are thin, but have that amazing shortbread tenderness.  They are almost chewy they have so much butter.  Wow!!  (Steve, I think this makes you my dealer.)

I will admit I am biased because I adore the people at Walkers.  But I have to say that Maclean's might actually be my favorite.  (Steve, don't hate me!!)  Walker's is a close second.  In third place, I'd have to go for (shocking!) Archer Farms!! 

Don't get me wrong - all of these are great, but if I had to rank them, that's they way I'd call it. 

Good luck actually finding Maclean's - it's not the best if you can't get your hands on it!  Walkers is just about everywhere from Food Lion to World Market.  Keep your eyes peeled for those shortbread thins - wow!  And we have many more flavors to review, so you'll hear more from Walkers and others.

Can you hear the bagpipes?

Coconut (and Chocolate) Cookies

Since we ended with Almond Joy Pieces last time, let's open with Almond Joy Cookies in this entry:

These are a chocolate cookie base with a layer of coconut cream - a few almonds are tossed on top and the whole thing is enrobed in chocolate.  Not a bad idea.  Not a great cookie.  The Almond Joy bar is better.  But a great effort at making a cookie out of a candy bar.  If you feel it's important to to that.

Check out these festive summer cookies offered by Pepperidge Farm!  Tahiti Coconut:

They remind me of Milanos - which I love with all my heart and soul. But these were no good.  I found them very, very dry and with little taste of coconut.  Disappointing - usually Pepperidge Farm rocks!  These are terrible.

Target's store brand Archer Farms made these:

They are wafer thin and are pretty good.  The coconut is more for decoration than for taste.  The dark chocolate overpowers everything else.I like chocolate covered Moravian cookies better.  But these are not dried out and if you want a light, dark chocolately cookie - these are very good.

And look at this coconut entry by Little Debbie:

Titled German Chocolate and subtitled "cookie rings with caramel and coconut," I had to wonder about these.  I mean, really - Germany and coconut?  Does that makes sense?  Well, according to Wikipedia (yeah, yeah, I know, not always right) the whole German Chocolate cake (with the coconut and caramel and all) came from a recipe submitted by a Dallas housewife in 1957.  It was called German Chocolate cake because the chocolate she used to make it was Baker's German Sweet Chocolate.  I gotta say this concoction seems more Dallas circa 1957 than Germany.  What does your gut tell you?

Anyway, these are not bad.  I don't think they hold a candle to those Samoas the Girl Scouts sell (better cookie - these need more cookie).  And I'm thinking the Pacific Islands seem a better fit for coconut than Germany.  But, hey, what do I know?  Tahiti, Samoa.....

I've never tried coconut macaroons before.  This one by Godiva was my favorite.  But I can't tell if it's just because of the chocolate:

Gotta love the chocolate base with the Godiva name stamped in:

This had a cakey texture that I liked better than the other macaroons:

I usually love Archway cookies:

And these looked great!  I think, for coconut macaroons, they probably are great.  These just aren't my favorite.  With chocolate, they are amazing.  Without chocolate, not so much.

These were made in my hometown of Macon, GA by Crown Candy Corporation. 

And they were drier than dry.  Ugh.  Archway was at least moist and chewy.  These were el yucko.  I'm so glad I got out of Macon.

I have to start reviewing some of that shortbread I have!!  And would you believe I found some coconut shortbread?

Eh.  Kind of dry.  What is it about these coconut things that makes them dry?  I expect coconut to be moist!  This shortbread didn't do anything for me and I ADORE shortbread!

Here's some vanilla shortbread from my friends at Walker's:

This has a really good flavor. Sometimes shortbread can be a bit bland, but this has a great, but not overpowering flavor.  Delish!

Harry and David also has some vanilla shortbread:

And I have to say, I love the thickness and the texture of this shortbread.  For the most part, I really love Harry & David's baked goods.  And I like the granulated sugar on top.  (As usual, nothing like the picture on the box.) BUT the flavor of Walker's is better.  The texture of Harry and David's is better, but I gotta go with Walker's.  So yummy!

Okay, gang - more shortbread and coconut and loads of other good stuff to come!!  But I might be MIA for a few days - I'm heading to New Yawk City for the Fancy Food Show!  Don't worry, I'll look both ways before crossing the street.  But I WILL be taking candy from strangers.