Final Goodbye to Summer Cookies

It's been insanely hot down here in North Cakalacky - this weekend the high was close to 100.  I almost melted at the Peanut Festival (but that's the next post!).  So it might as well still be summer.  The perfect time to finish up the summer treats.

Flathau's Fine Foods has more flavors of gourmet shortbread cookies.  Here is lemon:

Again, maybe a tad overcooked - see the darker brown at the base?  I so want to like these, but I find them a little bit dry and not that flavorful.  Sorry guys!  I really, really liked the folks from Flathau's so I hate to not love these. 

Another flavor is Key Lime:

The verdict is the same - just not that great.  I want them to be a little less dry - maybe undercooked?  And to have a little more sweetness and flavor.  I like the candy bits, but overall - these just don't do it for me.

I keep trying to like Dancing Deer cookies.  The packaging is cute, they use all natural ingredients.  They get a little too kumbayah with all their mindfulness (They say on the label "we think it's better to share a cookie than gobble one".  Whatever.) and community project stuff, but I do want to like them.  Unfortunately, most of the time, I'm disappointed.

These are adorable Lemon Daisy cookies:

And while not horrible, they sure aren't anything special.  Cute, but completely boring.

If you want a lemon flavor and a great shortbread - this is the cookie for you!  Walkers pure butter Shortbread Lemon Thins:

Nice design, buttery delicious taste, and a hint of lemon.  Walker's recommends serving with a tart lemon mousse and fresh cream. (They don't say anything about sharing or homelessness.)  I think they might work great with a raspberry something.  Or a blueberry something.  Or just handfuls out of the box.  Gobble, gobble.

Not to be left out, Harry and David is in the mix!  With their Tangy Citrus Shortbread:

There's lemon, orange and lime - all three in one box!  And let me tell you - you gotta love citrus to love these.  The flavor to me was overpowering - way too lemony, way too limey and even way too orangey.  More like a Starburst than a cookie.  The worst of the lot!  Harry and David - what the hell?

But, there's hope!  Check out these babies!!

Creme filled (and you can see - they aren't kidding around - look at all that filling!) shortbread in lemon, lime, orange and strawberry.  These are all good - the cookies are great - buttery and delish and the filling is - well, can you really go wrong with frosting?  Strawberry was by far my favorite - orange had a funky aftertaste.  Lemon and lime were both good.  But in all honesty, I like the fruit filling of the galettes better.  Those things are just so damn good!

And look at these - are they not the most adorable cookies evah??  (Snagged them on sale!  Of course, since the Halloween cookies are out now):

They are simple frosted sugar cookies, but I love the sugar cookie!  These are great, not rock hard - just perfect!  And the perfect size.  What a perfect end to summer.  Here's to fall!!!!  And the Peanut Festival!

Fruit and Cookies - I Say Yes! Yes! Yes!

There's no chocolate at all in this post, but there is more fruit!  The problem is there are so many great vendors at Candy Expo and the Fancy Food Show I get distracted and venture into other areas....like cookies.  I am the female Homer Simpson when it comes to cookies.

At Candy Expo I met a great guy named Gordon Cramer who works for Biscomerica. He really hooked me up with some FABULOUS samples! Look at all these different flavors of Knott's Berry Farm Shortbread:

And I gotta tell you - they are all good!  Raspberry and Boysenberry are really, really good - but they all are sooo hard to stop eating!  They are not as rich and buttery as Walker's, but they good.  They are relatively inexpensive and the fruity taste is there, but not overpowering.  Good, good stuff!!

And I didn't know this, but according to the wrappers - In 1920 Walter and Cordelia Knott began selling fresh produce, berries and preserves from a roadside berry stand in California.  They earned a place in history when Walter cultivated a luscious new fruit - the boysenberry!  (Who knew?)

Lance (Archway is a Lance brand) was at Candy Expo too and I got a sample of their fruit filled strawberry cookies:

I have to say I was really disappointed.  There's not much fruit filling at all - got a dot in the middle.  And the cookies, while soft and cakey - really didn't have much flavor.  I usually like Archway, so I was very sad about these. 

This cutie is raspberry shortbread from Harry and David:

It's yummy - nice and buttery, but could use a little more raspberry.

These, however, are absolutely to die for:

Look at all that filling!  This is blackberry:

And this is peach:

And they are soooo buttery and so fruity - I swear they are sinful.  Harry and David makes some of the best baked goods on the market.  AMAZING!!!   They also come in raspberry.

These cute, all-butter biscuits (cookies to us Americans) have blackcurrant juice in them:

I just don't like that blackcurrant taste.  Slightly bitter.  And the purple color really isn't appetizing to me.  Cute for kids, but can't told a candle to these babies:

Walker's pure butter raspberry thins:

Delicious buttery taste offset by tart raspberry and in perfect balance.  These cookies are truly a work of art.  I love Walker's.

And on their package it says - "For a real treat these are truly wonderful served with raspberries and fresh cream - the perfect Scottish dessert."  YUM!  We ain't talking no roadside stand here!

McVitie's has a currant shortcake:

No good - dry and tasteless.  Somehow I bet the British love them.

At the Fancy Food Show I met the great folks from Flathau's Fine Foods based in Mississippi.  They were so nice and set me a box of their gourmet shortbread cookies - all flavors (more reviews to come). They come in a couple of different packages:

They taste the same - one might be a little overdone (you can see the difference in the color).  These are raspberry and have little chunks of candy in them.  These are great if you are looking for something that is flavorful, but not too sweet.  And I like my cookies SWEET!  I like them, but the problem is......

I am completely addicted to these raspberry tea cookies from Harry and David:

These are so powdery and sweet and raspberryish - oh man!  Every time I go into Harry and David I have to get some.  OMG!  Start buying Harry & David's baked goods at your own risk.

I think fruit and cookies work really well together.  And with all these berries we can rationalize that we are getting antioxidants.  Woohoo!!!  It just doesn't get much better......unless chocolate is involved.

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?