Chips Ahoy - Ice Cream Creations

I pride myself on creating unique graphic designs and banners for each of my posts, so ignore that disaster you see above and let it slide because of time constraints.  One, I have somewhere to be in a few hours and, two, these brand new cookies just can't wait to make their Holidaze debut.  Spending any more minutes designing a banner that pales in comparison to these products is just a waste of time and aint nobody got time for dat!

Today, on my lunch break, a few co-workers and I took a drive over to Target.  I couldn't tell you what they were looking for, but I knew what I was secretly going to search the aisles for.  Whenever I'm at a department store, I'm always scouring up and down in an attempt to find something new and post-worthy.  Sometimes I fall short, but this time I saw something different.  I wasn't expecting to have three cookie posts in a row, but this is worth the repetition.  I walked by the cookie aisle, saw these babies sitting there, and kept on walking.  Yeah, I ignored them as if they didn't even exist because I couldn't let these "manly men" think that I'm about that life.  These guys talk about cars and tools all day while I politely nod and pretend that I have an interest.  Meanwhile, I stared at the clock and counted down the hours before I could go back to Target and leave with new Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Creations!

There are four different Ice Cream Creations flavors, but I only picked up two because the others didn't necessarily intrigue me.  I can tell you, now that I've tasted two, I may very well have to go back and pick up the others because, I'm not going to stall with this one... These are amazing!!

First, let's talk about Mint Chocolate Chip.  I don't know about you, but this is one of my favorite ice cream flavors so whenever I see a product released, whether it's candy, jelly beans, or potato chips, I'm going to pick it up and give it a try.  Usually, the taste is always on point because, let's face it, Mint Chocolate Chip is pretty hard to mess up.  Throw in mint and chocolate and, boom, you have yourself a hit.  With that said, I never go into it with high expectations because I wouldn't want to let myself down.  Chips Ahoy has disappointed me in the past, particularly with the Chips Ahoy Brownie Cookies, so I didn't want to go all in, especially with the Oreo editions still fresh on my mind.

Open the bag and.. wow.. the aroma is perfect enough to be released as a Yankee Candle.  I'd light it around Christmas to savor the scent, but these cookies should never be kept wrapped up to merely enjoy once or so a year.  No, as soon as you look at these cookies and let your senses start talking to each other, you'll find yourself in a whirlwind that can only be brought to an end with one single bite.  I'm not over exaggerating here, these smell delicious.  Immediately, Thin Mints come to mind and that can only mean good things for our taste buds.  In my opinion, Thin Mints are the perfect cookie when it comes to mint and chocolate.  Well, almost.  See, for me, I've always thought that they'd be better if they weren't so crunchy and more chewy.  Good news for those who agree with me -- Chips Ahoy Mint Chocolate Chip cookies are just that!

They're beautiful! Chewy chocolate chip cookies filled with green and brown mint chocolate chips.  I love how they're put together because they could have simply taken a regular chewy cookie and changed the chocolate chip flavor from chocolate to mint and called it a day.  But they didn't do that -- they went all out and made this look like it could be found in ice cream parlor.  If you walked into an ice cream shop and wanted to leave with a Mint Chocolate Chip cone, you'd most likely have something similar to what you see above.  That's going the extra mile, especially with the green chips, and I'm very happy to see that.  Because of that, I'm going to call it right now and call this St. Patrick's Day's official cookie.  Between the green chips and minty flavor, I'm sure it would go perfect with McDonald's Shamrock Shake.  I've never tried one (but will this year,) but am going out on a limb and making it official.  The Holidaze can do that.. right?

Now, the taste test and it's easy -- this is a 10/10.  No doubt, these are the best Mint Chocolate Chip cookies I've ever had.  In an attempt to describe these to you, I want you to think of what it would be like to bite into Entenman's Little Brownie Bites, but having them taste like Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.  It's the perfect mix of flavors and texture that creates a junk food hit!  Chips Ahoy has a winner on their hands, here!

When I saw these, I tried not to dance in the middle of Target, but all I could hear in my head was Pitbull singing "Ohhh baby baby! Ohhh baby baby!"  Should Root Beer Float cookies make me feel that way?  Probably not, but you won't find any shame here, brother!  I will always go out of my way to find and try soda flavored food, even if I know they won't taste good.  Dr. Pepper gum?  Yup.  Orange Crush jelly beans?  You know it!  Mountain Dew cupcakes?  If I could find them.  Pepsi Cheetos?  Believe me, they're real, and I'll eventually find them.  So, in reality, Root Beer Float cookies aren't that out of the ordinary, but they're new to me and I might have freaked out more than I should have.  Luckily, it was all internal and my co-workers still have no idea how awesome I really am!

Now, I've heard of Root Beer flavored cookies before, but they're usually found in a bakery or made at home by creative bakers.  However, I've never seen them released on such a large scale by a company as big as Nabisco.  For that reason, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  Were they just cashing in on the idea of others without perfecting the recipe or did they hammer it down and knock it outta the park?  I was excited to find out and opening the bag only added to that excitement because it topped that of the Mint Chocolate Chip bag.  With very low expectations but extremely high hopes, I progressed further while still managing to tease myself.  This is why the rest of the world calls America fat... It's also why we are ;)

Just like the first scoop of cookies, (see what I did there?)  these also look like their respective flavor and I truly appreciate that.  The cookie is lighter and has multiple colored chips to match that of the float.  We have the brown and white representing the soda and foamy top.  It's awesome, not is only the beginning because, like I said, these taste a hell of a lot better than they look and smell and, believe me, that's saying a lot!

I love them -- absolutely love them.  Now remember, I love Root Beer floats and anything soda flavored so I'm very biased, but if you share my love for this flavor, then you're in for a real treat.  Chips Ahoy blew me away with this one because I honestly didn't think they could pull it off.  I never thought the Root Beer flavor could translate so well as a cookie, but I am happily mistaken and it's to all our benefit.  Obviously Root Beer Floats are liquidy and cold so there's going to be a difference in texture.  That goes without saying, but the flavor is spot on and you'll have your taste buds so confused they won't know what season it is.  That's what's so great about these Ice Cream Creations cookies.  They're for anytime of the year and even if they were meant for Spring, they're just as good on a rainy night in February.  These are two of my favorite products to be reviewed on The Holidaze!

Like I said, I didn't pick up the other two flavors - Dulce de Leche and Mocha Chunk - but because the first two were so awesome, I think it's only right that I support the misfits as well.  I didn't think they'd taste much different than caramel and coffee, but hey, even that may be worth the $2.50.  One thing I know for sure is that the two I did buy are a hell of a lot better than the last two Oreo editions I picked up.  I'm not saying they were horrible, but Nabisco did a much better job with Chips Ahoy than they did with Oreo.  But at the end of the day, all of our money is going to the same place as they laugh all the way to the bank.  Meanwhile, I'm sitting here with 4 bags of cookies and an overly full belly.  If you ask me, sounds like a win-win!

Buy them!!  If you see them, pick them up and thank yourself for it later.  These are that good and, if you have the extra money, pick up the other two as well.  Knowing what I know now, I'm willing to bet they're worth the price and I'll be getting them myself within the next few days.  In the meantime, I'll sit back and enjoy these as I hope for a Neapolitan flavor to debut in series two.  I have no doubt there will be more in what should become a very popular line of Chips Ahoy!