Benton’s Fudge Stripe Shortbread Cookies: A Review

Is there a suitable replacement for Keebler Fudge Stripes?

Not sure which country, kitchen, grandmother, or clan invented shortbread. Whoever did create the combination of shortening,flour, sugar, and vanilla made the world a better place. It doesn’t matter if I am sampling Walker’s shortbread, Salerno butter cookies or those incredible Lorna Doone squares (mysteriously shaped like giant pats of butter); they all taste incredible. Just when shortbread couldn’t get any better, the cookie was upgraded with “fudge stripes”. The first fudge stripe cookie I was acquainted with was the Keebler brand introduced to me when I was a young lad. Four decades later they are still tasty, but like all name brand treats be it cookies, ice creams, pastries, etc; current economic trends have only left us with higher prices, lower quantity per package, and flashy advertising to make up for these cutbacks.  The Keebler Elvin magic and whimsical packaging is not enough to maintain brand loyalty as I pursue fudge stripe cookie equivalents elsewhere.

I have tried the Meijer label fudge stripe and it is almost as good as Keebler, though at a price lower by fifty cents. While I still pick up a package of Keebler when they go on sale, I considered the Meijer brand to be my mainstay fudge stripe option, until I learned Aldi sells the Benton Fudge Stripe Shortbread cookie.

Price of Cookies

The attention grabber of these cookies was the low price of $1.29 for a thirteen ounce package. The Meijer brand usually hovers around $1.49 and the Keebler holds at $1.99.  Some sales at Aldi will position the Benton fudge stripes as low as ninety five cents a bag.

Physical Characteristics

The cookies are sold in plastic packaging with yellow/orange tones, much like Keebler. No presence of cartoonish elves but simply the picture of the cookies on the label which very much resemble the real thing inside. The actual cookies seemed a tad wider than the Keebler competition and the chocolate (or fudge) carries the dark brown tone that real chocolate is supposed to have. I always worry that a low price fudge treat will have that subpar faux chocolate that comes across as dusty or muted in color. Nope. These look like the real deal.

Taste Test

Now it was time for tasting. The cookie starts and ends with a good crispy bite and a well blended mix of rich fudge and butter cookie undercoat. If caramel was present it would resemble something close to a thin Twix bar. I would put this cookie in blind test up against the Keebler and I think it would win.

Verdict

I give the Benton’s Original Fudge Striped Cookie a passing grade with flying colors. Considering this item is frequently on sale and sometimes half the price of Keebler, this is a no brainer.