Did you think that the Firecracker Pop flavor was the only treat that Oreo had in store for us this summer? Oh, well, wait until you pop open the Oreo Summer Carnival Cookie Tin.
“Embrace that summertime nostalgia with all the classic carnival flavors,” Oreo writes of this limited-edition collection of fudge-covered cookies.
Bill ... are you sure you want to do this again? You remember what happened with the Oreo Thanksgiving Dinner Cookie Tin, right? you’re very likely asking me as you read this edition of Snackology.
Yes, I absolutely remember that nightmare. Once you eat an Oreo that’s flavored like turkey and stuffing, you never forget that experience. But while the Thanksgiving Dinner Cookie Tin promises mostly pain, the Summer Carnival Cookie Tin appears to be making a good-faith effort to deliver a good time.
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An open Oreo Summer Carnival Cookie Tin. / Snackology
My thoughts
Like with the Thanksgiving Dinner Cookie Tin, this Oreo collection comes in a collectible Oreo-shaped container. (Don’t tell my wife that we’ve added another one of these to our home.)
The six flavors available in the An open Oreo Summer Carnival Cookie Tin. / Snackology
The Summer Carnival Cookie Tin comes with two of each of the six different flavors: Hot Honey Cornbread, Dill Pickle, Lemonade, Cotton Candy, Chocolate Milkshake & Fries and Strawberry Shortcake.
The back of the Oreo Summer Carnival Cookie Tin wrapper. / Snackology
While the cookies in the Thanksgiving Dinner Cookie Tin were decorated in autumnal browns and oranges, the six Oreo cookies in the Summer Carnival Cookie Tin are brightly colored to entice you to go “looking for the nearest Ferris wheel to ride as soon as you can.”
Hot Honey Cornbread Oreo. / Snackology
Hot Honey Cornbread
When I cut into a Hot Honey Cornbread Oreo, I was surprised to see a Golden Oreo inside the fudge coating. All six flavors in the Thanksgiving Dinner Cookie Tin had been based around the traditional chocolate Oreo, and I went into this taste test expecting the same. The Hot Honey Cornbread Oreo delivered a more subtle corn-based flavor than the Creamed Corn Oreo from Thanksgiving, while also finishing with a touch of heat. I was impressed by this one.
Dill Pickle Oreo. / Snackology
Dill Pickle
Ah, Dill Pickle, we meet again. Five of the six flavors in the Summer Carnival Cookie Tin are new to me, but I bought and tasted a full box of Dill Pickle Oreo cookies when they were available to purchase on April Fools’ Day. This is the same cookie that I described as “not the abomination that were the Turkey & Stuffing Oreos” and noted “that brininess of the dill pickle fudge kind of works with the chocolate cookie and Oreo creme filling.”
Lemonade Oreo. / Snackology
Lemonade
We’re back to a Golden Oreo for the Lemonade flavor. A Lemon Oreo is one of the cookie’s standard flavors, available on shelves the entire year. That flavor is a Golden Oreo with lemon creme, while this special-edition Oreo has the traditional Oreo creme filling and is covered in a lemon-flavored fudge. The citrus fudge is good, but my wife described it as being a bit reminiscent of a spray cleaner. (This seems to be something that lemon-flavored foods are often in danger of tasting like.)
Cotton Candy Oreo. / Snackology
Cotton Candy
The Cotton Candy Oreo is pure sweetness. I know it sounds dumb to say that the fudge covering this Oreo matches the artificial cotton candy taste that you find in something like Cotton Candy Lucky Charms and not the fresh (and also artificial) cotton candy you get at a carnival or ballgame, but there is a difference. Oreo also released a Cotton Candy flavor a few years back, pairing a Golden Oreo with cotton candy-flavored creme.
Milkshake & Fries Oreo. / Snackology
Milkshake & Fries
The Milkshake & Fries flavor is the one that threw me off the most of the six varieties available in the Summer Carnival Cookie Tin. This flavor joins Dill Pickle as the only two in the pack to go with a chocolate Oreo, which obviously makes sense when you’re trying to evoke a (in this case, chocolate) milkshake. There’s also a starchiness to the Milkshake & Fries Oreo, but it reminds me more of the smell and taste of a chocolate-covered potato chip than french fries.
Strawberry Shortcake Oreo. / Snackology
Strawberry Shortcake
Where the Cotton Candy Oreo is sweet in an artificial way, the Strawberry Shortcake Oreo is sweet in a fruity way. Oreo really nailed the strawberry flavor for the fudge surrounding this Golden Oreo.
The Oreo Summer Carnival Cookie Tin. / Snackology
Despite me repeatedly cursing its name, the Oreo Thanksgiving Dinner Cookie Tin was actually a lot of fun. After eating one of each of the flavors for Snackology, I brought the remaining six to a Friendsgiving gathering. I got a kick out of watching my friends try each flavor — and then betray the trust of their children as they passed along bits of a Turkey & Stuffing Oreo.
The Summer Carnival Cookie Tin will be another fun one to share, but not in the “I can’t believe you’re going to eat that” way that its Thanksgiving predecessor was. The six flavors in this collection, with maybe the exception of Dill Pickle, are all pretty safe.
The Omnicosm founder. Snackology, Popculturology and The Cold Open writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
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