Chocolate Joe-Joe's

What: Trader Joe's Chocolate Sandwich Creme Cookies

Rating: 8

Non-Quantifiable Rating: Oreos' highbrow, chocolatey cousin

According to the questionable use of apostrophes in the name of this cookie, the cookies actually belong to someone named Joe-Joe.  If that is indeed the case, we should all be thankful to Joe-Joe for letting us borrow his cookies.

Storebought cookies will never replace homemade for me, but I have had a long and torrid affair with Oreo cookies (an addiction I inherited, and thus blame on genetics).  When my cousin offered me a box of Chocolate Joe-Joe's, I was intrigued by their Oreo-ness.  Several highly technical taste tests later, and the verdict is in:  sorry Oreos, but these are better.  The chocolate is chocolatey-er (speaking of questionable grammar....), the cream filling is creamier (and chocolate!) and they are all-natural with no un-pronounceable ingredients.  As they are Trader Joe's cookies they are a little pricier than Oreos, and you have to spend a couple more calories per cookie (worth it!), but these are going to blow the minds of any Oreo lover.

I've heard rumors about the mint version which appears around Christmas and has an obsessive cult following.  I can't picture liking those, but I'm willing to take one for the team and try them next Christmas. Stay tuned.