Chips Ahoy! has a new snack, but it isn’t a cookie: Here’s what it tastes like
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(NEXSTAR) — Chips Ahoy!, best known for its cookies, is rolling out a new, non-cookie snack.
The company has been producing cookies since the 1960s. They were originally created by Nabisco, and were initially advertised as tasting as good as homemade cookies, according to Spokane's Spokesman-Review.
In a break from tradition, Chips Ahoy! has introduced a new product: Baked Bites.
In a press release, Chips Ahoy! said the inspiration behind the Baked Bites wasn’t a cookie at all, it was a brownie. Billed as "unique, soft and chewy" by Chips Ahoy! senior director Sabrina Sierant, the Baked Bites are currently only available in a Blondie version.
Blondies, unlike brownies that rely on cocoa powder and chocolate to flavor the batter, use brown sugar and vanilla. This can give the blondies more of a caramel or vanilla flavor, which you may find with the Baked Bites. (Blondies often incorporate chocolate chips, as do the Chips Ahoy! Baked Bites.)
How different are Baked Bites from the Chips Ahoy! cookies you’ve come to know? Chips Ahoy! provided a package of the new snacks for an informal tasting panel — a.k.a. my friends and I. While none of us are professional bakers, we’ve had enough cookies (including the Chips Ahoy! Original cookies made with a new recipe) and baked goods to feel confident in our taste-testing abilities.
Ripping open a package of the Baked Bites — each of our packages contained five bites — you’re instantly greeted by the sweet smell reminiscent of a package of Chewy Chips Ahoy! cookies. The shape is, of course, the first place the two products differ.
As promised, the Chips Ahoy! Baked Bites are bite-sized cubes, much different than a regular Chips Ahoy! product. At first, you may even mistake them for the refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough that comes in pre-cut cubes or a Chips Ahoy! cookie that wasn’t flattened before baking.
The texture of the bites is nearly as soft as cookie dough as well. (Don’t worry, they’re a baked product.) We compared them to Chips Ahoy! Chewy cookies but noticed the Bites were more dense and sweeter. Both, however, contained chocolate chips in nearly every bite.
Unlike its Original, Chewy, and Chunky cookies, Chips Ahoy! Baked Bites do not contain high fructose corn syrup.
Those familiar with Chips Ahoy! cookies may notice that the Baked Bites don’t taste similar to the cookies, either. Instead, my friends and I determined the Bites have more of a cookie dough-like flavor, but denser with a more prominent note of vanilla. We also compared them to a brookie — a brownie-cookie dessert — and determined the Baked Bites are softer with less chocolate.
We all agreed the Baked Bites aren’t better than any other Chips Ahoy! cookie — they’re just different (and harder to dunk in milk, though it's still possible). The convenient snack-sized packages do make them a good option to throw in a lunch box or bring along on a hike or road trip.
If you’re ready to try them yourself, boxes of Baked Bites — which will retail at around $3.98 — are now rolling out to grocery stores nationwide, according to Chips Ahoy!
If you enjoy the Baked Bites enough, you may want to enter for your chance to win “an immersive stay in limited-edition” New York City hotel rooms inspired by the new snack. More details can be found here.
Arlo Midtown in Manhattan will also be serving exclusive Chips Ahoy! Baked Bites food and beverage items at its bar and restaurant on March 28-30, the company said.
Later this year, Chips Ahoy! will introduce a new Chocolate Caramel Cookie. The company did not provide an exact launch date in its press release but said the new cookies will be available in early 2025.