Mrs. Fields Flaccid Cookies

Occasionally we pick up whatever happens to be on sale anywhere! We try to have a backup in the event that no one has signed up to bring in the goodies.  A local store was offering a two for one on Mrs. Fields cookies and since we had never really featured them we figured it was about time.  Mrs. Fields used to have lots of shops around. There was one in the shopping district of Downtown Boston and there was even one at the upscale Copley Place Shopping Center. They featured lots of freshly baked cookies, coffee and other café items.  That was awhile ago, however.  The shops have disappeared, at least in our area, but the brand is still going strong or at least still going.  Perhaps there was a restructuring after the 2008 bankruptcy and the 2011 almost bankruptcy. It's a good thing, we suppose, that Mrs. Fields herself sold out long ago. In addition to the cookies the company also makes TCBY yogurt among other things!  Who knew?

It's what was on sale!

White chunk macadamia for one!

And the classic - notice the amount of chips!

There's room for twice the amount of chocolate chip!

And macadamia cookies!  What a waste of space.

Japanese style..individually wrapped ....for freshness!

So with the sale we picked up some of the semi-sweet chocolate chip and one of the packages of the white chink macadamia cookies.  Truth be told these were the only two available. Despite the size of the box there were only eight cookies per package!  Looking in from the top you can see that there is a ton of wasted space and probably enough for four more cookies.  Whoever dreamed up this packaging idea should not be congratulated.  We also immediately noticed that the cookies are all individually wrapped.  This seems almost Japanese who have a penchant for multiple wrappers before you get to your product.  On the outside it says individually wrapped for freshness. We think it is more likely individually wrapped to keep them from drying out and to add cachet and expense to the product!

There's a lot fewer chips than in the picture!

Seemingly a bit undercooked and flaccid!

Upon giving them a try we did not detect any fresher taste as compared to any cookie we have had that is not individually wrapped.  We can confirm that these cookies did in fact not dry out but that makes for a bit of a problem.  We have already expressed our preference and appreciation of cookies like those from Tate's that tend to be crispy not, well, soft and/or soggy. Mrs. Fields cookies were the latter.  We are not fans of flaccid cookies, as we mentioned before and we regrettably put Mrs. Fields cookies into that category.  Part of the issue is when the cookies stay soft and are not as well baked as others they almost come off as undercooked.  This was not an issue in the Mrs. Fields stores but these cookies seemed that way to some degree.  Add in what is probably a bit too much sugar and it makes for a less satisfying overall experience.  These cookies were decent but not our preferred taste.  Bring back the shop, say we, bake those cookies to a golden brown and get crispy like they should.  They did have a nice statement on the package about how the cookies are baked with love. That's nice to know!

They may not be perfect but they're made with love only not my Mrs. Fields anymore!