Archway Cookies - First in a series

Dave's Introduction:

When I was a kid, Archway cookies were always on hand.  Always.  Especially the ginger snaps: not only did my mom keep them available, so did my grandmother.  Maryanne tells me that her family always bought Archway cookies when she was young, too.  Archway became a staple in our cookie jars, too.

Unfortunately, the company ran into some troubles a few years ago.  The troubles led to bankruptcy, and we noticed that the cookies didn't seem to be available in our area any more.  But now, Archway is back!

Not too long ago, a PR rep from Archway contacted me and asked if we'd be interested in sampling some cookies and writing about them.  We received a very generous cookie assortment which we've been enjoying for a couple weeks now, and Archway has some pretty cool stuff coming up later this month that Lynnafred and I will be letting you know about soon.   For now, though, we're kicking off a series of posts with a review of some of the cookies Archway sent along to us - and I'm handing off to Lynnafred now for the first few reviews.

Lynnafred's reviews:

First of all, I want to thank Archway for their generosity.  Having a carton of cookies showing up on the front porch is like having a sweet dream come true!

I'm going to start the series with reviews of the Iced Molasses, Windmills, and Frosted Lemon varieties.

Although the Iced Molasses cookies are, so far, my least favorite , Mom and Dave both really like them. They're about an inch and a half in diameter, nice and soft, and with a generous swipe of hard icing on top.  Very flavorful; they're rich and sweet, and just a tad spicy, but there's a lingering fruity flavor in them that I don't particularly like. When I checked the ingrediets, I found that they contained raisin paste.  That accounted for the fruit flavor and for why I didn't care for them - I'm not much one for raisins.  Dave said the raisin paste went well with the deep taste of molasses and the spices in the cookie.

Next, at the insistence of Dave, I opened up the package of Windmills that Archway sent. Apparently, they were a childhood favorite of his and he wanted to see if they stacked up against his memories.These cookies are crisp and flat and about three inches long. They taste really good; they've got a lot of cinnamon in them. They're spicier than a typical cinnamon cookie - like a reduced-ginger ginger snap, and are accented with minced almonds throughout them that gives them an interesting added flavor and texture. I really enjoyed these.  Dave said they were just like he remembered

And last but not least, we have Frosted Lemon cookies. These were my favorite by far. Soft and almost cakey, these cookies have a light, refreshing lemony flavor that isn't too sweet or tart, and is nicely accented by the icing on top.  We brought this package to a family picnic and everyone there was delighted, it was like they were greeting old friends.  I was disappointed that the cookies got scarfed up so fast. but I guess everyone remembered how much they used to love them and ate them up.

We have more cookies to try and we're all taking notes as we go.  And Dave hinted to me that Archway has something fun coming up soon.  So keep an eye out for upcoming Archway posts.

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