Publix Premium Moose Tracks Cookies

The Moose Tracks flavor combination, created by Wayland, Mich.-based Denali Flavors, remains quite popular when it comes to ice cream. Myriad ice creams brands — both name brands and store brands — offer the tempting mix of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter cups and Moose Tracks fudge. So when we came across Publix Premium Moose Tracks Cookies from Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets Inc., we were intrigued. We were curious to find out whether or not the popular ice cream flavor actually would work in a cookie.

To help answer that question, our new Test Drive panelists — Ricardo, Suzanne and Joey (our first teen panelist) — agreed to sample the product. We purchased three 9.5-ounce boxes of the cookies (billed as “soft, chewy” and “loaded with peanut butter cups and Moose Tracks fudge bits”) for $3.99 apiece at an Evans, Ga., Publix store.

Product Comments

Ricardo: I found these cookies to be both too sweet and too salty at the same time. In fact, I found the flavor to be overpowering, even though I tried eating them with both a glass of milk and with a cup of coffee. Additionally, the packaging said there were eight cookies per box, so I was expecting very large cookies. The actual size of the cookies was much smaller than what I thought they would be.

Suzanne: The cookies come in two convenient pouches to keep the cookies fresh. The consistency of the cookies seems a little too soft — they tend to crumble. If you like chocolate, these cookies have a lot of it. I find the chocolate overpowers the peanut butter. They smell and look delicious.

Joey: The cookies look appetizing enough. They are relatively moist and chunky — both good things. The cookies have a surprisingly strong chocolaty smell. The product, however, does not do a sufficient job of replicating the taste of Moose Tracks ice cream. The taste is mostly of chocolate and is quite harsh.

Packaging Comments

Ricardo: The packaging accurately reflects the premium name with the boxed carton, black background and the script font. However, I think that the cartoon Moose Tracks Denali logo detracts from that premium look and … stands out like a sore thumb. Also, I feel that the image on the box of the cookies should have been much bigger.

Suzanne: The packaging looks very attractive, almost too nice for a box of cookies. People might think that because it looks expensive, they will have to pay more for less product. The label explains exactly what the product is like. You can almost taste the chewy cookie just by reading it.

Joey: I feel that the height of the box gives it a unique look. The black, gold and white color scheme comes off as being sharp and clean. Overall, the box has a clean-cut and premium look.