You must have heard about it.
I put my radio into “scan” mode and, in the course of just an hour, heard it mentioned or talked about in depth on four different stations.
It was all over newspapers from coast to coast, including this mention in the Los Angeles Times.
Kraft Foods has rolled out the latest iteration of the Oreo—the best-selling cookie of the 20th century.1
It’s called the Triple Double, and it consists of a traditional Oreo cookie, topped with a layer of vanilla cream filling, topped with another Oreo cookie, topped with a layer of chocolate cream filling, topped with another Oreo cookie.
Think of it as the Big Mac of cookies.
The buzz surrounding the Triple Double’s rollout has been tremendous. The folks at NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” even performed a taste test prior to its release, jury-rigging a faux version of the cookie and commenting on the results.2
One Triple Double checks in at 100 calories, making it an indulgent but far from diet-busting treat.
Of course, like all treats, the secret is having enough self-control to eat just one. (Good luck!)
The Triple Double comes amazingly close to wine in its calorie count. A 4-oz. glass of wine typically has between 85 and 105 calories. Click here to see a list that includes many of the more popular varieties.
Fortified wines—such as Port and Madeira—are higher in calories because they contain a double dose of high alcohol and residual sugar. In dry wines, the fermentation process converts the fruit sugars to alcohol. It is either sugar or alcohol that accounts for the vast majority of calories in wine.
Compare the Oreo Triple Double or a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon to the calorie counts of a few fast-food indulgences: KFC’s Double Down sandwich has 540 calories; Wendy’s Baconator Double has 930; Hardee’s Monster Thickburger has 1,320.
You’d have to drink about two bottles and about two additional glasses of wine to equal the caloric intake of one Monster Thickburger.
Wine is a more healthful choice for another reason: A glass of dry wine contains 0 grams of fat. The Monster Thickburger contains 95 (while the Wendy’s Baconator Double has 58, and the KFC Double Down has 32).
By the way, it turns out that the Triple Double is not a new product; it’s just new in the United States. A version of it has been available in Argentina for about a year.3
We know certain types of chocolate match nicely with Cabernet Sauvignon.
So how about an Oreo Triple Double with a glass of Argentina’s signature red wine, Malbec?
I just may give that a try this weekend…
What’s your favorite kind of Oreo cookie? Classic? Double Stuf? Do you eat it in one bite, or do you twist off the cookie’s “top”? Share your Oreo preferences in the comment box below. And while you’re at it, let us know if you’ve ever had wine with an Oreo.
Sources:
I vote for the Classic Oreo. I’ve never had an Oreo with wine…I’ll have to give it a try!