A friend of mine from another state introduced me to a new craze – cookie butter. He was in Cali for a conference, shall we say, when he got a request to bring some cookie butter back home. I’d never heard of cookie butter before. He told me that friends of his had brought some from Trader Joe’s. I live 6 blocks from a Trader Joe’s, yet had never seen cookie butter. Of course, I barely eat peanut butter, so it’s no surprise that I had no idea what cookie butter is. Earlier this week I looked up cookie butter on the internet to see exactly what it is. According to the internet, the one at Trader Joe’s is peanut butter mixed with crushed ginger cookies and coconut. Another company makes cookie butter, too, but the one from Trader Joe’s seems to be the favorite. Also, when it first came out, it was apparently so popular that customers were limited to 2 jars maximum. A co-worker informed me that the cookie butter craze has been going on for awhile (she has 2 young boys) and that the Trader Joe’s near her is often sold out of it. This afternoon I specifically made a trip to Trader Joe’s to (a) see if they had any, (b) see what flavors/selections they had, (c) see what the price was and (d) see if there was still a 2 jar limit. The Trader Joe’s on California Street seemed to be well stocked with 3 different types – regular, crunchy and cocoa swirl. The regular and crunchy were priced at $3.69/jar while the cocoa swirl was a little higher at $3.99/jar. Luckily, there was no mention of a quantity limit. Apparently, this part of San Francisco didn’t get the memo that it’s the new phenomenon. Then again, most of San Francisco isn’t quite as cool as they think. Also, I’m obviously behind on this trend myself. Although my friend wanted 4 jars of regular and 4 jars of cocoa swirl, I was reluctant to carry that much home. I was also there to pick up liquids in the form of San Pellegrino, coconut water and Italian blood orange soda. Thus, he’ll have to make do with 2 jars of regular and 2 jars of cocoa swirl for the time being. Now I’ve been known to go to the gym and do a few light weights, but 4 jars of cookie butter, 4 cartons of coconut water, 2 bottles of San Pellegrino, 1 bottle of Italian blood orange soda and a few other sundry items nearly killed me on the way home! My friend can have the additional 4 jars of cookie butter when my arms have recovered enough to make a return to Trader Joe’s! Besides, I need to pick up a jar for myself to see what all the hype is about. Exactly how does one eat cookie butter? On toast? Celery sticks? With chips? With churros? Can one make actual cookie butter cookies, much like peanut butter cookies, with it? What about a cookie butter bundt cake? Feeling experimentation coming on.
