Junk Food Nation, today’s junk food are Limited Edition Fruit Punch Oreos!  You know, on the podcast that I’m part of, The Nosh Show, we discuss random Oreo flavors all the time.  Marvo from The Impulsive Buy, Ryan from GrubGrade, and Dubba from On Second Scoop … we aren’t strangers to flavor.  We threw out some of the craziest flavors we could think of in Episode 15:

…and continued that discussion in Episode 21:

…but in neither episode did I ever contemplate FRUIT PUNCH as a flavor filling.  People had commented to me before WHY OH WHY didn’t Nabisco make a cherry pie Oreo, or something similar?  Well, we may have our answer here: Fruit Punch Oreos!

Fruit Punch Oreos: The Money Shot

You’d think these Fruit Punch Oreos, Limited Edition, found at Walmart, would be an April Fools joke, right?  But they weren’t.  And while I cannot even imagine the unholy corporate board meeting / taste lab discussions that resulted in this flavor, the fact remains: THESE ARE REAL.

Fruit Punch Oreos: 70 cal per cookie

Fruit Punch Oreos: No fruit…just like REAL fruit punch

Fruit Punch Oreos don’t contain any actual fruit, unless Nabisco crowbarred it into the “natural flavors” category, but they did include citric acid, presumably to make these more “fruity.”  Let’s open it up.

Fruit Punch Oreos: Red..or pink

The first smell that came wafting out of this open package of Fruit Punch Oreos was… FRUIT PUNCH.  The aroma that tickled my nose was a combo of cherry and that overly strong stinging acid-y fruit punch syrup smell.

Fruit Punch Oreos: …or is that salmon?

The closest thing I can compare the smell of these Fruit Punch Oreos to is the cherry syrup that gets poured on snow cones, or whatever liquid makes up cherry/fruit punch flavored popsicles.  Or a cherry/fruit punch flavored Starburst.

Fruit Punch Oreos: Untwisted

The creme in these Fruit Punch Oreos was your standard Red 40 Lake, squeezed inside of a Golden Oreo.  Seriously, the aroma of these was a little overpowering.  It wavered between cherry popsicle and cherry cough syrup at times – when I put my nose right into them, the smell was so strong it made my nostrils react.

Fruit Punch Oreos: Teeth marks, scraping the creme

I tasted the creme of these Fruit Punch Oreos by itself first.  By itself, the creme was very sweet, and REALLY reminded me of fruit punch flavor or, as previously described, like the flavor of a cherry popsicle or cherry slushee.  The texture of the creme was standard Oreo, and only smacked very lightly of vanilla.  No, this creme was all about the fruit punch – like a very very soft whipped/blended Starburst, spread onto the cookie.

Fruit Punch Oreos: Sandwiched and broken

Eaten with the Golden Oreo? I have to admit – it wasn’t bad.  I know some will read my description and not understand how such a solid fruit punch flavor would taste good on a Golden Oreo, but honestly, the concept is no different than having a jelly-filled donut – just “fruit” and “pastry” mixed together.  Here, the sweetness of the Golden Oreo helped mute some of the strong fruit punch flavor, and together they tasted good!  Sort of like a cherry turnover in cookie form.  Or cherry pie.  Bingo.

If I had small criticisms, it’s that the extra tang sometimes pushed the flavor to a borderline vitamin-y flavor.  Also, it was weird to be getting the cherry / fruit punch flavor from the texture of a creme or frosting.

It’s an interesting gambit Nabisco played with these Fruit Punch Oreos – draw in the attention with a flavor like “Fruit Punch,” knowing that the resultant pastry will remind people of the drink but also taste like a traditional fruit and pastry combo.  I thought these were decently successful, and the combo will not scare people off like the Watermelon Oreos did.

Nice work, Oreo.  Try these – if you can find them.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart

COST: $2.98

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Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy