I was glancing through my usual food news wire feeds when I stopped with a jolt at a story on the FoodBeast site. The top story of the morning exulted upon a ‘secret’ deal you can get on cookies. But who really needs 120 cookies at a whack?
Definitely safer to buy COSTCO Cookies already baked, in the
Variety Pack – which contains ‘only’ 18-20 cookies……
Food Beast correspondent Nirmala Singh earned top spot on the avant garde food site first thing this morning with her breathless report about how to get a mega-box of COSTCO’s, “…ooey, gooey, large cookies that you love so much,” for a steal.
They normally come in 18-20 count clear plastic clamshells for under $10. How far ‘under’ depends on where you live and whether they’re having one of their frequent specials.
But Singh has news for you…
“Well, did you know you can get 120 cookies from the Costco bakery for just $31.99? We know, major *gasp*. We thought the exact same when we watched the TikTok. According to @miranabulsi‘s video, rather than buying a pack of cookies for $9.99, you can call up one of the bakers in the bakery and kindly request a [mega-]box of [120] frozen cookies!”
You don’t have to do the math to realize that’s a really good deal, on the price. But if you do, you’ll discover that it works out to just $0. 25 per cookie. That’s hard for a cookie lover to ignore.
Now, I have news for you…
It’s definitely not such a good deal nutritionally, though…
The TikTok video indicates that COSTCO breaks down the 6 kg total weight of the mega-box as ‘120 x 50 g’ cookies.
Your generic 50 g chocolate chip cookie delivers about 244 Calories, 12.36 g of total fats, and almost 18 g of sugar.
Let’s do a little simple, but revealing math…
So: 120 x 244 calories = 29,280 total Calories per box! That 244 calories per cookie represents a significant chunk of your recommended healthy daily allowance (2,000). A mere 8 cookies could top you out, even if you ate nothing else that day.
The mega-box contains a total of 2.16 kg / 4.75 lb. of sugar. And 1.48 kg / 3.26 lb. of fat. Not to mention, almost 18,000 mg of sodium!
Am I sensationalising? Yes, I admit it. But that’s the most effective way to illustrate how bad a mismatch the cookie mega-box is with the average individual’s every-day needs.
Who really needs all those cookies?
A restaurant or food truck operator, maybe. Or a cafeteria operator. Or a soup kitchen. But not – God help all those fat little future-kids! – a family.
Yes, they’re frozen, and will keep for a long time. You don’t have to eat them all up within a few days to prevent them going stale.
No, the box itself isn’t small enough to fit in most home freezers.
Yes, they’re frozen raw, so you have to bake them.
No, that’s not a big deal for anyone who wants cookies. All you, or your cookie-crazy kids have to do is pop some in the toaster oven for a few minutes to enjoy that coveted fresh-from-the-oven experience.
Yes, they’re cheap and plentiful.
No, it’s not a good idea to have a treasure trove of sweets like that in the house.
Yes, you can lock the freezer. But…
No, you probably can’t keep the smarter, older kids out of the stash, no matter what you do.
They’re out to get you!
All those cookies, lurking in your freezer, will wreak upon you tsunamis of temptation the likes of which you’ve never suffered before.
I’ve just completed an informal survey of an admittedly small group of subjects. And the research has confirmed my suspicions that most cookie-lovers and sweet-tooth types in my circle would probably eat between 2 and 4 cookies at a sitting. Accompanied by a ‘suitable’ beverage of their preference. That would, overwhelmingly among my survey subjects, be a 12 oz. / 355 ml can of sugary soda, or an 8 oz. / 236 ml glass of 2 percent milk.
That glass of milk would add another 120 Calories to the snack. Plus a bunch of other constituents that are good for you. The soda, on the other hand, would add about 150 Calories. Almost all of them from 39 g of sugar.
So… Say you have three cookies and a glass of milk as a snack? You’re consuming a little over 850 total Calories. That’s a big chunk of your recommended daily total Calorie allowance!
My take
I simply couldn’t have the COSTCO Cookie mega-box in my house. Yes, I have a commercial freezer that would accommodate it. But no, I don’t have the willpower – or, as sister Erin says, ‘won’t’ power – to follow through on the ‘big bargain’ responsibly.
Could you?
~ Maggie J.