(NEXSTAR) – In what is being described as the biggest update in nearly 10 years, Chips Ahoy! is changing the recipe for its classic blue-packaged cookies.
Chips Ahoy! cookies, which now come in multiple varieties and flavors, first hit the market in the 1960s, according to Mondelez. They were originally created by Nabisco, and were initially advertised as tasting as good as homemade cookies, The Spokesman-Review reports.
Later on, advertisements claimed there were at least 16 chocolate chips in each of the cookies, and then – according to an advertisement featuring musician and actor Joey Lawrence – 32 chips per cookie. That later dropped to 24 before jumping to 1,000 chips per package (a claim reportedly debunked by a class of third-graders in North Carolina).
It’s the original Chips Ahoy! cookies — those that come in blue packaging like you can see below — that are getting a recipe update.
In a press release, the company says their original cookies are getting new, “specially blended chocolate chips” that have “a higher cacao content and a higher concentrate Madagascar vanilla extract.” The recipe is meant to create a “well-rounded chocolate flavor while reducing bitterness.”
The updates also feature a “richer cookie flavor” and the “national implementation of a mixing process” to create the “right cookie texture,” according to the company.
So will you notice a difference when you peel open a redesigned bag of original Chips Ahoy! cookies? Chips Ahoy! provided a package of the current and new original cookies for an informal tasting panel — a.ka., my friends and I. We may not be cookie experts, but we’ve had enough in our free time that we feel pretty confident in our taste-testing abilities.
After comparing the delicacies, my friends and I can confirm there is a difference.
A side-by-side comparison of the current and new packaging:
One of the first things we noticed was the difference in the appearance of the cookies. The photo below shows the original on the left and the new version on the right. The newer version appears slightly larger, thinner, and darker in color, with more chips.
We also picked up on the smell of the cookies. Neither version has the aroma of freshly baked cookies, but we agreed that there’s something different with the newer version and it’s all about the chocolate. Here’s where the actual tasting began.
In a blind taste test, where we closed our eyes and tried to guess which cookie we were eating, there were mixed results. At first, only two of us were able to tell a difference. The new Chips Ahoy! is still crunchy, so it isn’t until you find a chocolate chip that you notice a different taste.
Remember, the chips now have a “higher cacao content.” Cacao, when processed, is considered cocoa, but you’ll commonly see it touted on packages of dark chocolate. Take, for example, these organic dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s, which have 73% cacao.
As you can likely guess, cacao itself tends to be more bitter than standard chocolate — a flavor profile half of my friend group (myself included) pointed out in the new Chips Ahoy! cookies. The other half of my hand-selected cookie connoisseurs argued the opposite, saying the newer cookie felt sweeter than the original. With the exception of the chips themselves, the cookies taste about the same as the original Chips Ahoy! cookies.
A quick look at the nutrition facts also shows the new Chips Ahoy! cookies have one less gram of sugar and one more gram of protein than the old recipe.
We also did the most important test we could think of: trying them with milk. Like the original Chips Ahoy! cookie you may have in your pantry, the new version pairs well with a glass of 2%. They hold together long enough for you to eat, but will, of course, crumble if you leave them in too long.
After having a few of the newer cookies, we all agreed that while you can tell there’s been a change in the recipe for the blue-packaged treats, it’s probably not drastic enough to turn off any longtime fans of the brand.
Ready to try them for yourself? The new Chips Ahoy! cookies (remember, it’s only the blue package that’s changing), will start hitting grocery store shelves this month and should be available nationwide beginning in April.