I Want M(Oreo): We’ve Snicked, We’ve Doodled, We Have No Idea What’s Going On
Maybe you don’t spend your time looking up the history of dessert names, and I’m sorry for your tiny life if you don’t, but some of us do. This joyous pastime has led me to one of the greatest mysteries of our time….just where exactly did the snickerdoodle come from?
While some claim that the delightful soft and cinnamon-y cookies originated in Germany, and that their curious name is a miswriting of “schneckennudeln” (which apparently means snail dumpling? Or snail noodles? Or cinnamon-dusted sweet rolls? Or possibly none of the research sites I looked at could correctly translate German?), there are other theories out there as well. The German schneckennudeln is a crunchy and cinnamon-covered cookie, which looks not dissimilar to a flattened cinnamon roll, so that origin story has some merit. The flavors of buttery dough and cinnamon are at least in the right ballpark. However, would you call a perfect snickerdoodle…“crunchy?” No, no you would not. Maybe the sugar shell on the outside, but not the cookie itself…But there is that sugar shell…Wait, now I’m doubting even myself.
Other theorists theorize different theories such as that the cookie originated in the New England region and the name came from a children’s story hero of the same name. While I don’t particularly like this theory, it seems more promising than that the cookies were named after snails (a name that makes sense in cookies with a spiraling swirl pattern but less sense for a cookie that has non-uniform crackling as its main look. Am I right? I feel like this is a moment for Columbo to peek back and say, “Oh, just one more thing…” and then agree with me.)
Ultimately, we may never know where the Snickerdoodle originated. And that’s okay because it is still delicious. However, what we can undoubtedly say is that the Snickerdoodle Oreo originated as a way to copy the Snickerdoodle cookie. And…..And we are pleased to report that it is very good that they did.
The Snickerdoodle Oreo consists of three components: golden Oreo wafers, cinnamon creme, and red and green sugar crystals mixed into the creme to give it that satisfying…oh, no, it’s crunch. THEY ARE CRUNCHY.
The mix of the golden wafer, of which I remain an unbiased fan, serves as the perfectly light vanilla but bland in a nice way foil to the delicately cinnamon filling. Did anyone ever use the word “delicate” in regards to an Oreo creme flavor? Someone stop the presses! And the sugar crystals are pleasantly disorienting. This may be one of my favorite of the Oreo Limited Edition flavors, a real 9/10 over here. Please come bask at this mysterious altar of flavor with me.
