Cookie review: Natural Nectar Choco Dream

Remember the scene in Love Actually during which Hugh Grant, as the British PM, is presiding over a meeting and asks "Who do you have to screw around here to get a chocolate biscuit?" just as Natalie wheels in a cart of tea and said biscuits? www.em-i-lis.com

I am certain that dashing Hugh wanted cookies like these, the dark chocolate version of Natural Nectar's Choco Dream cookies, and when I eat a couple, I imagine Hugh sitting alongside me, jovially saying, "bloody hell, these are perfect!"

www.em-i-lis.com

I buy these cookies on an exceedingly regular basis at Whole Foods though I always wait until they go on sale for two/$7.00 because the random per box savings of $.49 makes me feel irrationally nice. Behavioral economics in action, folks.

Not only do I find the rectangular shape pleasing, but I also admire that they maintain the perfect amount of crunch while also being incredibly sturdy. These are not cookies that are going to break in half or crumble if you breathe on them wrong; they are durable, and I like that about them. Additionally, they are not overly sweet. What sugar your tongue does discern is offset wonderfully by the tannins in the dark chocolate.

I am partial to dark chocolate so haven't tried the milk chocolate variety but I suspect it's tasty too, not least because Natural Nectar doesn't seem to trade in white "chocolate" which, frankly, always makes me take a baker more seriously. I have a strong aversion to white "chocolate" because, on the few occasions I've tried to give it another go, it always makes me think I'm chewing on white wax. If I wanted to eat a candle, I just would.