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The Best (and Worst) Peppermint Items from Your Local Grocery Store

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.

 

Instead of being obsessed with pumpkin flavored things like a lot of people, I’m obsessed with peppermint. It iis quite crazy the obsession I feel for all things peppermint. Every year I host a peppermint themed party where everyone brings some type of peppermint dish.

So since I am obsessed, I thought I would go around to Randall’s, Trader Joe’s and Target looking for the best of the best peppermint flavored items. Below are my reviews.

1. Pepperidge Farm Milano Slices Peppermint – When you first bite into these cookies they have the nicest crunch. It crumbles a little and you instantly get a hit of dark chocolate. But no peppermint? It is non-existent. There are what appears to be shards of peppermint on top but they have barely any red coloring and they don’t taste like anything. This would be a good coffee to dip into tea but get regular Milano’s instead.

 

Final verdict: 1/5 candy canes

 

2. Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Cremes  – These are phenomenal. It is like a giant junior mint (so if you like those, get these). When you bite into them the peppermint creme comes out like caramel would in a regular chocolate. The chocolate snaps instead of bending like your average Hershey’s bar. You can only handle one of these as they are super rich. But they leave your mouth feeling fresh and cool.

Final verdict:  5/5 candy canes

 

3. Candy Cane Jo Jos – These were the most amazing things I tried. They were the best Oreo’s I have ever had and they weren’t even Oreos? They were incredibly fresh — a very nice crunch when you bit in. With a creamy center that was nicely made (when you pulled the cookies apart, it came off on both cookies instead of just one). It didn’t have that fake taste that Oreo cream has. Plus, the crunchy peppermint bits were even better. The cookies provided a mellowed out taste in compared to the cream so it didn’t give off the overly sweet vibes. You can eat them without milk, and I am a diehard Oreo and milk fan.

 

Final verdict: 10/5 candy canes

 

4. Peppermint Pretzel Slims – I will be the first to admit that I don’t love pretzel slims. But since they were Trader Joe’s brand, I was willing to try them. They are saltier than I thought they would be and basically all they tasted of is white chocolate. They have peppermint clusters on them but those don’t provide any peppermint flavor. If you want a sugar high, or love white chocolate these are for you.

 

Final verdict: 2/5 candy canes

 

 

5. Randall’s Light and Creamy Peppermint Ice Cream – I’ve had this before and it truly is really creamy but there is kind of strange aftertaste. It’s a little plastic-y and you can definitely tell the peppermint was manufactured – not natural. The coloring is nice, red and green, it looks like a bowl of Christmas. But it doesn’t have the most peppermint taste; it’s very subtle instead of in your face.

 

Final verdict: 3/5 candy canes

 

Hopefully this helps you find the peppermint item of your dreams!

Grace is a Philosophy and Economics double major and a Government minor at the University of Texas at Austin. Most of her writing focuses on politics and civic engagement, characteristically intertwining her journalism with op-ed takes (usually nonpartisan; depends who you ask). Grace enjoys reading philosophy, reading and discussing politics, gushing over her dog, and painting in her spare time. As a true economics enthusiast, she also loves graphs.