We’re already all studying in our pajamas — why not head over to Insomnia Cookies for a free cookie? Set conveniently before midterms, Insomnia invited sleepless college students across America to its fourth annual PJ party on Tuesday, Sept. 20. With an opportunity to get a free in-store classic cookie, featured Insomnia prizes and a taste of the limited edition Sour Patch Kids cookie series, my friends and I were lucky to be one of the first few in line.
After a quick scan of the menu with nervous glances at the growing line behind us, we ended up deciding on the double chocolate chunk, classic with M&M and peanut butter chip and chocolate chunk for our free classic cookies — and for the sake of this article, the limited time Sour Patch Kids® cookie. With a scoop of ice cream in hand as a palate cleanser, we headed over to the seating area to accept our rainbow-covered fates.
Stuffed with gooey raspberry Sour Patch Kids filling and sprinkled with bits of the original candy, the cookie almost paid homage to the rainbow food trends of 2014 and the colored food products of the early 2000s. Like a sugar cookie dressed for Coachella, the visual combination of colors on the cookie would not have landed itself on any fashion review’s best-dressed list.
As someone who had tried the Sour Patch Ice Cream, as well as the Sour Patch lip balms, my hopes were not high for this new collaboration. Our excitement was not raised by the raspberry filling, which happened to be a redder red flag than any of us had expected. With low expectations, we braced ourselves as we took our designated portions.
One bite of the cookie led to an uncontrolled explosion of flavors and textures that left our taste buds reeling from the impact. The raspberry filling was representative of the brand’s “sour, sweet, gone” motto, as it was a subtle sour-sweet mix enhanced by Insomnia Cookie’s signature melty warmth. However, the Sour Patch bits at the top were chewy and not fused to the cookie in any way, as most of them rolled off the surface when we split the cookie.
My boyfriend, Adrian, was especially not a fan.
“It didn’t taste like a cookie,” he said. “It was a cookie-shaped crime against humanity.”
With the brilliant idea to see if the cookie would redeem itself when added to the Caramellionaire ice cream, our group decided to give the cookie one more chance — though as many second chances go, we were let down once again.
Though it was partially our fault for concocting such a monstrosity of a combination, the addition of the two flavors definitely called for our classic cookies to serve as chasers for the confusion hitting our taste buds. Perhaps with a different ice cream flavor, the cookie would’ve been redeemed.
This wasn’t the first time Sour Patch tried to pull off an unconventional food collaboration. With Sour Patch Gogurt, cereal, ice cream, Chips Ahoy and a Sonic slush, the brand is popular for branching out in ways that no other product has before, trying to add a sour take on every sweet dessert product.
While some collaborations work, like Snoop Dogg’s cooking show with Martha Stewart or Gerard Way’s The Umbrella Academy, Sour Patch has yet to hit its mark with any of its products. Though Snoop Dogg can be a cook and the Rock can be a rapper, our final review is that Sour Patch Kids cannot be a cookie.
The rest of our experience went quite well after putting the confusion behind the limited edition cookie behind us. With a full view of the line that trailed out the door, we enjoyed the free cookies we earned thanks to our marvelous sleepwear outfits. We even got free Insomnia tote bags, available while supplies lasted.
