Food Review: Orton Bros Pumpkin Pie Cookie Buttons

Have you guys heard of the Vermont Country Store?  Well, if you haven't and you're big on nostalgia, let me tell you, this is the website/store for you!!  We got the chance to visit the actual store in Weston, VT last year for Christmas and you guys know what a nostalgia/sentimental nerd I am - I was in HEAVEN!  Do you have A Christmas Story freak in your circle of friends or family?  Buy 'em some Lifebuoy soap.   Do you love Christmas decorations from your childhood?  Peek at their holiday shop.  It's not just a holiday place though.  Missing that fragrance Grandma used to wear?  You might just be able to find it there!  

While perusing the store, the Mr's sample radar went off.  I swear that man can sniff out a sample within a two-mile radius.  Well, HE was in heaven when we hit their food section which you could literally make a meal from between cookies, crackers, cheeses, and fudge!  When he told me I had to try these cookie buttons he tasted, he didn't have to twist my arms. They were the zesty lemon flavor and holy hellcakes!  Remember McDonaldLand cookies from your youth?  Well, they taste exactly like those!   Needless to say, we bought two boxes.  Since we weren't familiar with Vermont and the amount of time between towns with restaurants was getting longer, we split a box for lunch.   No regrets.

We've since ordered more and shared with friends, they are that good.  So when they came out with seasonal flavors like this pumpkin pie, I knew we had to try them.  They only sell them in 3 packs online (darn) so I ordered pumpkin pie, cinnamon, and maple.

Today we'll be trying the pumpkin pie.  Here's the nutritional info.

To me, this is how you can tell they're a little more homemade than your mass produced gigantor cookie company...

See how no two cookies really look the same?  Plus that pic of my giant paw gives you some scale on their size.

But how do they taste?

Okay, remember when Violet Beauregard swiped the 3 Course Dinner Gum and could taste each element as she chewed?  That is exactly what this cookie tasted like to us.  The first chew or two tastes like plain pumpkin puree which honestly turned me off a little.  But as you continue to chew, the spices kick in and then it truly tastes like pumpkin pie.  I think it's because of its more natural, unprocessed as possible way of being baked that lends that taste when it's a more layered cookie. Like the zesty lemon is just like chew and bam...lemony goodness because there aren't other spices competing for your taste buds.  The pumpkin spice was good but not a flavor either of us would have to have again.  We're definitely looking forward to the maple and cinnamon flavors because they are straight up, non-layered flavors.  (Edit:  We just tried the maple and while they're good, neither of us tasted maple...at all.  So I'm beginning to think zesty lemon should just be ordered for all 3 boxes from now on and that is just fine with me!)

If you like light, crispy cookies full of flavor, the Orton Brothers Cookie Buttons are one of our favorites and we don't typically buy cookies on the regular to keep in the house.  Plus they're low enough in calories that even if you went ape poo on a whole box, it'd be the equivalent of a meal, not all of your meals for the day.

What's your favorite seasonal cookie?

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