Arnott's Caramel Tim Tams
Several months back, I had a friend ask me if I've ever heard of Tim Tams. I had not, but sure enough within several weeks she was able to locate a place that sold them out of DC and had a "courier" purchase and bring them back to us in New York.
Tim Tams come in primarily in two flavors here in the States; Chocolate Creme (original) and Caramel. Although I had both flavors in hand, I was eager to try the caramel variety.
The Attraction
Chocolate and caramel along with the thrill of trying to locate these obscure (at least in the US), treats them made a must-try. It didn't hurt that the lucky folks in Australian (where these cookies are originally manufactured), rave about these little buggers.
The Review
Manufactured in a well-spaced plastic packaging, these chocolate treats come 9 to a case. Upon first inspection, the Tim Tams visually reminded me of a thicker version of a childhood favorite snack of mine, Keebler's Deluxe Grahams Cookies. The flavor itself wasn't all that different either initially, until I got a taste of the caramel. It instantly brought to mind another often snacked on treat with chocolate, caramel and wafer; a Twix bar! It's almost identical in flavor, however consistency-wise, the Tim Tams are a bit crunchier and drier, probably cause there's not as much caramel in them compared to a Twix. However, instead of the caramel covering the whole wafter, the caramel is filled within a channel in the center of the cookie. In the "original" flavor of the cookie, that channel is hollow. I'm a big fan of Twix, so even with less caramel, I instantly dug the this chocolate covered treat.
The Sweet
Chocolate, caramel and throw in some crunch; it's a tried and true recipe for a tasty outcome. Fans of Twix will instantly connect with the familiar flavor combination. Even more so if you have always wanted a "crunchier" or a less caramel-filled version of a Twix bar.
The Bitter
These treats are hard to find! Initally, that made the sampling of this snack all the more rewarding, however after realizing I can readily get a similar snack with a fraction of the effort, I would rather just go down to the local CVS and Duane Reade to pickup a Twix.
For about $4 a package with 9 wafers, that breaks down to about 44 cents a cookie. That's pretty close to about the cost of a Twix, so cost-wise, you are in line with similar-like snacks. On it's own, it's a great snack. With that said, I'm actually a fan of the softer wafer that Twix offers. Other than wanting to try this tasty chocolate biscuit for yourself, the effort and additional time to locate these treats may not be worth it when there's a comparable product readily available at your local grocer. Being that I still have some left, you also won't have the problem of this snack occupying a space in your pantry for very long either.
