I must give credit where credit is due, and that would be to my father, Reuben Wayne Stringfellow because he brought home the first bag of pecan Sandies I ever ate. I am not about to say whether or not they were Keebler brand. I have no idea what they may have been. I can tell you this, my father was Scottish, and he he probably never bought name-brand cookies, candies, or anything when we were kids. He may have bought Braum's ice cream, but that's an entirely different matter.
So, the pecan Sandies or shortbreads that we eat today (in my house) do vary from the name brands to the off-brand names. The only criteria they must have is that they are in fact good tasting. I can even say that the cost of the bag is secondary to the taste of the product. I can go that far. That being said, I decided to do the side-by-side taste test this morning just to see if there really is that big of a difference between the two brands that are currently in my house.
Keebler was the control cookie. The Aldi store brand is the challenger. When I set the bags one on top of the other for the photo I realized for the first time, that the portions were the very same. They were both 11.3 ounces. I don't think I even thought that would be possible, but it is. They are. The Keebler cookie is slightly smaller in circumference but slightly denser in texture, and they are in fact the same weight per bag, with the same number of cookies in each bag.
The Aldi bag Sandie had more tiny slivers of pecans, and they were not as smooth as the Keebler brand either. I could turn them both at an angle and see the obvious roughness of the Aldi cookie. I'd say by comparison that the Keebler is a little Scotsman wearing a kilt with fashionable hose and polished shoes. It may have a vest, blouse, and jacket with a tie, where the Aldi cookie is also a Scotsman wearing a kilt, but maybe he's not so inclined to pull up his socks, and he's got on a pair of laced-up black boots and he's not wearing a jacket or vest, but a rough and wooly jumper (sweater for the Americans). That is the difference between the two cookies.
How do they taste? To be completely honest I needed to try two or three from each bag to be sure, but I gave the Keebler more points for denseness and the Aldi brand for less greasy aftertaste. It's not as if Keebler has a greasy aftertaste, but it's there sort of faintly lingering, where the Aldi cookie was a little less noticeable. I would give each an 8 on a scale of 1-10. I like them both. I will buy them both. The difference in cost was fairly significant if you must know.
The Keebler cookies were purchased at Winco, which is cheaper than say Target, Walmart, or another named store. They were $3.79 for the bag. (The Keebler bag opens on the top with an easy-to-open pull thing, whereas the Aldi cookie bag does not have that type of opening.) The Aldi brand was $2.99, so you're talking a good .80 difference, so that's roughly .... math. That's math, that's what that is. It's .80 less for the Aldi bag.
So there you go - - a taste and side-by-side comparison between two of the finest -- you can do your own comparison if you need to. I would. I would go out there in the big bad world and pick them both up and just test my theory!! I double-dog dare you, and that means you have to do it....unless you wanna be called a chicken!
Photo Credit: Me.
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