This is the latest in Tohato's "All (fruit name)" series of somewhat healthy cookies. Previously, I sampled their "All Osatsu" (sweet potato) and "All Cranberry VE" cookies and rated them both positively. I had somewhat lower expectations for these banana cookies since, if there's one thing sweets makers can manage, it's to screw up banana-flavored treats. That being said, I was game to give these a try to see how Tohato did with giving them the "All" treatment.
A bag of these contains 14 cookies that are about 5 x 4.5 cm square (2" x 1.7"). I bought these at Tomod's drug store, but I'd be surprised if you couldn't find them in most grocery stores in Tokyo. Each cookie is only 29 calories.
The process of making these cookies is offered with an illustration on the side of the bag. They show a layer of cookie, a 10-cm. (3.9 in.) layer of bananas and another layer of cookie. Apparently, they press a ton of banana between the two cookie layers to make the somewhat chewy, but still soft morsel pictured above.
I've sniffed a lot of snacks (recreationally, I'm not a hard dealer in snacks or anything) since starting this blog, and these smell better than any banana treat I've tried in my life. They smell like strong, real banana. In fact, the closest thing I can describe the scent to would be banana chips.
These have a nice natural banana flavor, like dried, moist real banana mixed with a generic cookie and cake hybrid flavor. It's very lightly sweet, and gets most of its punch from the banana filling. The ingredients list starts with flour and then goes to the banana followed by sugar, grape sugar, margarine, shortening, and eggs. Somewhere down the list is also cinnamon. That's an unusual inclusion in cookies in Japan.
If you like bananas, I strongly recommend trying these while they're still available. They taste great, have a good texture, and they keep very well. If you're looking to snack on something a little healthier when the old blood sugar drops, these would be a good choice to keep in your desk at work. Two or three of these with a cup of tea really hits the spot.
