Kelley’s Kookies were nice enough to reach out to me and ask me to review their cookies. I stopped by their location at the Westside Pavilion and came across:

a very clean, neat, and bright store. The first thing I noticed about the store is that it’s not like a typical cookie store that have lots of bright colors and other baked goods. Kelley’s Kookies store was very nicely organized with the cookies clearly in display in neat packages. There was a clear connection between the way the cookies are packaged and the store — I think anyone who receives a package of these cookies will know exactly the feeling and look of the store before even walking in. I didn’t bother the 3 gentlemen maintaining the store at first.. I wanted to take a walk around and breathe in the cookies! Kelley’s Kookies pride themselves on containing only natural ingredients and no preservatives. There were so many different kinds:

Lemon shortbread, macadamia chocolate chip, shortbread, sugar cookies, Kelley’s Delight, melting moments

Pecan shortbread, Guava dreams, krispy oatmeal, neapolitan delight

Guava Dreams

Neapolitan Delight

Others I saw are chocolate chip krispy oatmeal (actually contains crispy rice cereal), raspberry dream (the “dream” cookies are a shortbread sandwich cookie with fruit filling), pecan shortbread, and macadamia ice box (mac nuts and vanilla). Varied and unique.

Here was my present, just in time for my birthday!

This box was like a little version of the store, I told you! When you take off the sleeve and open the box, you’re greeted by a little paper that tells you how much love went into making each of the cookies and that they are all natural and don’t contain preservatives:

Past the paper obstacle is what you’ve been waiting for:

The first package of cookies were my favorite:

This was kind of like a shortbread with a little more flavor. Of course, being a chocolate lover, I wish that the whole thing was covered in chocolate, but I get that this is prettier. This tasted great! And that chocolate layer was thick:

I thought the ratio of chocolate to cookie was great in that half of the cookie. My only criticism would be that the cookie is too thick. I think it would have been better if there wasn’t so much height to the cookie; it added thickness and cakey-ness.

The sugar cookies were by far the prettiest:

(Don’t mind the powdered sugar.) The sugar cookies had sprinkles on top which was such a nice addition to an otherwise plain cookie. Firstly it’s very visually pleasing. I love bright colors! Secondly it was a good partner in terms of texture; the cookie itself was crunchy with small crumbs and pieces while the sprinkles were slightly bigger and harder.

Next, macadamia chocolate chip:

More macadamia nuts!!! These were the favorite among most of the people I shared these cookies with.

You can see in the image specks of the macadamia nuts. I don’t feel like the flavor of the macadamia nut stood out enough. Need more macadamia! I’m not sure if anyone who didn’t  read the label knew that there were macadamia nuts. But like I said, people had the most compliments about this cookie; everyone seemed to love the bite-sized aspect about this cookie, and hey, they tasted great too. If you don’t mind crunchy cookies, this cookie is for you.

These powdered cookies were the most messy! But what can you expect from cookies that have powdered sugar huh:

Each paper cup contained two of these cookies:

These were the least “cookie” of the four. This is a walnut mixture covered in powdered sugar. They were my least favorite for a variety of reasons: they didn’t really taste like anything and they were super crumbly, but I’ll admit the reason I didn’t like these cookies was because the powdered sugar got EVERYWHERE. And I don’t mean only while I was eating it. My friends and I didn’t eat these cookies in one sitting which means I put the cookies back in the box to transport them and when I opened the box again, powdered sugar was all over the inside of the box. I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the taste of the cookie or anything, but it did have an effect on my, erm, cookie experience. I would have liked a resealable bag to house these cookies. Luckily, the box itself didn’t allow for leaks (that thing is sealed shut when it’s closed!), for which my car seat and dining room thank you.

…and the best part! Mention my blog in one of the bakeries, spend $10 and get an awesome dawesome spatula!!!! You know you need one!!!

• Taste: 6-7: pretty average
• Crust and center moistness: crunchy cookies
• Value: $4.50 – $5.50 per pack; $18 for something like I got above and goes up to $43 for the Grand Gift Box, which contains 9 packs of cookies (a savings of an entire $2! but you get the nice box with a bow in which to package them.). A little much for my wallet, despite the “natural” and “no preservatives” claims — I mean what does “natural” mean anymore? I’ll admit everything on the ingredients list was everything I could pronounce.. including “hydrogenated oil.”
• Overall: These cookies provide for a great-looking present, and I love the variety of flavors. The gentlemen in the store were incredibly nice and helpful. I just wish that the powdered cookies would have resealable packaging because that’s something that would discourage me from buying those specifically. My friends and I enjoyed eating these. While they weren’t exactly spectacular, I think they’re worth a visit!

Kelley’s Kookies (they’ll ship, too!)
Bakeries located in the Westside Pavilion, Santa Anita Mall, and a location in Stanton on Katella. Their cookies are also sold in Mitsuwa and Marukai and a variety of other places: Kelley’s Kookies locations

A rep from Fresh Beginnings contacted me last week telling me she would send me a customized cookie tin! Fresh Beginnings specializes in freshly baked cookies (although they have other stuff too like pretzels and nuts) and they make tins with pretty designs as well as logos and messages on them. I sent her a picture for the tin that I knew my mom would like.

Quick background story before I get to the video: Moms Nguyen went to Penn State in the 70′s as a refugee, married my dad, had my sis, quit college, had more of us, became an amazing amazing amazing single parent, all the meanwhile dreaming of the day she could go back and obtain her degree but putting us first (and putting UP with us first) always. FINALLY in 2007 my younger sis went off to college as a Triton (UCSD!) which gave my mom the go ahead to go back to school. After some mild drama getting back into school; LOOONG nights; walks in the hard rain, wind and snow; and LOTS of papers (emphasis on LOTS), she not only obtained her bachelor’s but my mother now holds a Master’s degree in American Studies from Penn State University — a dream my mother has held for over 30 years!! (Fun fact for you college football buffs: In the 70′s, Joe Paterno was coaching the Nittany Lions. When my mom went back, he was still coaching!) This is a HUGE deal to the fam, and we are all so proud of her. Thus, the cookie tin. Watch and see! (Remember my mom didn’t know who it was from or what it was or anything!)

And here is Moms saying thank you to Fresh Beginnings

One thing we found out after is that there was a handwritten card accompanying the cookies! Ok, I’m special, but not *that* special. A handwritten note comes with all of them. Soooo personalized!

And some shots of the tins. Really, the pictures don’t do the tins justice:

The great thing about it is that I supplied the company with the picture and what I wanted it to say. They chose the design and the cute background! They certainly have an eye for what looks good.

And now for the cookies! As mentioned in the video, there were chocolate chip and chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies in here. Here’s what I dug into first, the chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie:

I read the reviews on the Fresh Beginnings site that highly praised the cookies, but I don’t believe it until I taste it. And now I believe it. They definitely deserve the 5 stars. My work friend commented that there is one THICK layer of chocolate on this cookie.

I’ve had chocolate covered sweets before, but none that taste like this. The chocolate complements the rest of the cookie so well in such a way that adds another level of taste to it, unlike other foods where the chocolate layer is really much more independent and doesn’t fit the rest of the treat exactly right.

Now, about the actual cookie:

(Apologies for slightly lower photo quality.. I took this picture with my camera on my phone) This is one of those cookies where you do a double take and go, “holy crap, this IS good!” I think the best thing about these cookies is that they’re soft and gooey on the inside (thanks to the fact that they’re freshly baked). They’re not crumbly and they hit the sweet craving (you know, the one you didn’t know you had until you bit into this cookie) just right. Funny thing is that even though there is only a medium amount of chocolate chips in here (and I require a LOT), I’m not complaining about that this time around. It’s probably because the rest of the cookie tasted so good.

Oh, and by the way. THE COOKIES ARE ONLY 90 CALORIES EACH!!! The chocolate covered ones have 170. I totally ate one of each today but it was SO worth it. And the tins are so awesome and totally reusable. For more cookies, of course.

HOWEVER. One thing I don’t like is that these cookies have partially hydrogenated oils in them. Probably one of the reasons why they taste so good! If they did away with the hydrogenated oils I would like them so much more. Also, the chocolate gets on your hands when you touch it. For normal people it would be ok because you would just hold it by the non-dipped part. But for us cookie bloggers who hold the cookies in the palm of our hands for comparison purposes, it’s just something we’re bound to notice.

Fresh Beginnings
More custom designs: http://www.freshbeginnings.com/Photo-Tins-W8C23.aspx
Twitter: @FreshBeginnings
Facebook: Fresh Beginnings
Or, you can message me / leave a comment if you want me to hook it up for you.

• Taste: 10
• Crust and center moistness: soft and gooey!
• Value: $20 for 20 chocolate chip cookies; $33 for 40 chocolate chip cookies. It’s an extra $3 for the customized tin, then there’s shipping from Georgia. GREAT price!!! TOTALLY worth it!
• Overall: I’m pretty picky about my food, so the partially hydrogenated oils are a turn off. But on the other hand, this would be more about the cookies AND the tin rather than just the cookies. (Also, it’s worth mentioning that the hydrogenated oils wouldn’t stop me from buying them from others.. nor does it stop me from eating them.) Anyway, I know that most other people don’t care about the hydrogenated oil, so this would make a wonderful gift for family or corporate! BUY! 9 for the partially hydrogenated oil, 10 for everyone else besides me.