I imagine somewhere at the Nabisco headquarters there’s a plush office for the head of the Oreo flavor think tank. He has arguably one of the best jobs ever, and a filing cabinet full of bold and bright ideas to satisfy our junk food taste buds. Buried deep within one of those cabinets is a folder titled “Why the Hell Haven’t These Been Made Yet?”, brimming with combinations so absurdly obvious they don’t leave the room. Last year this file was dusted off to release the solid Dunkin’ Donuts Mocha Oreo, and while they couldn’t quite land the Nutella brand name for the ultimate team up, 2018 finally see’s the release of Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo.

The cookie combines a standard Golden wafer with a smooth and creamy chocolate hazelnut crème. The aroma is mostly chocolate and vanilla with just a hint of nutty nuance beneath the sweetness. The flavor, however, is big and nutty as all hell.

Hazelnut drives the profile of the cookie with its robust earthiness and is rounded out by sweet creamy cocoa notes. The combination of the strong cookie crunch and prominent hazelnut flavor reminds me a lot of eating a gold-clad Ferrero Rocher. It’s hard to say without having a jar next to me to compare side by side, but the nuttiness might be even stronger than in Nutella, and is surprisingly less sweet. The crème doesn’t have the same decadent mouthfeel, but the flavor is bold, and there’s nothing artificial tasting about it either.

While the filling doesn’t have the same epic density of your usual chocolate spread, its lighter whipped texture reminds me a lot of chocolate frosting. This texture mashup happily conjures up memories of one of my favorite childhood snacks – Dunkaroos, and that’s definitely a good thing. While the graham and vanilla frosting Dunkaroo was always my favorite, the crunchy cookie with chocolate-y frosting is an undeniable combo that really flips my nostalgia switch; and the added layer of hazelnut in the Oreo keeps the overall experience more dynamic and fun to keep eating.

Chocolate and hazelnut are a wonderful combination that gave birth to a wonderful Oreo. The crème is great and would work well with graham and maybe even chocolate too, although the chocolate might temper the impact of the creamy chocolate. This is a limited release that’s super successful in its execution and with the popularity of Nutella I wouldn’t be surprised if these became a permanent addition like the Cinnamon Bun and Red Velvet down the line.

Rating: 9/10

Found at: Target ($3.19)