For a while, anyway. I just bought a package from the local Sweetbay. Apparently the Kelloggs people brought them back for a special “100th Anniversary Limited Edition.” I was not aware that the phrase “limited edition” could be applied to cookies, so I am wiser in that regard.
Also it seems a bit like cheating to congratulate themselves on the cookie’s 100th Anniversary when they discontinued the brand years ago. Isn’t that a bit like a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary after they’ve divorced?
Oh well. The point is that Hydrox cookies are back on the shelves, and now I have some.
Heh. Not ten minutes ago, Michaela went out to get the mail; she returned with the September events schedule from The Jazz Bakery. Next Sunday, they’re celebrating Ray Charles’s 90th birthday.
I take it this is the original recipe Hydrox and not the Keebler sandwich cookies that tried to pass themselves off as Hydrox (a.k.a., Droxies) when the company bought the rights to the product name from Sunshine?
One of many questionable marketing decisions associated with the brand. In fact, Hydrox had so many ill-conceived selling strategies, it’s a wonder it stayed on store shelves as long as it did.
Anyway, I’m one of those strange “not right” people who actually preferred Hydrox to Oreos. I thought the center of Hydrox had a smoother texture and creamier taste to it than Oreos. Also, long before Oreos started doing it, Hydrox had other flavors like Mint Creme, Milk Chocolate Creme, and Peanut Butter Creme. I used to especially like the Mint Cremes.
Oh man, I so have to find some. I used to have boxes and boxes of them in my pantry growing up. Literally.
My most beloved Uncle Eddie was a ‘mixer’ on the Sunshine Biscuits manufacturing line in Sayreville, NJ, where they baked Hydrox and a few other things.
They’d get a discount on cases of whatever, so he’d bring us cases of Hydrox, Lemon Coolers, Chip-A-Roos, Hi-Hos, Vienna Fingers, and Cheez-Its. There was never a time growing up - from when I was about 5 years old, to his untimely death when I was 22 - that we didn’t have some kind of Sunshine Biscuits product in our house.
Hydrox and Lemon Coolers were always my favorites.
I got to tour the plant a couple of times with him and eat Hydrox hot out of the enormous ovens. The plant was just massive. He used to tell me there were ovens in there that were over a mile long. I have no way of knowing if that was fact or not, but I remember believing it when I saw them. I was just a kid though, so who knows. They used to have big company barbecues and parties for the employees and their families, and since he was more like a dad to me and my sisters than an uncle, we always went with him and always had so much fun.
The plant is still there, although it ceased Sunshine Biscuit production in 1999 or 2000. I always drive by it at least once when I go back to NJ, and I always get choked up.
Just typing this out brought a whole wave of emotions. Who knew a cookie could do that?
Hydrox for me too. The cookie part tastes cocoa-ier. Better than Oreo even when dipped in milk.
Confessiom: When I was a kid I’d put a whole Hydrox in my mouth, then sip the milk in with it.
My mouth is watering.
Peace,
mangeorge
You are not alone! I always preferred Hydrox. They weren’t as sweet as Oreos, which was a good thing, and the cookie part was crispier. Terrifel, you say you got them at SweetBay? I gots to run down there ASAP and stock up!
