20 Cookies From Aldi, Ranked Worst To Best

Aldi is everyone's favorite discount grocer — including my own. It's a go-to for staples, and it carries most of the products that I use on a regular basis — just at a much lower price than other grocery stores. Every time I walk through those automatic doors, I gaze upon the endless selection of cookies and wonder if there are any that are truly worth buying, or if they're all just lackluster interpretations of name-brand treats. 

In order to decide, I sampled an array of Aldi-brand cookie options and ranked them from worst to best. I looked at the overall flavor and consistency of the cookie, as well as how well it compared to other cookies of the same type that I've had in the past.

I like oatmeal cookies ... just not these oatmeal cookies. At first glance, they look a little rustic — to put it gently. 

The spotty white icing wasn't uniform across all of the cookies and it made them look less than appetizing. While you get a brown sugar aroma from these sweets and it comes through in the taste, it doesn't save the cookie from the half-hard, half-soft texture. The front of my teeth hurt biting into these cookies, though when I chewed them, I felt that they were stale — like someone had punctured the package and let them sit out on the shelf. The oatmeal only offers an annoying, molar-rubbing graininess. These cookies aren't flavorful, and eating them is a chore. Why anyone would buy a family-sized pack, I do not know. 

I tasted a lot of chocolate chip cookies for this review, and I was expecting that this pack of Benton's would fare the best, seeing as how simple it is. But what I came to realize is that Aldi really struggles to make a solid chocolate chip cookie. The sugar content is low, which is good, but there are too many structural issues with them. These cookies are so crumbly that they break on your molars the second you take a bite out of them. They're a really messy cookie to eat, which pushed them down in the ranking. 

The flavor here, like the other chocolate chip cookies I sampled, was lackluster. The chocolate was sparse and didn't do anything for the cookie; Benton's could have left it out, and I wouldn't have noticed. It also lacked any sort of memorable flavor that would make me think, "Man, that's a good chocolate chip cookie." It's such a classic dessert, and Aldi did it a disservice.

Even I can appreciate pecan sandies from time to time, but these pecan shortbread cookies just don't spark the same level of joy and euphoria. Sure, the cookies are crumbly and short — as they should be — but the measly pecan pieces don't do anything much for their overall flavor. 

I also didn't get any buttery notes from these cookies. They have a bit of a rancid undertone, rather than the fresh, buttery flavor I was looking for. Overall, this pecan shortbread can't hold up to the bolder and better-flavored Benton's cookies on this list.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that these alphabet cookies are not made for adults. These little snack packs of cookies are cute, sure, but they don't really hit the mark for being a tasty selection. The flavor is buttery and mild, and it's definitely more sugary than a ho-hum animal cracker. Otherwise, they don't really taste like anything. 

I think these cookies did their job as a kid-friendly favorite that you can add to a lunchbox. But they leave a little something to be desired on the flavor front, which is why they ranked low for me. 

I don't think anyone out there will make the case that Golden Oreos are the best kind of cookie. And these vanilla-flavored sandwich cookies from Benton's sure aren't making a case for themselves, either. I would say that the cookies are just as snappy as the chocolate sandwich ones I sampled — which is a good thing — but they also didn't have any flavors to distract them from the sweetness and artificial vanilla essence that plagued them. The cookies themselves are not snappy enough to be memorable, and the sweet sugary filling inside isn't really anything special. 

I suppose the one reason I would buy these cookies is as a cheap add-in to my nighttime Ninja CREAMi ritual, since they would add texture without adding anything to the flavor of the ice cream. But a good cookie should be both seen and heard — and good cookies these are not. 

Imported Italian sweets at an Aldi price? Count me in. These choco wafers are individually wrapped and generous in size. Plus, they're imprinted with the Aldi logo, which is super cute. Each one of the cookies features layers of chocolate wafer cookies, chocolate filling, and a chocolate coating. It's the chocolate coating that's an issue. It was more like biting into a rich Kit-Kat than eating a cookie. 

I wish the wafer layer was a little bit crispier and more prominent in terms of flavor, as it could have stood up to the thick chocolate coating a little better. Moreover, I think it would be in Benton's best interest to cut the amount of chocolate coating it uses in half to let the other elements of this "cookie" shine. 

Don't let the small size of these cookies fool you — they actually pack a ton of flavor into a little package. I was worried that the flavor of the almond flour would overshadow all of the elements of this cookie, but I found that it actually worked quite well against the cream of tartar, cinnamon, and sugar. 

These cookies are gluten-free, and I do think that they make that well-known. The texture is mealy and the cookies crumble all over the place. In short, be prepared for messy cookies. The almond flour also breaks down against your molars, rather than holding together like a proper cookie. But these snickerdoodles can't help their texture and crumbliness, as the almond flour is likely to blame. The snickerdoodles are an okay selection if you're eating gluten-free, but I don't think that I would willingly go out and buy them again.

Coconut macaroons are not a cookie that I think keeps well, which is why I was surprised to see that these were sold with the other "shelf-stable-ish" cookies. I think Benton's did an okay job at trying to replicate the flavor and structure of a good macaroon, but it's still not one I would buy again.

For one, this cookie came off as almost soggy. Each bite felt like I was biting into a coconut-flavored kitchen sponge. Moreover, all I got from these cookies was the coconut flavor and the sweetness. The chocolate was all but lost in it, and I think that it could have been left off the cookie entirely. Coconut macaroons are supposed to be sweet, since they're made with sweetened condensed milk, but my palate was overwhelmed by about two bites of a single cookie. I also thought it was strange that Benton's sold these massive cookies in a six-pack, since I could barely get through one. 

I may go to food writer jail on this one, but I'll admit it anyway: I prefer the chewy grocery-store chocolate chip cookies over the crunchy ones. Though, even I can admit that this offering from Benton's has some work to do. 

While these cookies do deliver on the softness you'd expect, they are lacking any assemblage of flavor. There are some soft brown sugar notes, but they're really underdeveloped as a whole. The chocolate chips, which generously stud the cookies, lack flavor besides just being sweet. I would have wanted a cookie with a little more going on than these, but I suppose they will suffice in a pinch. 

I will not say whether or not I bought these cookies just for the tin. In fact, that tin, which I will keep to hide knick-knacks in, is the best part about this product. The cookies inside were nothing special. 

These butter cookies are just that: butter cookies. They're not super sweet, they're not super buttery — they're not really "super" anything. A couple of chocolate-coated ones thrown into the container to switch things up would have been nice. Their flavor is slightly vanilla leaning, but it's not anything super fresh or worth eating. I found them to be in line with other butter cookies I've had in the past, which earned them a middling spot in this ranking, though they weren't the most exciting and tasty of the Aldi cookies. 

Could Aldi run the Keebler elf out of town? Not quite. Its version of the iconic Fudge Stripe cookies still has some work to do. 

I remember the Keebler version of this cookie tasting a little more fudgy than this one did. The chocolate flavor is almost entirely lost in these, which is a shame, considering that the cookie base itself brings nothing to the table. It's buttery and crumbles appropriately, but it doesn't taste particularly sweet. Overall, these cookies are nothing to write home about, and I would expect something a little richer from Benton's. Ultimately, its flavored versions of the striped fudge cookies were a little more fun and interesting to eat than this original one.

Rounding out the only non-Benton's pick on this list is Specially Selected. Aldi's premium brand definitely brought a premium product here, as the chocolate that tops the cookies is shiny, beautiful, and imprinted with fancy designs. I felt bad about biting into the Eiffel Tower, but I'll do what I need to do in the name of science. 

The chocolate itself was rich and flavorful, though I think it was layered on a bit too thick, as I all but lost the cookie underneath. Aldi could have gotten away with 75% cookie, 25% chocolate on this product. The flavor of the cookie that I did get was uninspiring, and it was really only worth eating because of the chocolate. 

If your version of a "good cookie" is one that is super thin and crispy, you will appreciate these chocolate chip cookie thins. I will admit that their texture is sublime, satisfying, and very different from the other Aldi cookies on this list. However, their flavor can use a bit of workshopping. 

There is a little bit of almond flavor on the palate, and I found that these cookies were a little too greasy for my liking. They are also a sugar rush in a bag, though you don't get a sense of how sweet they actually are until you swallow them and are left with that lingering sugary profile in your mouth. I assume the high sugar content is what helped make these cookies so crispy, but it came as a detriment to their flavor. 

The Girl Scout cookie table hates to see me coming. I love Samoas, which are what these cookies are trying to emulate, but I found that Benton's product was a little bit of a far cry from the goodness of a Girl Scout Samoa. They are quite sweet, with a generous layer of caramel, cookie, and fudge stripes. The coconut flavor also comes through as being very fresh and forward, which adds balance to this cookie overall. 

The main issue I found with it, though, was that Benton's added too thick of a caramel layer. Not only did it make the bite super, super sweet, but it also gave it a sticky and chewy coating that made the cookie itself a little too soggy for my liking. If the brand toned down the sweetness, this cookie would have ranked much higher. 

I think it's a little silly to think that these cookies will beat the classic Oreo — but even I will admit that they do come close. When I opened this package of chocolate sandwich cookies, I was met with that Oreo-like smell that made me all the more intrigued to try them. 

These cookies are more buttery and chocolatey than Oreos, and I found the filling to be much sweeter. I don't like super-sweet cookies, but if you do, I have no doubt that these will be a favorite. They have a better flavor and texture than the lower-ranked selections, though they're not a spitting image of the iconic Oreo. 

I don't like eating mint cookies because I don't like tasting toothpaste for fun. So, I was a little overwhelmed by the toothpaste-like smell emulating from the package of these mint-striped cookies as soon as I opened it. 

But heed my advice and don't let the aroma of these cookies turn you off from eating them. Whereas the regular fudge cookies lacked flavor, this chocolate cookie base kept it together. The mint in it was not overwhelming nor bitter, and I could appreciate the harmony between the cookie and the minty topping. Is the chocolate high quality? Of course not — it's an Aldi cookie. But if you like the flavor of mint and chocolate together, you can probably jive with these. I also appreciate that these cookies were actually crisp and snappy — more so than the fudge-striped ones. But they didn't have the same universal appeal as my top picks. 

Toasted coconut is an underutilized flavor in cookies. It's nutty, complex, and pairs well with sugar. Aldi played to this ingredient's strengths with its toasted coconut cookie thins. The flavor was definitely toasty and nutty, and the snap into the cookies was much more satisfying than the knock-off Samoas I tasted for this review. The cookies were inviting and quite satisfying to snack on, but I see a few potential areas for improvement. 

The first is the greasiness. It was a similar issue with the lower-ranked chocolate chip cookie thins, as was the other issue of overwhelming sweetness. I would have liked a cookie with less of a greasy aftertaste and with a slightly more dialed-back sweetness. But I still found the coconut cookies more approachable than the mind-striped ones.

These hazelnut cookies, which are imported from Germany, were an unexpected find in my Aldi cookie aisle. The little flower-shaped cookies are set atop of a crisp cookie bottom and sandwiched with a generous schmear of chocolate-hazelnut spread. You wouldn't be able to tell that these cookies are not made with "real" Nutella, as they have the sublime nutty and chocolatey flavor of the brand-name spread. If you consider yourself to be a big fan of Nutella, you can definitely get down with these — just as I did. 

The nutty filling isn't the only high point of this sweet. Rather, the cookies are a lot more fleshed-out than the other Aldi cookies. They're buttery and snappy, though they don't have the rancid butter undertones of shortbread. They're just sweet enough where they get by as a cookie, but not so sweet that they are overwhelming and make your teeth hurt. It's a well-balanced and likable cookie, but I don't know how long they will be in the Aldi cookie aisle, which earned them a spot near, but not at, the top.

If Aldi had to cross oceans to bring me this cookie, so be it. This international selection, imported from the Netherlands, is a tasty bite that has me closing my eyes and thinking about the first time I tasted a speculoos biscuit on a Delta flight. While I don't think the Aldi speculoos cookies are as crispy as the Biscoff-branded ones, they are almost a dead ringer for them. The flavor and spices are well-developed and cozy, and the sweetness brings out the warmth and flavors of the biscuit. Overall, I found this selection to be a little bit more well-balanced than other cookies on this list, and it's one that I think anyone would be hard-pressed to say "no" to. 

Like the hazelnut cookies, I don't know how long Aldi will keep these stocked. But I will surely be enjoying them as long as I can. The only thing that kept them from being in first place is the fact that they didn't come in a plastic tray, and I would have liked a resealable package so I could save the leftovers for later. 

I will admit that I didn't have high hopes for these cookies. But all that changed once I opened the package and was met with the heavenly smell of peanut butter. 

They're like Nutter Butters, but I thought that they tasted much better than the name-brand cookies I remember. The cookies are crisp, fresh, and snappy and really offer that sublime crunch when you bite into them. The peanut butter filling inside is generous and not too sweet, though it doesn't shift the cookie into salty territory, either. These cookies are all that I could want and more: satisfying to eat, tasty, and small — so I can justify eating several of them in a sitting.

In order to rank these Aldi-branded cookies from worst to best, I considered several factors. The ones that performed the best had a texture and flavor equal to or of better quality than their name-brand counterparts. The cookies also had to have a balanced flavor, not be too sweet, and be satisfying enough to justify buying them again.