Van Houten Prime Gateau Cocoa

I had noticed this box of Van Houten cookies at the local market for several weeks before GirlJapan encouraged me to buy them. Though I'm a fan of Van Houten, I had been resisting them because of the price, and the fact that I've had an overabundance of chocolate goodies on hand since before Christmas and I'm trying to focus more on other types of snacks for variety. However, it really doesn't take much arm-twisting to encourage me to sample something chocolate.


These are essentially a chocolate covered crispy cookie. There are 8 small cookies (about the size of a half dollar) in the box. They smell like cocoa, unsurprisingly, since that is what Van Houten does so very well. The chocolate on the outside is mildly bittersweet and the tiny cookie is super crispy and fresh. The flavor is very deep and intense. It's sweet, but not too sweet. When my husband tried it, he said that it actually tasted like a cup of hot cocoa in cookie form. Ironically, this is exactly what GirlJapan said as well in her recommendation of them. It's quite a feat really, and my hat is off to Glico for fulfilling the promise of the box's cover graphic. What is more, each cookie is only 33 calories and you don't really need to eat more than one to get a fix.

These are excellent and my only reservation is that they're slightly expensive. Eight small cookies are about 170 yen/$1.90 a box. However, these should be considered a "premium" cookie despite the fact that they are mass-produced. As a small indulgence, they are well worth the price.