Lotte Banana Caramel Cookies

I'd say that Japan has been having a banana-fest, but it carries connotations of a thong-less night at Chippendales. However, Japan is still in the grips of some sort of banana fever. I'm still working through all of the banana sweets my husband has procured for himself, and this box of Lotte's cookies is the oldest one so I figured I'd better get to it.


Before I get too far, I should say that my husband didn't like these very much. I figured that meant there was something seriously wrong with them, but the truth is that it's actually an indication of our difference in tastes. He likes things that are sweeter and have a stronger banana flavor than I do. That actually bodes well for my sampling of these cookies.


We picked this box of cookies up at a discount snack shop for around 150 yen. There are 12 cookies that are about 4 cm. (1.5 in.) in size. Each is individually wrapped in a green and silver foil packet. This is why they were probably nice and fresh even though I didn't get to them for about a month. There are 48 calories in each cookie.


The cookies smell like sugar, margarine and banana. The banana scent is not over the top and the taste is more subtle than most banana-flavored treats. It's a good, real banana taste, and is not overly sweet. The caramel flavor is very subdued and manifests mainly as a brown sugar aftertaste. One thing that you can tell is that these are made with margarine rather than butter.

The texture of the cookie is not optimal because it is somewhat crumbly, though it is somewhat crispy. The banana puree though is ever so marginally rubbery. I don't think this is because of the banana because it is listed after "caramel sauce" on the ingredients list so I don't think is much banana in it.

I actually liked these because they didn't carry a really strong or fake banana flavor. I think they could have been better if the banana filling didn't have a slightly strange texture. The strange thing is that I don't think I'd buy these again, but I did have to resist the urge to keep eating them. I really did like these, but not being a great fan of banana means I wouldn't prioritize these with so many other possibilities at hand. However, if I had few flavor options, I'd buy these without regret.