The first time I went to Poland I noticed that were advertising OREO cookies on TV. I was on a group trip so it was difficult to do an extensive search, but I did not find any OREOs in any store. During the process of my search I became an expert on Polish cookies. All the cookies I saw in Poland, including their sort of version of an OREO, are available in the stores on Broad Street.
There are three basic types of Polish cookies. First, I will talk about the shortbread/sugar cookie type of cookies. They come in a variety of flavors and are sometimes coated in chocolate, similar to what we have in the U.S. My favorite in this category is “Petit Buerre” which is described as a herbatniki (tea cookie). Similar to the herbatniki is “Lakotki” which is similar to the butter cookies you get in tins around Christmas time. Another popular cookie in this type is “Jezyki.” The general format of this cookie is a shortbread base with with chewy layer of something topped with a crunchy puffed rice layer giving it a bumpy texture and finally chocolate covering the whole thing. Think of is as a round, bumpy Twix bar. The cookie is named after “jezozwierz”-a porcupine. It comes is several flavor variations. I was told they are very popular in Poland.
Included in this category of cookies is a subcategory I refer to as “Delicje” category, but there are other brands of the same type of cookie. This cookie has a shortbread bottom, drop of jelly on top of that, and a covering of chocolate. The jelly comes in many varieties from those familiar to us like strawberry, but also other flavors such as green apple, black current, or the totally strange to us-rose hips. I was told that the rose hips jelly tastes like eating a rose. It is a seasonal flavor, so it is not always available. I once purchased cookies with banana jelly and coated in white chocolate. They were tasty and made me wonder why it is not a popular cookie flavor in the United States. The cookies in the “Delicje” category appear to be very popular in Poland; I often see them on Polish TV shows.
The second type of cookie is the sandwich cookie, such as the OREO. There are several varieties of cookies in this category, all of which I find delicious. I will talk about 2 different brands-“Hit” and “Mafijne.” “Hit” cookies are similar to American sandwich cookies and in some ways remind me of Girl Scout “Lemonades” cookies. The Hit come in both vanilla and chocolate cookies with a variety of filling flavors, including brownie which is very tasty. “Mafijne” is another of my favorites and is similar to my beloved OREOs. The “Mafijne” have three cookie layers rather than two and the cookie layer is lighter and crispier than an OREO cookie. Like “Hit”, the “Mafijne” come in a variety of cookie layers and fillings. I like the classic chocolate cookie and vanilla cream filling for “Mafijne” and the white cookie with chocolate filling for the “Hit”, as well as the brownie version when I can find it.
The last type of cookie is the wafer style. There are many varieties of these cookies so I suspect they are very popular in Poland. We have the same type of cookies here (in a variety of brands and flavors) but the Polish brands have many more flavor varieties. I recently had a lime filling variety and it was very tasty. Over the years I have had coconut, strawberry and orange fillings and all were good. I would also put the “Prince Polo” bars in this category, although they may be more of a candy than a cookie. They are a wafer cookie covered in chocolate, similar to our Kit Kat bar. The “Prince Polo” come in several flavor varieties and once again seem to be very popular. They serve them on the Polish airline Lot
My second favorite American cookie is Nutter Butters, so I have searched the Polish stores in Poland and Broad Street for a similar product. So far, I have not seen one Polish cookie using peanut butter. People have told me that peanut butter is expensive in Poland which might explain why they don’t use it in cookies. I have never seen or tried Polish butter, but I am curious about it.
It is worth mentioning here that the cookie packages are written in Polish but they always show the cookie and the ingredients that are in the cookie. If the cookie has strawberries or is strawberry flavored-you will see a strawberry on the package, so just because you don’t read Polish don’t be afraid to buy cookies.
I recently did a Polish cookie taste test with my fellow employees. They taste tested seven types of cookies, Jezyki, two jelly filled (raspberry and black current), Hit, Mafijne, Lakotki, and a wafer variety (Family-coconut). Nine people participated in the taste test. The results were all over the place and in many instances were contradictory. Two people rated the black current as “ick” and one of those people rated the same cookie with raspberry filling as “yummy.” Jezyki got two “yummy” votes, one “ick” vote and the rest were “so-so.” Hit got four “yummy” votes but also got one “ick” vote. Altogether, there were five “ick” votes and twenty seven “yummy” votes, leaving thirty one “so-so” votes. They all voted to have me actually bake some Polish desserts, but that has not happened yet and probably will not as long as Kasia’s bakery stays open.
My guess is I would have similar results if I brought seven American cookies to nine Polish people. You develop a taste for what you eat as you grow up, but it worth trying some new things every now and then. I brought a sample of American junk food to my family and friends in Poland and they liked some things, but others they thought were too sweet. They all liked American instant coffee however, but they are used to drinking instant coffee, unlike we Americans who live for Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Most Americans would give instant coffee an “ick” rating.
Polish cookies are a good treat to bring places, they create conversation and sometimes a taste testing. I recently brought a few bags when I visited a Polish church in North Carolina. The church secretary was very excited and was planning on bringing them to an elderly Polish parishioner who was currently in a nursing home. They do not have a store that sells Polish food, so it was a real treat for them. The cookies are sold in small bags usually around $2.00 so if you don’t like it you don’t have much money invested in it.
Here is an update about my search for American OREOs in Poland. On my last trip to Poland I found OREOs. They were much more expensive then the Polish cookies. The box consisted of 6 lunch packs of 4 OREOs each. Needless to say, I bought them. They tasted the same as here, just missing the milk.
Next time you go to Broad Street to buy kielbasa take a walk by the cookie section (every store has one) and pick up something new to try.
