Some products instantly make you think of a specific place, and these Honolulu Cookie Company Mini Bites from Costco did just that. They’re made with premium shortbread and infused with different flavors, these cookies feel like the perfect tropical treat on a chilly winter day. But the real question is: Are they delicious enough to make me feel like I’m lounging on a beach in Hawaii?”
Location in Store
You can find these in the snack section at Costco, near the Kirkland Signature Peanut Butter Pretzels and the Welch’s Fruit Snacks. The item number is 1802525.
Taste
Pineapple Macadamia
I like the cookies, I don’t think they’re mind blowing but they’re pretty good! The cookies are pretty crisp and crumbly, there’s crumbs all over the outside of them. They have a nice buttery flavor and as you eat them the sweetness and pineapple flavor becomes more and more noticeable. Shockingly they do taste like pineapple but I didn’t really notice the macadamia nut flavor.
The pineapple flavor is pretty strong and natural tasting. They’re quite tasty and pretty addictive. I usually like chewy, chocolate cookies but these are nice and remind me of Hawaii.
Ube
I thought I liked the pineapple macadamia shortbread, but I think I might like the ube-flavored ones even more. They have a pleasantly mild vanilla flavor. When I think of purple yam, I picture a savory taste, but these cookies don’t have any flavor reminiscent of sweet potato.
They just taste like a sweet, mild vanilla cookie. They’re nice and buttery, and the texture is crispy, light, and crumbly. They almost melt in your mouth when you eat them.
Cost
Both flavors come in a 454-gram bag and cost $14.99 Canadian which doesn’t seem bad considering I bet these would cost a lot more in USD in actual Hawaii. I think the price is quite reasonable.
Convenience
These are the perfect light cookie to have with coffee, tea or served with ice cream or gelato! They bag reseals which helps keep them fresh and the best before date is nine months from when I purchased them.
The pineapple macadamia cookies contain macadamia nuts and the ube ones may contain peanuts and tree nuts, so they’re not school safe. However, if your toddler/kid can tolerate nuts I think they’d really like these! They’re the perfect two-bite size.
Nutrition
Calories
Pineapple Macadamia
Five pineapple macadamia cookies contain 140 calories, eight grams of fat, 16 grams of carbohydrates, zero grams of fibre, six grams of sugar, two grams of protein and 80 milligrams of sodium. I only need about three to totally satisfy my sweet tooth. There’s not that much calories, fat, or sugar in two or three cookies.
Ube
Six cookies contain 140 calories, eight grams of fat, 14 grams of carbohydrates, zero grams of fibre, seven grams of sugar, one gram of protein, and 65 milligrams of sodium. That’s only 23 calories per cookie, and one or two cookies are enough to satisfy me!
Ingredients
Pineapple Macadamia
The ingredients list is really short and sweet with flour, butter, sugar, pineapple juice, macadamia nuts, eggs and salt. I love that there’s mainly simple ingredients. The only ingredient I don’t love to see if “natural flavour” because I find it pretty vague.
Ube
The ube flavored mini bites also contain natural flavor, which I don’t love but isn’t a big deal. They contain wheat, barley, and milk, and may contain peanuts and tree nuts. I like that they use real ube powder as well as purple sweet potato concentrate for coloring.
Scoring
Taste: 8/10 for the pineapple macadamia 8.5/10 for the ube
Cost: 7/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 2/10 (Points for simple ingredients and real butter!)
Overall
Give it a try!
These cookies aren’t the greatest I’ve tried but they’re quite tasty and if you like shortbread cookies, you’ll probably really enjoy these.
FAQ
$14.99 Canadian for the 454-gram bag.
One cookie has 23 to 28 calories.
They do not! They contain real pineapple juice and real ube powder.
Have you tried the Costco Honolulu Cookie Company Mini Bites? What did you think of them? Drop a comment below!
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
