Hi everyone! In October I picked up the Irish Rover Dog Advent Calendar for my two dogs and reviewed it on the blog here. I got a call last night from Costco that the advent calendar has been recalled. I admittedly emptied my calendar when I reviewed it and put it in a ziplock bag in my pantry that I forgot about so I haven’t actually fed my dogs any of the treats other than when I reviewed it. If you have one, don’t feed your dogs the treats and you can return the calendar to Costco.
Last week on the blog I reviewed the Costco Merci European Chocolates, Costco Waterbridge All Sorts, Costco Kirkland Signature Chicken Burger Meal Kit and the Costco La Terra Fina Smoked Sockeye Salmon Dip.
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Today I’m reviewing the Charlotte’s Minced Fruit Shortbread! This is available in the Costco bakery section for the holidays and it looked festive so I decided to pick it up to review.
There’s 15 minced fruit shortbread bars in the plastic container, I paid $12.99 Canadian.
The minced fruit shortbread comes in a plastic resealable container and the best before date is 13 days from the date we purchased them. You can easily freeze the bars in the plastic container they come in. These make a convenient treat to add to your dessert platter at Christmas if you know someone who enjoys minced fruit or shortbread.
The nutrition information is a bit shocking because they only give you the nutrition facts for a half a bar. I’m going to make it easier by giving the nutrition facts for a whole bar. One minced fruit shortbread is 380 calories, 16 grams of fat, 52 grams of carbohydrates, two grams of fibre, 24 grams of sugar, four grams of protein and 320 mg of sodium.
The bars contain milk, wheat and soy. They also may contain nuts, eggs and sulphites. Otherwise the ingredients list is pretty much sugar, palm oil, flour and dried fruit.
There’s a thick bottom layer of shortbread, a middle layer of minced fruit filling and a top layer of shortbread crumbs. It’s hard to tell if the shortbread crumbs on top are any different than the bottom layer. It doesn’t seem like they’re different. The thickness of the top layer is really inconsistent from square to square.
I disagree about the rum balls.
A true rum ball lover might in fact through them into the organic waste bin.
While the label claims “real” rum, you barely can taste it. The texture of the rum balls are rather hard compared to traditional rum balls which I can buy which are about twice the size and over $1.50 each at my local European bakery. So no, I would pass on them. On another note. I have no idea why Natalie hasn’t done a review of the rum balls. They will be gone very soon as it’s only seasonal item.
Sigh. Another example of how Costco Canada rarely carries any good bakery items. I love their Tuxedo cake, muffins, and Strawberry Cheesecake, but that’s really about it.
What kind of nonsense is that?!?! WHO EATS HALF A SQUARE?!?!
I’m glad you reviewed it.
If they had a tasty base and good mincemeat, they probably would be a nice dessert. My friend posted his grandmother’s recipe for mincemeat this weekend and it probably wouldn’t be hard to adapt a date square recipe or something and make some up. It’s a nice idea.
But no, not worth the calories if they’re pasty and yucky!
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for the review – I will not be trying it… does not look to be worth calorie load.
I do however recommend the Rum Balls, I picked these up over the weekend, they were on special for $7.99 from $9.99. If you’re a Rum Ball lover these do not disappoint, they have a very strong rum flavour. Be aware they are covered in coconut though.