The Aldi Cookie That's Softer And Better Than The Name Brand

A haven for wallet-watching grocery shoppers, Aldi is a great place to stock up on the essentials. It also offers affordable alternatives to a ton of prepackaged snacks by way of its own private labels. While store brands sometimes get a bad rap for failing to live up to the quality of national brand items, a slew of Aldi's private label products are actually just as good as or better than the originals.

Head to the cookie aisle and you'll find one of the store's most beloved dupes: Benton's Fig Bars. The Aldi version of Nabisco's Fig Newtons are made with nearly all of the same ingredients, including real figs, but are raved over by reviewers for their softer mouthfeel, flavorful filling, and moister cookie crust.

"Aldi knock-off Fig Newtons are superior to real Fig Newtons. This is a fact," one Redditor wrote in a thread on r/Aldi. "They taste better – the texture is maybe a little more dense in the cakey part." In a Facebook group dedicated to discussing Aldi finds, another fan described Benton's fruity bars as "moist and delicious with plenty of filling." In fact, the user liked them even more than the name brand treats. They also tend to be cheaper than the OGs. While Aldi prices vary by store, online listings suggest Benton's Fig Bars cost about $2.75 for a 14-ounce package. By comparison a 10-ounce pack of Nabisco Fig Newtons might set you back by $4 or more, depending on the retailer.

We can't help but wonder what makes Benton's Fig Bars so much softer and tastier than Nabisco's. Turns out, you can look at the order of ingredients for some clues. Nabisco's Newtons list figs first, meaning that this ingredient is used in the highest quantity, weight-wise. Benton's label, however, names enriched bleached flour, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and dextrose (a form of simple sugar) all before the actual fruit in its filling.

Simply put, the Benton's Fig Bars are probably softer and taste better than the originals because a greater ratio of ingredients goes into their cookie crust. They also contain more sweeteners than real figs. While it's true that you'll be getting a more fig-heavy filling with the pricier brand, the trade-off is a drier, more crumbly crust. The fact that Aldi's brand knocks it out of the park — and at a cheaper price, no less — makes it worth the minor sacrifice in many buyers' books.