Is this their best oatmeal creme sandwich? Yes. Would I give it a 5-star rating like I did for the birthday cake flavor? No, and there are many reasons for that.
I first discovered this brand at Whole Foods. I was somewhat disappointed by the texture, but I gave Maxine's another try, this time from their official store. Ordering directly from Maxine's is significantly better than buying from Whole Foods. Not only do you support them directly, but the quality and texture of the cookies is much better.
It's unlike any oatmeal cookie I've had before; it's very moist, bordering on too moist, thanks to how oily it is. In spite of that, it isn't an unpleasant texture. The flavor is phenomenal, albeit a bit too sweet. I think 2g less added sugars would be the sweet spot, pun intended. It's nearly free of all major allergens and relatively low in glycemic index, which is a positive. It is also free of seed oils, making it less inflammatory than other brands that do opt for cheaper oils. This is about as healthy as sugary junk food can possibly get.
Now for the negatives: The QC is abysmal, to put it lightly. I know they're not making these at a factory and that everything is done by hand, but it's ridiculous. Some sandwiches are brutalized by shrinkflation, while others are a meaningful bit larger. Some cookies will be "overstuffed," and others require you to bite halfway through just to get a taste of the creme filling. Some boxes will have nothing but deflated, oily sandwiches lacking creme filling, and others will have the perfect ratio (no such thing as too much filling). You just never know what you're going to get with these.
Birthday cake is usually a very hit-or-miss flavor, but I think they did a good job here. I also appreciate that the sprinkles (may) contain palm kernel oil, the only seed oil not high in linoleic acid.
The one negative thing I have to say about the birthday cake flavor is that it doesn't do much to differentiate from the original flavor. They've essentially replaced the cinnamon with sprinkles and called it a day, however, the flavor profile was already close enough to birthday cake for them to get away with it. Original flavor is better, but these are definitely worth a try... or three.
The flavor is phenomenal, and the texture is great, considering it's a peanut butter cookie sandwich. Some sandwiches barely have any filling, while others have an abundance of filling... not that I'm complaining about the overstuffed ones! 😂
All of the other flavors that I've tried are easily 4 or 5 stars, but these are mediocre. The chocolate filling seriously lacks any flavor or fudginess to it, and the cookies are dry compared to the other flavors.