Hydrox
Encyclopedia
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
sandwich cookie
Cookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
that debuted in 1908 and was manufactured by Sunshine (later Sunshine Biscuits
Sunshine Biscuits
Sunshine Biscuits was an independent American baker of cookies, crackers, and cereals. The company, whose brand still appears today on a few products , was purchased by Keebler Company in 1996 which was subsequently purchased by Kellogg Company in 2000...
). Its name was formed from the atomic elements which make up pure water: hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
and oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
. Some accounts report the Oreo
Oreo
Oreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme', sandwiched between two circular chocolate or golden cookie pieces....
—introduced later, in 1912—was inspired by the Hydrox, yet Hydrox suffered from the impression of being a knockoff. Compared to the Oreo, the Hydrox had a "tangy, less-sweet filling" and a crunchier cookie that stood up better in milk.
Production
Sunshine BiscuitsSunshine Biscuits
Sunshine Biscuits was an independent American baker of cookies, crackers, and cereals. The company, whose brand still appears today on a few products , was purchased by Keebler Company in 1996 which was subsequently purchased by Kellogg Company in 2000...
was purchased by Keebler
Keebler Company
The Keebler Company is the largest cookie and cracker manufacturer in the United States. Founded in 1853, it has produced numerous baked snacks. Keebler has marketed its brands such as Cheez-Its , Chips Deluxe, Club Crackers, E.L...
in 1996, and in 1999, Keebler replaced Hydrox with a similar but reformulated product named Droxies. Keebler was later acquired by Kellogg's in 2001. Kellogg's removed Droxies from the market in 2003. Kellogg's now markets a chocolate sandwich cookie under the Famous Amos
Famous Amos
-History:Wally Amos, an Air Force veteran who worked as a talent agent with the William Morris Agency, would send home-baked chocolate chip cookies to celebrities to entice them to meet with him and maybe sign a deal to be represented by the William Morris Agency...
brand. Kellogg's says the Hydrox recipe is unique.
On the cookie's 100th anniversary, Kellogg's resumed distribution of Hydrox under the Sunshine label, with the first batches shipped in late August 2008. Hydrox aficionados had bombarded Kellogg's with thousands of phone calls and an on-line petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
asking that production resume. The recipe was slightly altered from the original; trans-fats were removed. The cookies were to be available nationally for a limited time, and less than a year later Kellogg's had removed Hydrox from their web site.
The Carvel ice-cream franchise still sells ice-cream goods manufactured with "Hydrox" cookie crumbs. Carvel used the cookies' all-kosher status as a selling point as the original Oreo
Oreo
Oreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme', sandwiched between two circular chocolate or golden cookie pieces....
recipe used lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
. The cookies are not specifically mentioned by name on the Carvel website, but they are identified as hydrox (lower-case 'h') on the in-store posters.
External links
- Hydrox Cookie fan page (2000)
- CHRISTOPHER RHOADS: Hydrox Redux: Cookie Duels Oreo, Again - WSJ May 28, 2008