I didn’t think of comparing these at first but I was hanging out with my cousins one day and we were talking about cookies and Entenmann’s came up and I said how they don’t seem to taste as awesome as I remember. My cousins told me that Freihofer’s taste like how Entenmann’s used to taste so I went out looking for a box of Freihofer’s and these were surprisingly a challenge to find. I tried supermarkets and Target and then finally a bakery outlet featuring Friehofer’s products but they didn’t have the cookies. A few weeks later, I tried there again and got the last box, which was a little smushed but still sealed. The lady at the counter said they always sell out early when they get them in.
First up, Entenmann’s:
Like I mentioned before, these aren’t as good as I remembered from the days of yore. These are just ok but really bland. Ethan said they don’t taste “real”. The only taste was from the chocolate chips which were very sweet, especially with the blandness of the cookie. The texture was a little dry too.
Freihofer’s:
These were also just ok. They were very similar, bland cookie but the chips were not as sweet and there was a teeny bit of saltiness detected but it was good. The cookie is a little more moist too, which gave it an extra points.
Wrap up:
Going by what my cousins told me, I was expecting Freifofer’s to blow Entenmann’s away but that was not the case. We felt that these were pretty much identical except that the Freihofer’s cookie texture is better. Neither of these are something we’d get again, but if we were going to a party and the host said “Oh and can you pick up a package of some soft, bite-size cookies? Thanks!” – we’d get a box of Freihofer’s.
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I wonder if a lot of these types of baked goods are different now because they no longer use butter as the fat. if you still have the boxes around, it’d be interesting to see if butter or some other vegetable oil was used. I tend to associate bland cookies with a lack of butter and brown sugar (which tend to form the backbone of good taste in the cookie portion of chocolate chip cookies).
Aren’t these brands pretty regional? I never heard of Freihofer’s before recently, and Entemann’s are everywhere here (SC). My guy swears by the Freihofer’s, but he grew up in NY, where they are everywhere. I sometimes think that preference is a product of nostalgia.
Orchid64, I just checked and you’re right, neither box mentions butter in the ingredients. I guess that does make a difference.
Missy B, I’m not sure if Freihofer’s are region but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. We;ve done a lot of tasting (not all are posted yet) and it’s funny sometimes I think some products are going to be better because I’m familiar with them or even just know the brand and never have heard of the other one but sometimes I am surprised that I really do enjoy the lesser known version- but I think it just depends on the product. I know what you mean though.
RED ALERT! You know why there wasn’t much difference between the Freihofer’s and Entenmann’s cookies? They’re just different badges of the same company! Welcome to George Weston Bakeries, where you’ll find Entenmann’s, Freihofers, Boboli, Arnold’s, Strohmann Pennsylvania Dutch Bakers, and The Original, One and Only, Funny Looking, Tasty Cooking Thomas’ English Muffins!
Lately, the best store-bought cookies I’ve had have been store brands, from the in-store bakery. Stop & Shop, for example, makes some killer sugar cookies and some of the best hamentaschen evar.
BTW, it isn’t cookies, but Entenmann’s makes a Raspberry Danish Twist that is like Baked Goods Nirvana.
Dave, you know all! Thanks for the info, it makes sense now that the bakery outlet I went to carried both products.
The real Freihofer’s would have blown Entenmann’s out of the water. Since they are now owned by the came company, no question that the recipe’s have changed!
My favorite Freihofer’s cookie is the old fashioned recipe, which aren’t made anymore. The Freihofer’s cookies here are still very sweet and hard to eat too many, meanwhile the Entenmann’s here are still the very bland ones you have reviewed.
Freihofer’s used to make cakes and danish as well. I imagine they discontinued these because the didn’t want to move the production as they were very good as well. You can thank George Weston corporation for watering down the quality of any Freihofer product. Just as corporations are watering down america.
I grew up in Troy, NY and my grandfather was a Freihofer’s delivery man – way back when they actually made their own products. The CC Cookies do not taste the same as they did when I was a kid (I also miss the pecan coffee cake.) It is sad that these products have gone the way of home delivered milk and ice-cream trucks you could trust.
Your best bet is to make cookies from scratch at home. But I still buy Freihofer’s for nostalgia – but they are not the same…
I called Freihofer’s and was told that although they still make the chocolate chip cookies, I shouldn’t have to travel 2 hours to get them in upstate NY because Entenmann’s is virtually the same now. He didn’t say they were exactly the same but implied that the difference is negligible. I also remember Freihofer’s chocolate chip cookies, 20 and 30 years ago, even further back and they were unbelievably delicious. Then a few years ago I tried them and they were not at all the same. I don’t like Entenmann’s…maybe I would if I didn’t remember the old Freihofer’s. What a shame. Why couldn’t they leave a great product the way it was? Everyone loved them. Ah well, the search goes on. Maybe I’ll just make them myself. I also loved their hermit bars, now gone as are all of their cakes except donuts and I think cinnamon buns.
Alas! Cardboard cookie world! In their day Entenmanns and Freihofers had fine baked goods. Gone the way of the Dodo…the quality, that is. Now owned by Bimbo Bakery out of Mexico City. As are many others. Once the freeways to Mexico are built, they won’t need the factories in New York, Pennsylvania, places like that.
I really miss the Freihofers Chocolate chip pecan cookies. They were very delicious!
Did someone come up with a copy-cat original Freihofer’s cookie recipe?! That would be amazing!
The company that bought this company DID THE STUPIDIST THING EVER when they stopp the original chocolate chop cookies from them!
THOSE COOKIES IN THE BROWN PACKAGE ARE DISGUSTING AS ALWAYTS HAVE BEEN! (As well as thier own cookies in the white box)
Why do companies do these stupid things??
They were baked with butter, as were their English muffins and probably most of their things. They used to come in a white box, and in Schenectady, where I was born and raised, they were delivered to the door by a Freihofer employee, driving a HORSE AND WAGON! The guy would come in the front door and unfold this magical three-tiered case filled with Freihofer products. Oh the glory of it all!!
The quality and taste is light-years removed from what it was. The chocolate chip cookie is simply not the same cookie, but just a copy of everything else that is out there.
I believe they were bought out within the last 15 years by Entenmanns, and I am now saddened and horrified, and oddly amused, that they are now owned by Mexicans who call themselves the Bimbo company??!!!
If you live around the Capital Region in New York, they also have “Original Recipe” cookies which have a different texture and more of a homemade element.
Freihofer’s standard recipe still beats Entenmann’s because the former improves as they get more “stale” whereas the later remains artificially moist almost indefinitely. Freihofer cookies have many phases, from “opened yesterday” to “last four cookies one week later”;each must be enjoyed in its own right.
Both companies may have the same owner, but Friehofer’s cookies are definately made in one region and are thus difficult to find elsewhere.
Freihofer’s was not “bought out” by Entenmanns. They are just both smaller companies owned by a larger parent company (such as disney owning NBC or vice versa). Bimbo purchased George Weston Bakeries earlier this year but the day to day operations of the company is the same. With all the bread and bakery items that is available sure, some of it is good and some, not so much. It’s all a matter of taste. Just because I like it doesn’t mean that you will. I agree with Dave – Entenmanns Raspberry Danish Twist is wonderful. Especially if you warm it in the microwave for a few seconds. Oh My!!!!! And I personally prefer the Entenmanns Chocolate Chip Cookie. So if you happen to see a Freihofer truck (without the horse!) wave to the driver. I just might wave back to you!
So a company called George Weston Bakeries bought up Freihofers? I guess this was a little over two years ago? That was the time that my favorite Freihofer snack, the glazed orange mini donut disappeared from store shelves here in Upstate NY. I have yet to find anything that comes close to duplicating the flavor of a Freihofer’s glazed orange mini. ?
Oh the glories of Freihofers long ago. I remember these little vanilla cupcakes with a dusting of powdered sugar on top and some kind of cream in the middle; think of it as a twinkie made with all natural, quality ingredients. Then at Christmas there was a rich, memorable egg nog cake. The ubiquitous Louisiana ring cake was one of my mother’s favorites, and when you had a piece with a cup of (perked on the stove) coffee, you thought you were in Heaven’s tea room. I could go on and on, but it makes me so hungry and I am already fat enough!
It’s not that I don’t like boxed cookies,but neither seem appetizing. ?
I grew up a TastyKake kid myself, but enjoyed Entenmann’s and Freihofer’s cookies, switching as they changed their recipes thoughout the years. And there was a time many years ago when I could polish off a box in a day, too. Long ago, but no more.
Now, however, every once in a while, I get a mouth rash on the roof of my mouth, along the ridge, when I eat too many of the Entenmann’s. I don’t know which ingredient is causing it. Anyone else get that? I still like their taste fine, but they aren’t like the “old days.”
I currently live in Baltimore MD. I can’t get Friehofers’ cookies here. I grew up on them in upstate NY. EVERY time I visit I have to stock up on several boxes.
No other cookie has ever duplicated Friehofers’.
This article is crazy. I think Entenmann’s Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best tasting food ever created. I’ve eaten them almost every day for like 25+ years. In my mind, there’s no other cookie that comes close (although I’ve never had one of these Friehofers’ cookies… in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of them before.) Anyway, I don’t know how far back you guys are going, but I haven’t noticed any change in the taste since I’ve started eating them (the Entenmann’s, that is). I’ve been eating them since I was a little kid and they still taste just as amazing to me now. Honestly, eating them is like sex for me. I’m pretty much an Entenmann’s Chocolate Chip Cookie FIEND. Definitely my favorite snack food of all time, by far ?
I laughed when I read Ryan’s description of how the Friehofer cookies “age” I remember that so well — they’d get a little hard and would break more easily. And like Jack, I could easily eat whole box (well, maybe half) and feel dizzy afterwards!
But I remember when the recipe changed – it was very easy to not eat them at all then. They were puffier, stayed soft, and were too sweet – like the sweetness would stick in the back of your throat. These postings are a real “blast from the past” – also in Upstate NY
Freihofer and Entenmann are owned by the same company. You are right, they are the same cookie unless you see the “orginal recipe”. Search and you see bimbobakeriesusa.com. They also own Thomas, Stroehmann, Maier, Orowheat, Arnold. They have “centralized” manufacturing so all the cookies are made in one plant – Albany NY. The doughnut are all made in PA. Danish, cakes, etc are still made in LI, NY. CA has some plants that make some Entenmann products. No butter or other allergens are used. Who to blame? – health groups, lawyers who sue companies when the customer doesn’t read the label, stock holders of companies who blood from a stone. The Freihofer’s sold in the 1980’s and their products haven’t been the same. Same for Entenmann’s. Probably true for Stroehmann as well. They are trying to compete with in-store bakeries and the Paneras. They are cheaper but the quality has gone down too.
A friend of mine from upstate NY said that Entenman’s bought Friefhoffer’s and how use the Entenman’s recipe for choc chip cookies and sell them in both the Entenman’s box and also the Freihoffers’s box. : (
miss, miss, miss friehofer’s choc chip cookies, not to mention orange and maple walnut sheet cakes! Are those even made any more?
It was Bimbo Bakeries USA that bought both bakeries …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbo_Bakeries_USA
The very first original real Freihoffer chocolate chip cookie was great until they sold out. Downhill from there. I’m from the Freihoffer plant area and lived through the change and sell out. Freihiffer choc chip cookie is not Freihoffer for decades and decades. They’re just using the name after buy-out and have changed the recipe to an unrecognizable taste only the cookie monster would settle for.
Wow, it’s been a while since anyone made a comment, so i’d Like to update and recap things a bit. Lot of good comments, and no we’re not crazy, they have changed the ingredients over the years, and yes it does affect the taste. I’m writing from an Entenmanns perspective since I grew up with them,back in the 70’s, but the Friehofer gang sound just as devoted as us. Since admitting it is the first step to recovery, I’m a chocolate chip cookie-holic. Dave sounds the closest to me, but really doesn’t come close. There was a stretch in my life when I would eat the original Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I could eat a box in one sitting, no problem. While eating (devouring) a box, all I would have to occupy me was reading the box and it’s ingredients, which I had memorized. And it was the basic, original chocolate chip cookie recipe with butter, eggs, sugar, brown sugar etc. Well in the mid 90’s I sat down for my lunch, and to my surprise the cookies tasted different and sure enough they had added wheat starch to the ingredients. Well fast forward to 2017,and look at the ingredients of the “original recipe chocolate chip cookies” (liars), and you’ll see palm oil and soybean oil instead of butter, high fructose corn syrup, water,modified cornstarch, whey, artificial flavor, guar gum,carob bean gum, caramel color, and yes still wheat starch. Really? I mean f-fffing really? Screw you, you lying corporate a-holes. So taste is subjective as Sharon says, but if you like how they taste now, wow, you don’t know what you’re missing.
Thank you Wes for your comment! I agree with what you said. Today’s products truly are not what they used to be. I miss the products taste from a few decades ago!
Best was the Jelly Donuts which had a one day sale code on it