Preface: Frankly, I didn’t really have very high expectations for this one to begin with – these cookies were a last-minute grab at the checkout line when I was leaving Whole Foods, and let’s face it, have you ever gotten anything in one of these designer gift tins that was actually worth eating after you unwrapped it and gave the gift-giver an awkward thank-you smile???
Oh Yeah – And…: I can’t quote prices because I don’t have the receipt anymore, but I swear this thing rang up higher than it was actually marked on the shelf.  It was somewhere between $8 and $12, which as you’ll learn in just a minute, was a complete ripoff.
The Actual Flavor: My first thought was that I couldn’t help but wonder if these were actually supposed to be Apple Cider Cookies because at least to my palate, the pumpkin resemblance was non-existent. I tried a handful more just to be sure, but nope … nothing.  They’re not even good cookies like at least the last batch had going for them – I’m more of a moist and chewy kind of guy when these were much more like the dry, nondescript tea cookies that someone grabs for you at the last minute when they realize they remembered a gift for everybody but you!  A half step up from fruit cake, but that’s more simply because of the repulsive hole that fruit cake has managed to dig for itself over the years…