Dupe Detective: Walmart Twist & Shout Cookies Vs Oreo

Welcome back to Dupe Detective, a column where I'll be reviewing a name brand food product's competitor product to find out how well it compares to, or even beats, the original.

Oreo is just as much a flavor as it is a product. From three-ingredient no-bake Oreo balls to an Oreo torte, the dessert that came in from the cold, countless sweet treats incorporate Oreos as a key ingredient. Between those and all the various flavors of Oreos in grocery store cookie aisles, Oreo is right up there with M&M's as one of the most iconic brand-name dessert flavors. Competitors attempting to formulate a dupe, then, have to contend with the fact that Oreos are both widely known and well-beloved. But that didn't stop Walmart from producing Twist & Shout Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, an Oreo dupe, for its Great Value brand.

On one hand, there are several Great Value groceries that customers recommend avoiding at all costs. On the other hand, some Walmart Great Value items taste just as good as, if not better than, brand-name equivalents. I picked up a package of Twist & Shout cookies from my local Walmart Neighborhood Market in the suburbs of Las Vegas to find out for myself if they belong in the former or latter category. Here are my thoughts on both Twist & Shout cookies and Oreos, plus my pick for the superior product.

While I may have tried my Twist & Shout cookies before the Oreos I bought for the sake of this head-to-head, I couldn't help but compare my initial impression of Twist & Shout cookies to my memory of their name-brand inspiration. What stood out to me right off the bat was the thinness of their cookie component, which was also crumblier and less substantial than how I remembered Oreos.

That difference in consistency aside, I found my first Twist & Shout cookies pretty close to what you expect an Oreo to taste like. Their chocolate cookies were cocoa-forward and not excessively sweet, while their cream tasted like a mild vanilla frosting. After finishing a few, I deconstructed a Twist & Shout cookie to try its frosting plain — isolating that element, I found Twist & Shout's filling a little fluffier and milder than the Oreo filling.

My overall impression of Walmart's Oreo dupe, then, was that it was pretty similar to name-brand Oreos, but just a little lighter in both texture and flavor. Also of note is the fact that Oreos happen to be vegan, and Twist & Shout cookies likewise contain no animal products, although they may contain traces of milk and eggs.

I was expecting my first Oreo to be firmer and crunchier than Walmart's Twist & Shout cookies, and upon actually trying one, that turned out to be correct. Indicative of its stronger crunch was a lower-pitched sound when I bit into it.

Just like the Twist & Shout cookies, the flavor of my Oreos was lightly sweet and cocoa-forward, subtly accented by vanilla cream. That said, the Oreos were a little richer in comparison. When I isolated the filling in both kinds of cookies, I found the Oreo cream more sugary, to the extent that I felt like I could perceive a subtle graininess. I suspect that extra bit of sugar was primarily responsible for that overall richer flavor.

For what it's worth, Double Stuf Oreos are easily among the flavor innovations that are better than the original. Walmart also makes Double Filled Twist & Shout cookies, which are also arguably better than the originals. While still subtler than competing chocolate desserts like, say, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup or a Chips Ahoy, I did find my Oreos bolder than Walmart's Twist & Shout dupe, with more crunch, more cocoa, and more sugar.

Walmart's Oreo dupe gets pretty close to name-brand Oreos, but falls just the slightest bit short in every metric except price — my Twist & Shout cookies cost just over half of what I paid for an only slightly larger quantity of Oreos. Trying a Twist & Shout cookie and an Oreo back-to-back, it was clear the Oreo delivered a little more of everything, from a more substantial cookie to a bigger flavor. For what it's worth, I had about 10 of each cookie over the course of a few days, and there were times I had a Twist & Shout with more filling than the Oreo I had after it. On average, however, I found the cream filling in my Oreos more substantial.

Not only are their flavors more satisfying, but Oreos are also available at Walmart stores right next to Twist & Shout cookies, so convenience isn't even a consideration. Cost, then, is the sole reason to buy Twist & Shout cookies — and at a lower price point, Walmart does make a pretty fair approximation of the real thing. If cost isn't a consideration, however, there's simply no reason to opt for Twist & Shout cookies when Oreos do a better job of delivering on the classic flavor.

At my local Walmart Neighborhood Market, a 14.3-ounce package of 36 Twist & Shout cookies costs $2.97. Meanwhile, an 18.12-ounce package of 45 Oreo cookies costs $4.97. At those quantities, then, the price per Twist & Shout cookie is $0.08, whereas the price per Oreo is $0.11.

Nutritionally, a three-cookie serving of Twist & Shouts totals 160 calories, 7 grams of fat (2 grams of which are saturated fat), 160 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Meanwhile, a three-cookie serving of Oreos also totals 160 calories, 7 grams of fat (2 grams of which are saturated fat), 130 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbs, less than 1 gram of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

Technically, then, Twist & Shout cookies come out on top in several regards — including less sugar and more protein and fiber — but the differences in quantity are so insubstantial that they're pretty much equal in practice.

I picked up packages of Great Value Twist & Shout cookies and Oreos from a Walmart Neighborhood Market located near my home in the suburbs of Las Vegas. While Walmart makes Golden Oreo and Double Stuf Oreo equivalents, I stuck with the standard versions of both products for the sake of comparing their baseline offerings.

Once I brought them home, I started by trying a couple of Twist & Shout cookies, one of which I ate methodically and the other in a single bite, as I would if it were for my own enjoyment. Then I did the same thing with two Oreos. After that, I had a few more Twist & Shout Cookies and Oreos in no particular order, with the intent of helping to solidify or complicate my initial impressions. Finally, I deconstructed one of each product and had its cookie and filling components in isolation. My final assessments are based entirely on this experience, not on any prior thoughts I had about either product.