Junk Food Nation, it is TEBOW TIME in the NFL today!  That’s right, the University of Florida QB of college fame is starting today’s game for the Broncos against the Miami Dolphins, in Miami. Now, if you don’t know who Tim Tebow is, I’ll give you a quick recap (and you can read all about him here): Tim Tebow, celebrated college QB for the University of Florida, first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy, was part of the University of Florida’s two national championships, and was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft despite critics indicating his college style skill set was not translatable to the NFL. Tebow is also know as an uber-Christian, home schooled kid, who used to wear Bible verses in his eye black and Pro-life advocate.

He is controversial and electrifying and only started the last three games of the Broncos 2010 season.  In just three games, however, he was explosive, passing for five TDs and rushing for six more TDs in just three games.  This year, however, the Broncos sat Tebow on the bench for the first six weeks.  Well, no more – the Broncos suck and have turned to Tebow again, arguably for good.

As a Bills fan, I have to admit, I wanted him on the Bills.  Why? Because of the media exposure – no other college athlete sold as many jerseys as Tebow, and once he hit the NFL, his jerseys were the #1 best selling jersey and have now settled to 10th.  That’s the 10th best selling jersey in the league.  He’s played three games, people!  You think Buffalo, a team rumored to be moving to various cities due to low revenues, couldn’t have used that???

In fact, this Broncos game, in Miami at Dolphins Stadium, has already sold 20,000 more tickets than any previous Dolphins game.  The University of Florida is four hours from Dolphins stadium, and thousands of miles from Denver – but this is going to be a home game for Tebow.  And I’ll be watching.

Today’s junk food: Pepperidge Farm Milano Melts Dark Classic Creme!

The Money Shot

I reviewed Pepperidge Farm Milano Melts Dark Classic Creme alter ego, the Chocolate Dark Classic Creme variety way back – and I wasn’t thrilled.  The fudge creme in those cookies was good but the cookie was bland and too crumbly.  I didn’t like how the chocolate cookie in the other version was really dry. Would these be more successful?

Looks luscious

Pepperidge Farm Milano Melts Dark Classic Creme, to recap, are a play on classic Milano cookie, with the fudgey center replacing the normally thin strip of fudge at the center of two buttery shortbread-like cookies. When you look at this packaging, its clear that the main benefit of the switch should be even MORE chocolate than the classic version.  I feel like if I grabbed a cookie and squeezed it, it should explode with a massive goo pocket of fudge.

Melt I will...

These are called Milano Melts, and the tagline they are using is “One bite and you’ll melt…” Wow. That was hard. I don’t think the add execs at PF thought to much about this packaging – all they did was add some cursive and splash some warm purple in the background.  All we need is some Barry White music in the background.

All natural

Baked with no artificial flavors or preservatives… so when my love handles grow after eating fifteen of these cookies, I can be at least assured its high quality, gourmet fat?

Buttery cookie sleeve

And there they are! Those paper trays are flimsy as hell.  Like second hand doilies.  Still, at first glance, the buttery cookie LOOKS just like the typical structure of the classic Milano, although not as strong – they were awfully crumbly.  Even just shifting these cookies around to take the photo, I managed to chip the edges of almost ever single cookie.

Fudgey goodness

MMMMM fudge.  Fudgey fudgey fudge. Snapping the cookie apart, you could tell that the fudge was rich and creamy, although how Pepperidge Farm got it to stay in such a flowing form WITHOUT preservatives is beyond me.  Weird cookie science.

Tendrils of fudge

I took a bite – mmmmmmmmm dark chocolate flavor.  The fudgey interior was rich, had a wonderful dark chocolate taste, and smooth.  Very strong flavor that complimented the cookie well – almost as if you had a plain cookie and a jar of fudge with a knife and just slathered that stuff on.

The cookie itself was ok – just so-so.  Still, I enjoyed this cookie MORE than the chocolate cookie version in the other Milano Melts.  Why? I think its because this cookie maintained the buttery flavor reminiscent of a classic Milano cookie BETTER than the cocoa-infused cookies.  There was no extraneous flavor to concentrate on – these were just crunchy, and buttery.

The fudge plus the buttery cookie made these pretty successful – good flavor that matched classic Milano taste, and a good fudge-to-cookie ratio.  Tasty, Pepperidge Farm.

So, what do you think of these Melts or Tim Tebow?  Tell me the comments below or hit me on Twitter @junkfoodguy or on my Facebook Page.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy