'50s raisin sandwich cookie?

[vvvindaloo]

My mom is on a quest to find the name of a cookie she remembers from her childhood in the NY area. It was a thin, chewy, square sandwich cookie with a raisin filling. The cookie, itself, was light-colored and plain, no icing. She says she hasn't seen it in many years, and no one else can remember this cookie. She seems to remember the box being rectangular, but that's about it for the packaging. I thought that perhaps someone around here might know what she is talking about? We'd all be very grateful to put this topic to rest :) Thanks!

[rkscher]

I grew up in New York, and we always had these cookies in the house; my father, who had no sweet teeth, loved them because they were chewy and not sweet. For some reason we started calling them "Fruitianas," probably because no one in the house really knew their name. We just ate them by the bushel; my mother, who was a nutritionist, had no qualms about our eating them as snacks. In fact, they were Sunshine Golden Raisin Cookies. Later, when I moved to Florida, I could find them in better grocery stores, but I have not seen them in years. Too bad, i think that with today's health conscious consumer there is a niche for them - not too much sugar, not much crust, good chewy fruit, good flavor. Maybe i will see them again before I cash in my chips.

[daisies]

Someone re-created the recipe and put it on youtube; it's titled "Sunshine Golden Raisin Cookie" and it's in 3 parts.

[alkapal]

here's a recipe http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe...

[Mike R.]

When Sunshine was bought up by Keebler, they gutted the quality and style of many Sunshine products, which, to this day, have never recovered.

Take Cheez-Its, for example...In the Sunshine days, you'd find the deep-darkened end pieces left in the mix...not anymore. In the name of "quality control", an interesting flavor variant was removed. No doubt the folks in white gowns and hairnets were thrilled to take these crispy critters home.

At the tail-end of Golden Fruit's life, I seem to remember stuff other than raisin filling in an effort to increase the brand's presence and shelf-space. NONE of those came close to the original and the little elves ditched GF entirely.

Maybe the good folks at Kellogg's are reading this and can REVIVE this great product!

[PussandBoots]

I have been searching for these cookies for all my adult life...I loved them

[regustibus]

I remember these from growing up in Miami, mid-1960s. My grandmother would serve them with a Coke as a snack. The cookies showed random streaks or splotches of raisin through the dough, which was a little bit shiny as I recall, and perforated as the others have mentioned. They were satisfyingly chewy. I've been looking all over for these recently on the internet. Sunshine or Nabisco should bring them back!

[conniecald]

My father worked for Nabisco (NY and NJ) in the 50's,60's,70's and we only ate Nabisco cookies in my house - the raisin cookies mentioned in the posts are most likely the cookie made by Nabisco. I don't recall a name for them and they were probably discontinued in the 70's or 80's.

[thebeckerman]

They were Nabisco raisin biscuits. They are my favorite cookie of all time, bar none.

I've ordered the Crawfords raisin biscuits from Vermont Country Store; hope they're as good.

[Matsukaze]

If you have an Asian market nearby, look for Khong Guan Sultana Biscuits. I don't think they're as good as the Golden Fruit biscuits were--they're thicker and crisper than I remember the Golden Fruit biscuits being--but they're probably the closest thing you're likely to find nowadays.

[Tripeler]

Also look for All Raisin by Tohato from Japan. Quite good with minimal sweetness.

[violet4ever]

I miss Sunshine Golden Fruit so much. They were always my favorite snacks. I used to buy 4-5 packs at a time and I know I ate hundreds of packs over the years. I have tried the Garibaldi ones and I was not satisfied. Someone gave me a gift of two packs and I didn't even finish half of the first pack. The biscuit seemed thicker, harder, grittier and less tasty than the thin slightly crispy outsides of Sunshine Fruit. The filling of Garibaldi also has less taste and/or was just too thin to taste much. The overall effect to me with Garibaldi was that I was eating dry biscuit with something barely interesting between the top and bottom biscuit layers. Sunshine Fruit had a perfect balance of biscuit and fruit so that the overall effect was chewy, tasty and satisfying, not dry or gritty.

[Emmysue]

I have never had the Garibaldi biscuits but found a recipe for Sunshine Bakery Golden Fruit Raisin bars at <www.hungry browser.com/phaedrus/ml1207F07.htm> if anybody wants to try it. I think I will!

[alkapal]

here is a recipe from the california raisin marketing board, cited on another thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/3440...

[123cookie]

In my house they were called "smashed fly cookies" and they were my mother's favorite. We would never go camping or on a car trip with out the "smashed flies". Sure do miss them! When we bought them in the 70s and 80s they came stacked three cookies high, each about 10 inches long with zig-zag cuts so you could break them apart. They were on a white cardboard "tray" and wrapped in plastic wrap. Would make my day if they started making them again.

[CarmenR]

oh man, I remember eating these as well (and I'm a child of the 80s, so it must have been the late 80s or early 90s for me to remember it!) Now I'm craving them as well...

I have NO idea where we got them, but I do remember them being sort of a rarity on the house...however, most sweets were not welcome when I was a kid, so that doesn't speak to their availability.

[rmcoplon]

There's something that's roughly equivalent and very good available in the UK now -- the company is GO AHEAD, and they come in a "sultana" (i.e., raisin) and an "orange and sultana" varieties. I found this discussion, honestly, looking for a source in the US for these cookies. Guess I'll just have to beg my mother-in-law to ship me some! They aren't identical to the Sunshines, but they're excellent.

[grampart]

FYI - The Garibaldi Raisin Biscuit will NOT (imho) satisfy your yen for a Sunshine Golden Fruit original. We ordered from Vermont Country Store, paid their high price and shipping, and were quite disappointed. ymmv

[vvvindaloo]

sorry to hear that, grampart. i am sure they won't be the same, but am still considering giving them a shot. i guess some things are best left in one's memory, huh?

[grampart]

I think the difference lies in the fact that Garibaldi Biscuits use currants instead of raisins and their biscuit has a tad more crunch. They're not bad, mind you....just different. Give them a shot. Who knows, you might like them better.

[mgreenstein]

By the way, I believe the name of that Sunshine product was "Golden Fruit" (Cookies or Biscuits). Three flat rectangular "cookies," each with three square sections. The British version now available (at least it was about one-and-a-half years ago) from the Vermont Country Store is pretty close but a little softer than the original. Definitely worth a try for old time sake.

[vvvindaloo]

thanks, mgreenstein

[alkapal]

YES! those cookies are (were) nice: golden fruit by sunshine. perforated. in plastic, iirc. maybe cardboard a while back. i ate them at my grandmother's home.

here's another discussion that also gives alternative suppliers for the garibaldi
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11604 the forum also gives some recipes for the cookie!
-- a british expat's supply store in boston, http://www.britishdelights.com/prod_e184.htm

btw, ot, but anyone recall these spanish bar cakes? seems same era: http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/sh...

[JohnAE]

http://web.archive.org/web/2001122018...

shows a picture of the package. I think I remember Nabisco making them in the 50's, then later Sunshine and after that Keebler. Apparently no one does now.

[alkapal]

dang. i loved those cookies. my "nanny" (grandmother) would give me very milky coffee with the cookies for a little treat. i can still picture sitting at the table near that little kitchen...

[alkapal]

here is the updated site for that spanish bar cake: http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/br...

[alkapal]

just noticed that vermont country store is offering delivery for christmas with no special charge -- at least for the food items i've been eyeing there! it says no extra charge for delivery by tomorrow if you order today!

[regustibus]

The Golden Fruit photo shows something that looks like a Pop-Tart. Not quite what we're talking about here. The raisin crackers were perfectly flat, not rounded at the edges. And there were big holes in the crust, similar to Swiss cheese, that exposed the filling.

[vvvindaloo]

Thanks to Humbucker (who gave me a name to search and set me on the right path) and Dolores (who sent me to the right image and reminded me of where I can now secretly procure them), my mother has identified her cookie as the Garibaldi Raisin Biscuit by Crawford (which was most likely made by Sunshine when she knew them). After hearing about all of the phone calls my technologically-challenged (read: completely computer illiterate) mom made to no avail, I feel particularly gratified for having solved this mystery :)

[Nyleve]

I loved those too! Back then they weren't packaged individually, of course. But they were perforated so that you could divide a single bar into parts. Jeepers, I don't really even like raisins anymore. I wonder if I'd like the cookies.

[vvvindaloo]

Right- she didn't recognize the Sushine packaging nor the Garibaldi packaging, but the cookie looked right to her. She remembers them in a box.

[Judith]

I haven't thought of these in years. I absolutely adored them when I was a kid! Thanks for the memory :-)

[Humbucker]

Do you think they're raising biscuits? I used to really like these, but they don't make them anymore.

http://web.archive.org/web/2001122018...

[dolores]

vvvindaloo, check out The Vermont Country Store for all stuff forgotten:

http://tinyurl.com/4weofn

[vvvindaloo]

This looks a lot like what she described. Thanks, Humbucker, I will ask her!