Desserts
Searching for Jingles Cookies
How one woman’s quest for Jingles Cookies, the anise Christmas cookies of her childhood, led her to Salerno “Santa’s Favorites” cookies instead.
By Carolyn Wyman|Dec 03 2021|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanYield:
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Delightful! So glad the story had a happy ending with extra Jingles stashed in the freezer. Poofygoo, eat your heart out. .
What are you trying to do, passing off your JINGLES for the real thing?
The ones we are eating now, called Jingles, are nothing but a glorified
sugar cookie….and, they don’t even taste like sugar cookies! They
have been “dumped”…didn’t have the heart to even leave them out
for Santa! Bring back our JINGLES WITH ANISE!!!! They are an
important part of Christmas as Santa is! Before you pull a stunt
like taking them off the shelves, you should ask the public their
opinion! You’d be given a firm NO! Why would a company discontinue
an item that is so popular and a best seller? I don’t understand.
I’m also from Cumberland, RI and I have looked for these cookies for years. My grandmother always bought them around the holidays for our weekly Sunday visits. I tried the Keebler ones last year and they are a sad reminder of what used to be. Even if I found some that tased right, without the designs…I wouldn’t be happy.
I was able to find Santa’s Favorites in the Chgo area last xmas. I live in Wisconsin and have a family friend search stores in Chgo area and she ships them to us. I have her on the “mission” again this year. Last year she found them at Jewel fodd stores. I am hopeful that she suceeds this year. I have several family members who I share the case she sends me. I have even passed the love of the cookie to my 20yr old son.
I just bought my first box last night in years! Crestwood, Illinois… our Ulta Foods has the “Santa’s Flavorites”. Delicious they are. I too can remember this cookie from years ago. I’m 50 and this was my flavor Christmas cookie. They are a lot smaller in size then previous and the green and red sugar stayed on the cookie much better, but the taste is still there.
There is no repeat NO substitute foe those original Anise Jingle Cookie. I have looked everywhere. PLEASE BRING THEM BACK
I found them on shopfoodex.com and they’re delicious good luck happy holidays
Please Bring Them Back !!!
I don’t think I can make it through another Christmas without my Jingles! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, bring them back!!
Not that it helps New Englanders much, but Santa’s Favorites are pretty easy to find at Wegman’s stores in Buffalo and western New York. (And like the author, I just dropped a hefty chunk of change to have a case shipped to me in Manhattan.)
I’m so glad I happened upon this website! I too have been longing for the flavors of my youth growing up in Evanston and Glen Ellyn, Illinois. My mother would by the cellophane wrapped green boxes of these fabulous cookies from either Jewel or Dominick’s. Until this day, I never knew the name of these gems. Now, if only I could find them in the Denver area. Ugh! Can someone help us poor, deprived ex-Chicagoans?
Been looking for jingles for years always loved the flavor I live in arizona would like to know where I can get santa’s favorites. Please somebody bring them back
I need these cookies! They have been a holiday tradition until last year or so when all the Dominick’s food chains went out of business here in Chicago. I can’t find them anywhere & I’m so sad!! I loved the powder sugar crescent cookies in the blue box too!!!
I searached all over Naperville/Lisle area of western burbs of Chicago the last three days trying to find these cookies, if someone nearby locates them please let me know!!! I remember making a wreath with them many years ago but their flavor is like no other!
We have been looking for these cookies for the past 5 years on hopes that one day they’ll return. What is Christmas without it’s Jingles. ….
My wife bought a box of them this morning at Ultra Foods in Wheaton, IL (corner of County Farm Rd. & Roosevelt Rd by Target).
So if you live in the area, as I see a couple of you do, the original does still exist and they have a small display on hand so I don’t think you have to worry about them running out.
I was in Wegmans store in The Niagara Falls area ….bought 10 boxes of original Salerno anise Christmas cookies ……wonderful find ……assured I could find them in my local Wegmans …..sadly not the case ….none in the immediate 60 mile radius ….so sad ….was a family tradition
Why they stopped making them was not a good idea I love those cookies and have looked for them for years in the store. They should give us the receip for those cookies. I would make them all year long.
Can’t tell you how excited I was to find your article on – what I always knew as Noel Cookies by Educator. I grew up in New England and these cookies were a holiday staple. When I moved to the west coast I feared I would not be able to find my much loved cookie, and I was right. But my family back in Boston kept me supplied.
Then one sad day I was informed that Noel cookies were no where to be found. I have never forgot nor lost the desire for there cookies, but had given up the search. That is until the night I found your post!!!
Well, first thing I did was go online and order a case. They arrived today. They were wonderful. I plan to send boxes to all my siblings with the good news that Noel cookies are back – even if they’re called something else. Thanks for all your research on this much loved topic.
I wrote to Keebler last year about Jingles. Keebler took the Jingles over then quit making them .The product manager lady I spoke with just said we’re not making them this year. When I asked her why I was told I DON’T KNOW !!! Nice for a product manager huh ??? I hope I can find the Santa favorites around the Chain-o-lakes area northern Il.
I had forgotten about those cookies. I remember my mother getting them for us in Lowell. We had Educator biscuit there. I am drooling as I remember the anise flavoring. Wish Lowell had Educator again. Please please bring them back!
I can’t believe I happened to stumble upon this story!! I was just talking to my mom about how much I missed Noel cookies 3 days ago. These were my dad’s most favorite Christmas treat that our whole family shared his love for. Our beloved father recently passed away. I was hoping to find a few boxes & share them with the family this Christmas, while we reflect over all the wonderful memories we shared together about an amazing loving father, husband and man!
If anyone would like the Salerno Santa’s Favorites Anise Cookies, I can pre-order them for you, so they will be available next holiday season. The cookies are available usually the 1st week of November, independent distributors have to place their order in July. This is one of the reasons that you can never find them. They have no idea which stores will want them or how much they will be able to sell and usually go light on their order. So call The Cookie Store and More (773) 777-9555, we can take orders and keep the traditions and memories going for everyone.
I was searching for these cookies when I found so many others were as well!! As a New England Gal, I grew up with these every year! Market Basket always had them, then they just didn’t.
Got them from a hard to find items site then they didn’t have them. I will want them every year!!! Lots of boxes as I got my children (34&20) hooked as well!
Thank you!!!
We have moved from New England to North Carolina and can not get Jingles Cookies down here can I order them online?
My maiden name was Salerno so it goes without saying that I grew up with these cookies. As a kid they were Jingles now they are Santa’a Favorites. I don’t care what they are called as long as someone makes them. I found mine this year at Wegman’s in Depew NY as “Salerno; Santa’s Favorites”. I was not only happy to find them but to see “my” name on the box again.
Guess what!!?? I found this article doing a search for Jingles. BUT after seeing that you mentioned the new name, I realized they sell them at Target for $3.00 a box! It’s February and I can still order them! I haven’t had these in more than 25 years and still remember the taste. I live in CA and can get some. So excited!!!
I just happened across this story while searching for these cookies from my childhood in New England! These cookies were a mainstay in our house at Christmas! I just ordered 10 boxes from Target to be delivered!! Best gift I will receive this year! A flood of childhood holiday memories in a cookie! Thank you!!
My Mother always bought me some of the Noel cookies every Christmas. I, too, had grown up on them. Now my daughter gifts me the cookies every year. Happy times have returned.
So glad I read this article. My husband and I both comment every year about missing these. Going to Target tonight for milk and cookies
So glad you enjoyed reading it! Please note, the cookies are only available in-store at select Target stores. You can search for the cookies online, and then filter the results to see which stores have them in stock. Happy snacking!
Found that out when going online
But I have a choice of a couple Target stores & found them, pre-ordered, yes for cookies & went out of my way to get them. Closest to the Educator Noel’s so far. Jet.com also sells them for around $4.00 and Amazon for $15.00 (bit steep for cookies). Would love to find a recipe but for now back to Target for a few more boxes!!!!
I only paid $3.00 per box
Found them on Target website. Ordered 10 boxes. The boxes are large but the bag inside with the cookies is much smaller. Still has that great taste
So glad I stumbled on this article, as well! These were my favorite commercial cookies when growing up – and the last time I had found them (or whatever the counterpart was) was in 2000 when I returned to the North Tonawanda area for my mother’s funeral. I went to a TOPPS to pick up some food for the return drive to Massachusetts and there was a huge display of them — bought quite a few boxes I brought home with us. That was the last time I’ve seen any.
The Jingles I have been searching for were the thin ones and absolutely delicious! “They” changed them to a thicker cookie with the same flavor but the texture is not as pleasant. It took talent to dunk the originals without their breaking! Still searching….
I was born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts and my grandmother worked at the Educator Biscuit factory. I used to beg my mother to buy multiple boxes of the Christmas cookies every year when they came out. Nobody has ever duplicated or outdone them in my opinion. about 10 years ago, Market Basket started selling something pretty close that came in a bag, but they weren’t quite the same and a few years ago they just disappeared again. They were close on the taste and the shapes, which led me to believe that someone bought Educators recipes or patents, but Educators Noel cookies were thinner and crispier, they were a little darker, and they were more intricately embossed. They just had the perfect taste and man were they addictive! As a young teenager, I know I ate an entire box in one sitting more than once! I’ve told my wife if I had the money I’d hire a lawyer to chase down the patents and recipes (for Beer Chasers too!) and I’d start a small bakery just to churn out those cookies in the same white box they used to come in! We need to revive these cookies!
Thank you for your article on the NOEL cookies! EVERY year my sister and I search for those cookies (or something close) at Christmas time. For now, the Salerno’s are as close as we can get. Hopefully, someday the original recipe is brought back to life.
I am so glad I came across this article. My sister and I ALWAYS talk about those NOEL cookies every time that Christmas rolls around. Even though I make 11 different kinds of cookies at Christmas, there is a ‘hunt’ for the NOEL cookies. As a child growing up in Worcester, MA, we couldn’t wait to shop at ‘SPAG’S’ to get boxes of those famous cookies. They came in a box with a small cellophane window on the front, so you could see the red/green sugared shapes. I believe there were bells, stars, and trees. Even at the age of 49 years old, those cookies bring me back to my childhood at Christmas. I was happy to find the Keebler ‘Jingles’, and they were pretty close to the original NOEL’s. Unfortunately, Keebler discontinued them. Last week while shopping at WEGMAN’S, I stumbled across the ‘Salerno Santa’s Favorites’. I bought two boxes, one for me and one for my sister. They were a little thicker, lighter, and had less sugar coating on them, but were almost right on key to the flavor. Maybe some day, the original recipe will emerge and the NOEL cookies will be enjoyed by families again (including mine).
Sure, the cookies were great, maybe still are, but I would like to call attention to the high caliber of writing on display here….an absolute pleasure from start to finish.
I just found Santa’s Favorites at my store today and bought them because I knew they had to be renamed Jingles. I remember the bigger, embossed cookies so clearly and wanted the same memory for my two young daughters. The taste of spot on even if size is different. It’s always interesting when I find out that a staple of childhood or even adulthood is actually jut a Chicagoland thing (yes, that is my area). I moved around the US a bit and learned of so many foods that I thought were commonplace that actually are not (mostaccioli, beef sandwiches, pizza cut into squares, good pizza in general, Fannie May).
Anyway, I’m happy to send you some if you need more. I know the importance of nostalgia!
I am so happy I came across this article. I am from Boston and spent all my holidays in Lowell with my grandmother and aunts. I always loved Noel cookies. When I married and moved to Ireland, my mother use to send them to me every Christmas. My children loved them as much as I did. When my mother died, my aunt sent them for a while but then they stopped. About eight years ago one of my sons moved back to New England (Connecticut) and I thought I would be able to get my beloved Noel cookies again and he was dying to get them as well. Only we found out that they had disappeared. I must share this article with him and send him on a quest to find them so I can introduce them to my grandchildren on both sides of the Atlantic.
Target/walmart have them online them get them while you can
These cookies aren’t as good as the Noel- Educator cookies we bought years ago. Close but no cigar. Disappointed!!
Shopfoodex.com has the cookies
Omigosh! I can’t imagine a Christmas without anise flavored cookies! Fortunately, I have our Nonna’s recipe which is our family’s favourite! I am wondering how Jingles compare, so may order a box. Thanks, everyone, for doing so much research…hope the sources are still available!
Merry Christmas! Buon Natale!
As of today both Target & Walmart are out of stock. Amazon has them but who wants to pay $11.29 for 1 box? Walmart will email you when the cookies are back in stock. I loved these cookies as a kid even though I’m a homemade cookie person all the way. I hope they’re back in stock soon so I can taste all the old childhood Christmas memories.
This Christmas my family started talking about our favorite holiday cookies. Everyone said they missed the “Jingles” from our childhood. Someone said that they are called Salerno Santa’s Favorite Cookie and they saw them at Target. Well this was during Christmas dinner and my relatives all wanted some. Well the next day I went on line and checked Target.com. It said that majority of stores were out in Chicago but one store in a nearby suburban store had 15 boxes on the shelf. I called them and they wouldn’t hold any. So I hurried over and got the last 8 boxes. When I told my relatives I paid $3.29 for them some complained that they should have been half price. Guess they won’t be sharing mine or the other appreciative relatives who didn’t mind paying the retail price.
Just read this article today and it brought back so many memories! I don’t like anise as a rule but these cookies were always a favorite. I remember the first year I bought those sugar cookie imposters—yuck! I thought the cookies would only be a fond memory. I googled the cookies and was willing to pay Amazon’s price so I could have four boxes…Happiest Holidays, everyone!????????????????????
So glad I came across this article. The other day I was trying to remember what happened to the Jingles name. I knew some rotter snarfed it up, but you brought that memory back. Those Jingles were terrible! Was someone not doing their job in watching over the Registered name and lost it to probably the same bad people who steal domain names! Amazon does have them at $14/box, but I got them today at Jewel Foods for 2 for $6. Yay Chicago!
I was hoping there would be a recipe at the end of this great article – c’mon bakers!
Same here#
Never having the joy of the original, I searched for any recipe that resembled the cookies that so many of you enjoyed. DISCLAIMER: NOT my recipe and I haven’t made these YET! Try here:
https://www.shugarysweets.com/homemade-jingles-cookies/
I miss the white slide out box..with the larger,than Santa’s favorites cookies, inside!!!! Ahhh…the memories!!