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Thought for the Day: The Bracha on Thinster's Coconut CookieThins

Here's another cookie bracha issue. (Another? Yes; the one to which this is another is TftD: Coolest Cookie.) I found these delicious cookies: Thinster's Coconut CookieThins. Really delicious. What's the problem? What's the bracha -- both before eating and after finishing.

What is the doubt? The cookies contain wheat flour. The rule is that any time a recipe include wheat (or barley, rye, oat, or spelt) flour, then the bracha is always בורא מיני מזונות because the five grains are never subordinate. That is, except when the flour is added only to give structure/consistency to the food but not taste. If the flour is only added for the structure, then the bracha is שהכל נהיה בדברו. Twizzlers is the famous example of that.

However, how do you know if they use flour in a product for taste or simply to give structure? In fact, they may not know themselves. They add the flour according to their secret recipe. Why do they add it? Because it sells.

The Star K has a criterion they use: If the flour is more than 25% of the product, then it is added for flavor and the bracha is בורא מיני מזונות. If the flour is less than 15% of the product, then it is added for flavor and the bracha is שהכל נהיה בדברו. As it turns out, there are (apparently) very few products that fall in the middle range. Getting the percentage is tricky (they have secret recipes, you know). The Star K has another guideline: If it is one of the first two ingredients, then it is for flavor. If it is fourth or more, then it is for structure. If it is third, you need the percentage. Flour is the third ingredient on Thinsters. Gotta love the sense of humor of the Creator.

Getting that information from the company, though, is nigh on impossible. I tried emailing the company and explaining this was for religious reasons and that I didn't want the recipe. I simply wanted to know why they added the flour, or even just the percentage. They eventually stopped answering my emails. Sigh...

This product is certified kosher by the O-U, so that was my next email. I went back and forth getting them the information they needed and then waited. Those cookies in my pantry, so tempting, but... 

Here was the answer: The ingredient list is: chocolate, coconut, flour, etc. However, the chocolate is not actually in the cookie, it is merely smeared as a thin layer on (the bottom of) the cookie. I hadn't thought about the implications of that detail. That means, though, that the cookie ingredients are: coconut, flour, etc. So flour is the second ingredient and the bracha בורא מיני מזונות.

That's the bracha rishona. What about the bracha acharona? To require an על המחיה, one needs to consume a k'zayis of flour in like 4 - 7 minutes. Since these cookies are small and the flour proportion also is relatively, eating two or three cookies is not enough to require an על המחיה. If you eat enough, probably with other things, then you would make a בורא נפשות.

I am so going to enjoy those cookies!

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