I learned about disappointment at the tender age of 6. I was at my grandmother’s house when I spotted a shiny blue tin of biscuits on her coffee table. Feeling peckish, after just refusing some veggie sticks as an afternoon snack, I sneakily made my way over to the metallic tin and pried it open only to find hundreds of loose buttons, some thread and a needle cushion. My stomach was shattered.

Surely I’m not the only one who has fallen victim to thinking a Danish butter cookie tin actually contains cookies? 

While every delicious cookie in the tin tasted the same, with the only variances being coating and shape, once consumed the tin lived on as a makeshift sewing box in my grandparents home for decades. It was indestructible.

I long believed these treats were a thing of the past. Till now. On a recent trip to the grocery store I noticed the relic from my childhood on the shelf in the biscuit aisle, enticing me yet again. As a way to reclaim the past, I bought a tin, ate the cookies (not in one sitting, I swear), and I now have a new sewing box that will one day teach my child an important life lesson in disappointment. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles. 

If you want a taste of the past, here’s where you can still by Danish butter cookies:

Royal Dansk, The OG 

The tin that deceived me as a child, you can get your hands on these from Amazon. 

Queen’s Traditional Danish Butter Cookies, The Dupe

A valid Aldi dupe, equally as delicious as the originals. 

Crown Danish Butter Cookies, The Most Convenient Option

Look, most of these taste the same and only a true aficionado will be able to tell them apart, but you can get your mitts on them at Woolies which makes them super accessible. 

Related story: 42 Christmas cookies to get you in the festive spirit