Cookie Monster Has Been Eating Rice And Instant Coffee This Whole Time
He's fuzzy, blue, and has a thing for chocolate chips. You know him as one of the residents of "Sesame Street," the beloved PBS children's show that has been on the air since 1969. For over 50 years, Cookie Monster has been gobbling down his signature cookies and charming audiences with his frazzled and friendly persona.
So you might think that because Cookie Monster is famous for eating cookies, that must be what he's eating on the set of "Sesame Street." And in some sense, he is, though the cookies he eats aren't exactly as appetizing as they may appear on TV. In fact, "Sesame Street" puppet wrangler Lara MacLean, in an interview with The New York Times, revealed that the cookies that Cookie Monster chomps down on are made of a menagerie of rather incongruous and unappetizing ingredients. The two main components of the imitation cookie are puffed rice and coffee grounds. Not exactly mouth-watering. But don't worry, the cookies are rounded out with a helping of Grape-Nuts and hot glue sticks in place of chocolate chips. (Obviously, if you're making your own cookies, you should use one of these best-ranked chocolate chip brands instead.)
A not-so-tasty treat
Technically, the cookies on "Sesame Street" are edible aside from the hot glue, but they're certainly unappetizing so you might wonder why Cookie Monster's cookies are made the way they are. Well, the answer comes down to practicality. The ingredients in Cookie Monster's cookies help prevent the puppet from staining and are less likely to get stuck in his signature blue fuzz. But don't worry, those cookies don't go to waste. Though it seems like Cookie Monster's cookies go everywhere but his mouth, he is actually capable of swallowing his treats. This is because his puppet contains a small gullet that can take in small amounts of food (and other objects). The more you know!
There aren't many people on the set of "Sesame Street" who have dared to try Cookie Monster's peculiar cookies. But according to MacLean, Adam Sandler did partake in the puffed rice and glue stick treat. Apparently, he was not a fan of the cookie and had to spit it out as soon as cameras stopped rolling. And who could blame him?
Making cookies a 'sometime food'
But despite the less-than-tasty truth behind the cookie's actual ingredients, it seems like Cookie Monster still can't get enough of them. But this doesn't mean that no one has ever tried to break the muppet of his sugar-rich habit. In fact, in 2005, during growing concern over the obesity epidemic, there was an effort to sway Cookie Monster's sweet tooth. In the segment, "A Cookie is a Sometime Food," which aired on season 36 of "Sesame Street," Hoots the Owl taught Cookie Monster a healthier way to approach his cookie habit. During the segment's musical number, Hoots the Owl taught Cookie Monster that cookies were only a part of a larger and more well-rounded diet that also included eating fruits and vegetables.
The segment caused a bit of a stir among fans of the series, who assumed this meant that Cookie Monster would no longer be eating his signature cookies. However, this was not the case, and Cookie Monster has continued to enjoy his cookies on a pretty regular basis in the years since the segment originally aired. However, fans might not be so eager to encourage his habit if they knew exactly what his treats were made from.