Candy Bars Archives - Page 5 of 29

April 4, 2021April 11, 2021 Michael

Mounds – A Tasty Combo of Coconut and Dark Chocolate

Candy Bars

Mounds and Bounty are weirdly similar. They both feature sweet coconut covered in chocolate, they’re both divided into two bars, and both feature distinctive rounded edges. Mounds is the original, however. It was first released in 1920; Bounty didn’t come out until 1951.

I’ll admit I have a soft spot for Bounty thanks to a childhood fondness for the stuff, but the two are very, very similar.

The biggest difference is that Mounds is covered in dark chocolate versus Bounty’s milk chocolate (apparently there is a dark chocolate version of Bounty, though I don’t recall ever seeing it). I think pretty much every candy bar is improved by subbing dark chocolate for milk; it delivers more chocolatey flavour than its milky counterpart, and its slight bitterness balances well with the sweetness of a candy bar. So that’s definitely a point in Mounds’ favour.

The coconut portion of Mounds seems slightly creamier, but I think the coconut itself is a bit more roughly chopped, which means that you’ll still be chewing it even after the coconut flavour has mostly faded away. Point: Bounty.

Still, that’s a fairly minor complaint; both are delicious and extremely similar. I prefer Bounty, but I think that has more to do with childhood nostalgia than anything else.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (2 pieces, 49 grams): 230 calories, 13 grams of fat (10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 55 mg of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fibre, 21 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Corn syrup, semi-sweet chocolate (chocolate, sugar, milk fat, lecithin (soy), PGPR, vanillin, artificial flavor, milk), coconut, sugar, contains 2% or less of: salt, hydrolyzed milk protein, sodium metabisulfite to maintain freshness.

March 31, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Chunky: Popcorn – Surprisingly Strong Popcorn Flavour

Candy Bars

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the popcorn version of Kit Kat Chunky. Considering that Kit Kat Chunky’s cookie dough variety basically doesn’t taste like cookie dough at all, I sort of figured that this would be more of the same.

I was extremely wrong. Popcorn Kit Kat Chunky pretty much hits you in the face with popcorn flavour.

My assumption was that the white stuff on top of the wafer would be some kind of popcorn-flavoured paste, but there are actual bits of popcorn in there, and their flavour is surprisingly strong. It’s mildly buttery, slightly salty, and actually compliments the toasty wafers and the sweet chocolate surprisingly well. The chunks are also large enough to add a bit of their own texture on top of the crispiness of the wafers.

It’s more of a fun novelty than anything else, but if you’re intrigued by the combination of Kit Kat + popcorn, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (1 bar, 48 grams): 250 calories, 14 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, wheat flour, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, modified palm oil, palm kernel, palm and vegetable oils, popcorn, cocoa powder, sunflower lecithin, salt, natural flavour, baking soda, protease, xylanase.

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021 Michael

Caramilk vs. Creamy Salted Caramel Dairy Milk

Candy Bars

Looking at the wrapper for Creamy Salted Caramel Dairy Milk, I had assumed that it was going to be basically identical to Caramilk. They’re both made by Cadbury, and they both feature caramel surrounded by milk chocolate. It seemed like a good candidate for a side-by-side review, a new thing I’m trying out for the blog.

As it turns out, the two are very, very different. A side-by-side comparison is probably somewhat unnecessary. But hey, I’ve already taken the pictures. I’ve eaten both bars. May as well do this.

(That’s Caramilk on the left and Dairy Milk on the right; all unwrapped pictures were shot at the same time, so they’re to scale.)

Caramilk is a classic. I reviewed Caramilk Thick several years ago, and my thoughts on the bar haven’t changed since then. The gooey caramel is ridiculously sweet (but satisfying), and the creamy Cadbury milk chocolate is as tasty as ever. The sweet chocolate and the even sweeter caramel means that it’s a bit of a throat-scorcher, but it’s a solid combo. It’s a classic for a reason.

I figured that Creamy Salted Caramel Dairy Milk was going to be Caramilk, but with a bit of salt. I was thoroughly wrong about that; the taste and texture of the caramel could not be more different. It’s thicker and richer, with a texture that’s more more fudgy than creamy. It seems like it shouldn’t be as satisfying as the soft caramel in a Caramilk, but it totally works.

And the flavour is so good. It solves every problem I have with Caramilk, and then some. It has a super satisfying butterscotch-like flavour; unlike Caramilk’s one-note sweetness, there’s a lot going on here, and it’s delightful. Its sweetness is surprisingly restrained, and the subtle hit of salt adds a great counterpoint to the caramel and the chocolate. And of course, the milk chocolate is standard Cadbury. It compliments the tasty caramel very well. It all adds up to something I enjoyed way more than I thought I would.

Caramilk

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (1 bar, 50 grams): 250 calories, 13 grams of fat (8grams of saturated fat, 0.2 grams of trans fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 55 mg sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 26 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, glucose syrup, milk ingredients, modified palm oil, unsweetened chocolate, modified vegetable oil, cocoa butter, salt, calcium chloride, citric acid, sodium bicarbonate, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavours.

Dairy Milk: Creamy Salted Caramel

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (5 pieces, 40 grams): 220 calories, 13 grams of fat (8 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 21 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (milk, sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, whole milk powder, unsweetened chocolate, butter oil, soy lecithin, artificial flavour), salted caramel creme (sugar, modified palm oil, whole milk powder, skim milk powder, cocoa butter, sea salt, soy lecithin, tartrazine, allura red, natural and artificial flavours, brilliant blue FCF).

March 24, 2021March 28, 2021 Michael

Mr. Big – Boring, but Tasty

Candy Bars

Mr. Big is one of those old, reliable candy bars that isn’t particularly exciting, but gets the job done. I was under the impression that it was a Canadian-only thing, but apparently it was released in the States in 1995.

Featuring a wafer surrounded by caramel, puffed rice, peanuts, and chocolate, this was a favourite of mine as a kid — mostly because, as the name implies, it’s bigger than average, and I was a fat kid.

It’s still good. The chewy caramel contrasts nicely with the crispy wafer and puffed rice. I guess there are peanuts as well, but they’re stingily applied and don’t make much of an impact.

The chocolate is probably the weakest link — I’m not even sure if it’s real chocolate (the ingredients lists three types of oil, though unsweetened chocolate is there as well), but whatever it is, it’s not the best. There’s enough going on here that doesn’t make a huge difference, but it’s a bummer regardless.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (1 bar, 60 grams): 290 calories, 14 grams of fat (8 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 100 mg of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 33 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, glucose syrup, modified palm oil, modified milk ingredients, rice, modified vegetable oil, wheat flour (with barley), peanuts, cocoa, unsweetened chocolate, corn starch, salt, hydrogenated palm oil, malt extract, soy lecithin, baking soda, citric acid, natural and artificial flavour.

March 21, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Duos: Mocha + Chocolate – An Intense Kick of Coffee Flavour

Candy Bars

I’m not a big coffee drinker. And by “not a big coffee drinker,” I mean that I don’t drink coffee at all, so I’m probably not in the target audience for this particular Kit Kat variety. I do, however, enjoy the chocolate/coffee combo.

The wrapper describes this as “Crisp Wafers in mocha creme with coffee bits + chocolate.”

It’s a tasty bar, though I’ll admit that the coffee flavour was a bit too strong for me. I normally enjoy chocolate with a coffee flavour — and it’s not that I didn’t enjoy this (it’s still Kit Kat, which is inherently delicious) — but the balance of flavours is definitely weighted more towards the coffee than the chocolate. It has an admirably restrained sweetness and a mild but distinctive bitterness. I liked it, but if you’re a coffee drinker, I think you might love it.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 package, 42 grams): 210 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 20 mg sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 19 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, and/or safflower oil), wheat flour, chocolate, skim milk, corn syrup solids, cocoa butter, lactose (milk), cocoa processed with alkali, contains 2% or less of: milk fat, coffee, lecithin (soy), natural & artificial flavor, PGPR, salt, yeast, baking soda, artificial color (yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, red 40 lake, blue 2 lake).