almonds Archives - Candyrageous

May 2, 2021 Michael

Almond Joy – Crunchy, Coconutty, and Tasty

Candy Bars

Almond Joy is basically Mounds, but with the addition of almonds, and with milk chocolate instead of dark. It’s fine, but Mounds is clearly the superior of the two.

The milk chocolate actually makes a pretty huge difference. The dark chocolate on a Mounds bar gives it a more pronounced chocolately flavour, and its slight bitterness contrasts very nicely with the very sweet coconut. The milk chocolate here is decent, but it’s just sweet on sweet; I missed the dark chocolate.

Then, of course, there are the almonds. You’d think they’d be the star of the show; they’re right there in the name. Oddly enough, they don’t add much — they bring some crunchiness, but their flavour is completely lost. If they had a toastier flavour they might have been able to nudge through, but alas, they’re fairly bland.

You’d think the coconut would be exactly the same as in a Mounds (they’re both made by Hershey, after all), but the coconutty centre here seems a bit more dry. This emphasizes the problem coconut desserts tend to have, where you’re still munching on coconut bits long after the flavour has disappeared.

Still, the chocolate/coconut combo continues to be delicious, and while I prefer Mounds (and Bounty, the king of the chocolate/coconut castle), Almond Joy is tasty enough.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (2 pieces, 45 grams): 220 calories, 13 grams of fat (9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 50 mg of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fibre, 21 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Corn syrup, sugar, coconut, almonds, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and/or palm kernel oil) chocolate, milk, contains 2% or less of: lactose (milk), milk fat, skim milk, cocoa, whey (milk), salt, lecithin (soy), PGPR, hydrolyzed milk protein, sodium metabisulfite to maintain freshness, vanillin, artificial flavor.

August 6, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Snickers Creamy Almond Butter – Sweet and Salty Overload

Candy Bars

The first thing you’ll notice about the almond butter variety of Snickers is how comically small it is. Consisting of two tiny little squares that can’t even fill up the small wrapper, it’s definitely one of the smaller candy bars you can buy. I’m assuming the candy companies have done a bunch of research showing that 200 calories is the magic number, and because this is so dense, it had to be tiny. But it’s still weirdly small.

The illustration on the wrapper seems to indicate that it’s just smooth caramel and creamy almond butter enrobed in chocolate, but the caramel is actually dotted with tiny little almond shards. This is a good idea in theory — crunchy nuts would be a nice contrast to the bar’s chewiness, and of course, the peanuts in a regular Snickers are one of its defining characteristics. But the minuscule almond bits are way, way too small to bring a satisfying crunch.

Other than that, it’s fine, I guess. It’s generally decent enough, with a satisfying chewiness that never feels overbearing. But boy is it ever sweet; it’s a throat-burner, that’s for sure. Of course, a standard Snickers bar is also quite sweet, so I guess that’s par for the course.

There’s also a decent amount of saltiness, which helps to counteract the sweetness and gives the bar that satisfying sweet/salty combo. But the intense sweet and salty punch kinda kills all the other flavours of the bar; you can barely even taste the almond butter or the chocolate. It’s basically just there for texture. A more apt name for Snickers Almond Butter would be “Sugar and Salt: the Bar.”

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (2 squares, 38 grams): 190 calories, 11 grams of fat (4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 140 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 17 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Almonds, sugar, invert sugar, milk ingredients, lactose, corn syrup, cocoa butter, corn syrup solids, cocoa mass, modified palm oil, dextrose, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, vegetable glycerine, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, calcium carbonate, soy lecithin, TBHQ, flavour.

July 26, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Cadbury Burnt Almond Dark – Decent Dark Chocolate with Crunchy Almonds

Chocolate

If you’re looking for a chocolate bar without too many frills, Burnt Almond is right up your alley. Featuring a scant seven ingredients (which is impressively low for a mass market product like this), it’s just dark chocolate and toasted almonds. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

It’s quite tasty. Is the dark chocolate here going to blow anyone away? Not likely; it’s decent enough, but it lacks the complexity of better quality chocolates. Still, it gets the job done.

As you’d expect from a chocolate bar called “Burnt Almond,” the almonds are front and centre. The almond chunks are generous, and their very toasty flavour does a great job of balancing out the bar’s sweetness. They also add welcome pops of flavour that bring some interest to the somewhat one-note chocolate. And they’re nice and crunchy, which works quite well with the bar’s creaminess.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (9 squares, 38 grams): 200 calories, 13 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 5 mg of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 2 gram of fibre, 18 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Dark chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, milk ingredients, soy lecithin, natural flavour), almonds.

May 24, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Les Reclettes de L’Atalier: Raisins, Almonds & Hazelnuts – Creamy, Crunchy, and Chewy

Candy Bars, Chocolate

You know that a company is trying very hard to make their candy seem gourmet when they pull out the French. Les Reclettes de L’Atalier; oh la la. Well that must be fancy.

Aside from the pretentious name, this is basically a Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar, but with the addition of hazelnuts.

It’s good (sorry — I mean c’est bon). If you like Fruit & Nut, it’s a safe bet you’ll like this; the flavour of the chocolate is actually quite similar, and the addition of hazelnuts is a welcome one.

I mean, the chewy/crunchy/creamy combo is always going to be great, and the quality of the chocolate is pretty decent. It’s sweeter than it needs to be (the addition of more sweetness thanks to the raisins doesn’t help), but the nicely toasted nuts do a decent job of balancing it out. It’s not going to blow anyone’s mind, but if you’re looking for a decent quality piece of chocolate, you could certainly do worse.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (3 segments, 42 grams): 230 calories, 13 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 25 mg of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 21 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower lecithin, vegetable oil, natural vanilla flavour.

January 21, 2009January 10, 2021 Michael

Zero – The Nuttiness Grows on You

Candy Bars

Not to be confused with the far superior Belgian chocolate truffle bar, Hershey’s Zero consists of nougat studded with tiny pieces of almonds and peanuts, topped with chewy caramel and enrobed in white chocolate. Only, it’s not really white chocolate – Hershey calls it “white fudge,” presumably because it doesn’t contain the requisite amount of cocoa butter to legally be allowed to be called chocolate (vegetable oil is one of the first ingredients).

Zero sort of resembles a nuttier Mars Bar (or Milky Way in the States). Unlike a Mars Bar, the nougat contains really small chunks of peanuts and almonds. I think the pieces are probably a bit too small, as they give the bar an off-puttingly gritty texture. They do, however, lend the bar a pleasantly nutty flavour, which gives the nougat an almost marzipan-like taste. The caramel adds some additional chewiness, though it doesn’t really contribute any real flavour to the bar. As for the “white fudge,” it’s basically just superfluous.

For the first couple of bites, I was definitely ready to give this a negative review. But it grew on me. It’s not as sweet as you might expect, and it has a much nuttier flavour than you’ll find in most mainstream candy bars. It’s certainly not great, but it’s not bad either.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Calories (52 g bar): 230