chewy Archives - Page 4 of 8

November 11, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Chocolatey PayDay – A Downgrade from the Original

Candy Bars

I like PayDay. Consisting entirely of a dense caramel centre covered in salted peanuts, it’s delightfully peanutty and chewy, with a really satisfying combination of sweetness and saltiness that sets it apart from the competition. It’s also the rare candy bar that’s chocolate-free, which adds to its distinctive charm.

Enter: Chocolatey PayDay, which takes the classic bar and adds a “chocolatey” exterior. In case the word “chocolatey” wasn’t a dead giveaway, the bar features mockolate rather than the real deal. Oddly, chocolate is present towards the end of the ingredients list — but not enough to avoid the dreaded “chocolatey” designation, or to avoid the telltale waxy texture and lack of personality that you get from the fake stuff.

It’s fine. I’m not sure if they’ve just covered a standard PayDay in a chocolatey coating or if other modifications were made, but it tastes like the latter to me. I’m pretty sure there are less peanuts, and while the original hits you in the face with the sweet/salty combo, the level of salt is much more restrained here. It’s definitely there, but it’s in the background.

This makes a bigger difference than you’d think; the bar tastes noticeably sweeter, and the nutty flavour is much more muted. It doesn’t help that the mockolate coating basically adds nothing, and only detracts from the bar (unlike a lot of candy bars covered in mockolate, there’s a thick enough layer here that the waxy texture is quite noticeable).

The whole thing is inoffensive enough, but it takes something distinctive and makes it generic; it basically tastes like an inferior version of an Oh Henry.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 bar, 52 grams): 260 calories, 14 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 100 mg sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fibre, 5 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, peanuts, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, and/or safflower oil, corn syrup, chocolate, skim milk. Contains 2% or less of: whey (milk), salt, lecithin (soy), carrageenan, mono- and diglycerides, vanillin, artificial flavor.

November 1, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Fudge Brownie – Chewy, Crispy, and Tasty

Candy Bars

I remember when M&M’s were pretty much only available in regular and peanut (which, as I’ve mentioned before, is and shall always be the king of M&M’s), so I still find wacky flavours like fudge brownie to be thoroughly delightful, even if they are old hat at this point.

And this is one of those combos that’s so M&M-friendly that I’m surprised it took this long to happen. With a lot of gimmicky M&M’s varieties, they attempt to infuse the chocolate with flavouring, to questionable results (some of these, like Carrot Cake, are actually pretty good, while others, like Red Velvet… are not).

This flavour, on the other hand, features an actual piece of brownie (or something resembling a brownie) crammed into the middle of an M&M. They’re exactly what you’re hoping they’re going to be — they taste like a combo of M&M’s and fudgy, store-bought brownies. The brownie interior has a nice chewiness and a distinctive brownie flavour.

It’s nothing too mind-blowing, and it’s definitely sweeter than it needs to be, but the contrast between the crunchy shell, creamy chocolate, and chewy brownie works quite well.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 pack, 40 grams): 190 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 40 mg of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 25 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Semisweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, skim milk, soy lecithin), sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, chocolate processed with alkali, skim milk, cornstarch, less than 1% – milk fat, lactose, dextrin, salt, coloring (includes blue 1 lake, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1) carnauba wax, artificial flavor, chocolate, gum acacia.

October 28, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

3 Musketeers – Chewy, Sweet, and Tasty

Candy Bars

3 Musketeers is basically a Mars Bar without the caramel. It’s extremely simple — it’s just chewy, cocoa-infused whipped nougat covered in a fairly generous layer of milk chocolate.

The way that Mars has named both this and Mars Bar is a bit confusing; this one is known as 3 Musketeers in North America, but Milky Way in the UK. That’s not to be confused with the American version of Milky Way, which is actually called Mars Bar everywhere else. Simple, right?

Whatever it’s called, 3 Musketeers is a classic — the nougat is nice and fluffy, with a decent amount of chewiness and a satisfying chocolatey flavour. It’s very sweet, but not overwhelming, with a nice hit of creaminess and flavour from the milk chocolate exterior.

Clearly, there’s a reason why it’s endured since the ’30s.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 54.4 grams): 240 calories, 7 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 95 mg of sodium, 42 grams of carbohydrates, <1 gram of fibre, 35 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin), sugar, corn syrup, vegetable oil (hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil), cocoa powder processed with alkali, less than 1.5% – salt, egg whites, artificial and natural flavors.

October 11, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Reese Peanut Butter Oh Henry! – The Most Substantial Candy Bar on the Market?

Candy Bars

Reese Peanut Butter Oh Henry! is not kidding around. Despite appearing to be about the same size as your average candy bar (if not slightly smaller), one bar weighs in at a whopping 85 grams and contains 440 calories, which means it’s about twice as heavy as the norm.

Suffice it to say, that old slogan of “Oh Hungry? Oh Henry!” definitely applies here. If you’re hungry, this bar will take care of that.

The wrapper describes the bar as “crunchy peanuts, peanut butter, creamy caramel, covered in a chocolaty coating.” It’s basically identical to a standard Oh Henry!, but with the chewy fudge in the middle replaced with peanut butter.

It’s predictably tasty. I mean, the original Oh Henry! is delicious and peanut butter is delicious, so obviously. Why wouldn’t this be good?

The peanut butter has a decent amount of saltiness, which helps to round out the very sweet bar, which is chewy, crunchy, and creamy. I wish the chocolate were real instead of mockolate (the dreaded “chocolaty” coating), but with so much else going on, it doesn’t make a huge difference.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 bar, 85 grams): 440 calories, 28 grams of fat (9 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 170 mg of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fibre, 36 grams of sugar, 9 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Peanuts, sugar, modified palm oil and modified vegetable oil (shea, sunflower and/or safflower), modified palm kernel oil, high fructose corn syrup, unsweetened chocolate, modified milk ingredients, dextrose, sorbitol, salt, corn syrup, lecithin (soy), artificial flavour, TBHQ, mono and diglycerides.

September 20, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Mars Fudge – A Pleasant Variation on a Classic Candy

Candy Bars

The last Mars Bar variant I tried was Mars Caramel, which was a pretty clear downgrade from a standard Mars Bar. So my expectations weren’t particularly high for this one, which replaces the original’s nougat with fudge.

But hey, what do you know — it’s actually not bad. It probably helps that unlike the Caramel version, this one feels more like a tweak than a huge change.

Mostly, it tastes like a standard Mars Bar, but with a slightly stronger punch of chocolate flavour (though I will admit that it’s been a few years since I’ve had the original, so I might not be the best judge of this). If there’s a huge difference between the original’s nougat and the fudge here, I certainly couldn’t tell.

It’s quite satisfying, with a nice chewiness from the fudge and the caramel, and an intense sweetness that’s in-your-face but not too overpowering. It’s nothing to get too excited about, but it’s a solid candy bar.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 50 grams): 230 calories, 9 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 75 mg of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 30 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, corn syrup, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, dried egg-white, natural and artificial flavours.