creamy Archives - Page 5 of 8

January 3, 2021January 10, 2021 Michael

Reese Sticks – Familiar Reese Flavour with Bonus Crispiness

Candy Bars

Reese Sticks is one of those things that’s so obviously appealing, you pretty much don’t even need to eat it to know that it’s going to be good. It’s crispy wafers, creamy peanut butter, and milk chocolate. You’d have to work pretty hard to mess that up.

And hey, what do you know, it’s really good. Shocker.

Like with most Reese stuff, it’s a bit too sweet, and I wish the chocolate coating were more generous (the chocolate flavour is somewhat lost among the PB and the wafers). But other than that, this is exactly what you want it to be, with the saltiness of the peanut butter doing a great job of at least partially smoothing out the intense sweetness. It’s crispy, peanut buttery, chocolatey, and delicious.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (2 sticks, 42 grams): 210 calories, 13 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 135 mg of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 18 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk ingredients, unsweetened chocolate, lactose, lecithin (soy), salt, polyglycerol polyricinoleate), peanuts, sugar, wheat flour, dextrose, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, hydrogenated palm oil, palm kernel oil, modified palm oil and modified vegetable oil (shea, sunflower and/or safflower), modified palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, salt, modified milk ingredients, unsweetened chocolate, corn starch, lecithin (soy), baking soda, TBHQ, artificial flavour, citric acid.

December 27, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Snickers Peanut Brownie Squares – Tasty, But Not Enough Brownie Flavour

Candy Bars

I can’t think of a single candy bar that wouldn’t be improved by cramming a brownie into it. Think about it: picture a candy bar. Any candy bar. Now picture brownie inside of it. It’s better, isn’t it?

So obviously the Peanut Brownie version of Snickers (which features peanutty brownies covered in a layer of soft caramel and coated in milk chocolate) is good. How could it not be?

The biggest problem here is that the “brownie” isn’t particularly brownie-like. It basically has the taste and texture of a cocoa-tinged version of the usual Snickers nougat. Looking at the ingredients reveals a lack of flour or butter or any brownie ingredients outside of cocoa (aside from egg whites, which are already present in the nougat you’ll find in a regular Snickers).

Still, it’s tasty; it’s essentially a normal Snickers bar, but with more cocoa flavour. Nothing wrong with that — though like with the original, it’s a bit sweeter than it needs to be.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (2 squares, 34 grams): 180 calories, 8 grams of fat (4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 85 mg of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 18 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin), corn syrup, sugar, peanuts, chocolate, milkfat, semisweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, natural flavor), less than 2% – cocoa powder processed with alkali, invert sugar, palm oil, skim milk, lactose, salt, egg whites, artificial flavor.

December 9, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Milk Chocolate Bar with Minis & Crisp Rice – Needs More Crispiness

Candy Bars, Chocolate

Why does the M&M on the packaging of this bar look so worried? Is it because he knows he’s about to be entombed in milk chocolate and then eaten? I’ve always found it odd that anthropomorphized M&M’s are the face of the candy. Why would an M&M want you to eat M&M’s?? Are those not his brothers and sisters? At least the look of terror on the M&M on the wrapper is honest about what the experience of being an M&M must be like.

But I digress. Outside of the ethical implications of eating a sentient being who has the capacity to feel fear for his own mortality, this was fine, I guess?

The bar consists of mini M&M’s and crispy puffed rice surrounded by milk chocolate. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I’m particularly keen to rush out and buy again.

The milk chocolate is typical M&M’s chocolate — it’s a bit too sweet and it’s not exactly the best chocolate you’ll ever eat, but mostly, it’s creamy and tasty. It’s chocolate. It’s fine.

The biggest issue is that there aren’t nearly enough M&M’s and puffed rice to bring the bar all that much crispiness. It’s neither here nor there; the level of crispiness is too mild to be satisfying. It makes the bar feel pointless. I’d much rather eat something way crispier, or not crispy at all. This particular bar teases crispiness but doesn’t deliver. It’s frustrating.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 bar, 36 grams): 190 calories, 11 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 30 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, lactose, soy lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, artificial flavour), M&M’s Minis Milk Chocolate candies (milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavour, flavour), sugar, colour (with tartrazine), corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, cornstarch, carnauba wax, modified coconut oil and/or modified palm oil (medium chain triglycerides), crisp rice (rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey, salt).

December 6, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Reese’s Big Cup with Pretzels – Where Have the Pretzels Been All My Life?

Candy Bars

Kudos to Hershey for coming up with the idea to fill a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup with pretzels, but also, why did it take so long? It’s one of those ideas that’s so obvious, you have to wonder how Reese managed to be around for almost a hundred years before they came up with it.

Pretzels and peanut butter is a boffo combination. Anyone who’s had those pretzel bites that are filled with peanut butter knows that’s true. So seriously: what was the hold-up? Why have I been forced to go my whole life eating peanut butter cups without pretzels in them? Like an animal?

My only complaint is that I wish this were a regular Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup rather than a Big Cup, because I feel like the former has a slightly better ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. But that’s really not a big deal.

Otherwise, this is exactly what you’re hoping it’ll be. The pretzels are fairly abundant, and do a great job of adding their distinctive flavour and salty pop to the Reese formula. That’s not to mention the delightful amount of crunchiness they bring, which contrasts quite nicely with the creamy peanut butter and chocolate.

Suffice it to say, if you’re intrigued by the idea of a peanut butter cup with pretzels in it, you’re going to like this. It’s exactly what you want it to be.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 cup, 36 grams): 180 calories, 10 grams of fat (3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 140 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 18 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, milk fat, lactose, lecithin (soy), PGPR) peanuts, sugar, dextrose, brown rice flour, potato starch, contains 2% or less of: modified cornstarch, soluble corn fiber, canola oil, salt, sea salt, baking powder, cellulose gum, sunflower lecithin, TBHQ and citric acid to maintain freshness.

December 2, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

English Toffee Peanut M&M’s – An Intense Kick of Toffee Flavour

Candy Bars

I’ve mentioned before that Peanut M&M’s are the king of M&M’s. This is a stone cold fact and if you think otherwise, as far as I’m concerned you may as well be a flat-Earther. That’s how ridiculous your “opinions” are to me.

Peanut M&M’s are delicious. And of course, English toffee is also delicious. So I was wondering if plain old Peanut M&M’s time on the throne might be coming to an end.

Spoiler alert: it is not. Regular Peanut M&M’s are still the king.

Still, these are tasty. As soon as you rip open the pack, the English toffee aroma hits you in the face. It’s strong. And the flavour is pretty strong, too; it’s almost overwhelming at first, but after you eat a couple, you get used to it.

I should note that, as far as I can tell, there’s no actual English toffee here, just a flavour in the chocolate itself. They might have gone overboard with that flavour, but mostly, it works. The combo of chocolate and English toffee is satisfying, and the peanut does a nice job of adding some nuttiness and balancing out the sweetness of the chocolate.

If the English toffee flavouring were a bit more subtle this might have been something special, but even still, it’s quite good.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 pack, 31 grams): 160 calories, 8 grams of fat (3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 15 mg of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 16 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate, skim milk, cocoa butter, lactose, milkfat, peanuts, soy lecithin, salt, artificial and natural flavors), sugar, peanuts, cornstarch, less than 1% – palm oil, corn syrup, dextrin, coloring (includes yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, red 40 lake, blue 1 lake, blue 2 lake, blue 2), carnauba wax, artificial and natural flavors, gum acacia.