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

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?

Reese's Big Cup with Pretzels

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.

Reese's Big Cup with Pretzels

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.

3.5 out of 4

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.

BarNone – A Delicious Candy Bar, Back From the Dead

Whoa, BarNone.  Whoa Nelly.  (Is whoa Nelly a thing people say anymore?  I don’t think I’ve ever said it, but then I’ve never eaten a BarNone until now, so there’s a first time for everything, I guess.)

I honestly can’t remember the last time I was so pleasantly surprised by a candy bar.  I’ve barely even heard of BarNone, but apparently it was released by Hershey in 1987 (and was called Temptation in Canada) only to be discontinued about a decade later.  It was then revived by Iconic Candy, who specialize in bringing back discontinued sweets (and based on a photo on their website, they were at one point working on bringing back P.B. Max, and seriously, where’s my P.B. Max??  Why hasn’t that happened yet???).

BarNone

BarNone features chocolate wafers topped with peanuts and coated in milk chocolate, and oh man, it’s so good.  The wrapper calls it “the chocolate lover’s bar,” and yeah, that sounds about right.  It’s covered in a generous layer of good quality chocolate, and the wafer has a deeply chocolatey flavour that’s thoroughly satisfying.

BarNone

The peanuts are a nice touch; they add some crunch and a mild nutty flavour that complements the chocolate quite well.  The whole thing is creamy, crispy, crunchy, and delicious.  And it’s not too sweet, which really lets the chocolate flavour shine through.  I don’t think it’s available anywhere in Canada outside of import stores, but it’s worth going out of your way for.  I mean, did you not hear me?  I said whoa Nelly, and I meant it.

4 out of 4

Manufactured by: Iconic Candy
Nutritional info (1 bar, 42 grams): 230 calories, 13 grams of fat (9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 150 mg of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 12 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, milk powder, whey powder, soy lecithin, pure vanilla extract), chocolate cream (sugar, coconut oil, milk powder, cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, glucose syrup, whey powder, dextrose, soy lecithin, pure vanilla extract, natural flavor, salt), wafer (wheat flour, wheat starch, cocoa powder, soy lecithin, salt, baking soda, ammonium bicarbonate (rising agent), palm oil, yeast extract, malt extract), peanuts.

Hershey’s Creamy Milk Chocolate – Not Exactly the Best Chocolate You can Buy

I’m not even sure why I bought this one.  As soon as I had it in my home, I regretted it: I’m actually going to have to eat this now, aren’t I?

I mean, it’s not that bad.  It’s Hershey milk chocolate.  It is what it is.  Odds are that you’ve eaten it and you have an opinion on it.  So I don’t need to waste much time describing it to you.

Hershey's Creamy Milk Chocolate

It’s chocolate, so it’s basically tasty, but it has a slightly grainy consistency and an odd, distinctively sour aftertaste that, as I’ve mentioned in a previous review, shares chemical properties with literal vomit.

Hershey's Creamy Milk Chocolate

It certainly has its own unique personality, and I don’t begrudge anyone for enjoying it, but if I have the choice between this and pretty much any other milk chocolate, it’s not a tough decision.

2.5 out of 4

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1/2 bar, 50 grams): 250 calories, 15 grams of fat (9 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 55 mg of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 28 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, lecithin (soy), natural flavour).

Skor – Delicious Butter Toffee with Chocolate

The continued existence of both Skor and Heath is a bit of a head-scratcher; they’re both made by Hershey, and they’re both pretty much the same thing.  I thought that they might just be the same bar with different branding (like Milky Way and Mars Bar), but apparently they’re slightly different.

Skor

The wrapper describes Skor as “butter toffee crunch enrobed in milk chocolate.”  Like Heath, it also features little pieces of almond interspersed throughout.

Skor

It’s really, really good.  I think it’s actually slightly better than Heath; the toffee has a very rich, delightfully buttery flavour, and the ratio of chocolate to toffee is perfect.  It’s quite sweet, but the sweetness feels just right.  It’s delicious.

35 out of 4

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 bar, 39 grams): 200 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.3 grams of trans fat), 20 mg of cholesterol, 105 mg of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fibre, 23 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, milk ingredients, lactose, salt, lecithin (soy), natural flavour), sugar, butter (milk), almonds, sweetened condensed milk (milk, sugar), salt, unsweetened chocolate, sunflower oil.

Kit Kat Apple Pie – Nails the Apple Pie Flavour

I’ll admit that I was actually pretty excited to try this one.  I mean, it’s Apple Pie Kit Kat; if you don’t think that’s irresistible then you and me are very different people.

I got a bit less excited when I looked at the ingredients list and noticed that there isn’t anything even remotely resembling an apple in what is ostensibly a candy bar all about apples.

Kit Kat Apple Pie

But then I took a bite and got excited again because holy cow this thing tastes a surprising amount like a slice of apple pie.  Like, it’s weird how much it tastes like apple pie.  It nailed that flavour way more than I thought it would, particularly after perusing the ingredients.

Specifically, it tastes like apple pie a la mode, with a hint of tartness from whatever scientific magic they used to replicate the apple flavour, a subtle hint of cinnamon and other spices, a decent amount of pie crust flavour from the wafers, and a milky creaminess that made me think of pie a la mode.  I’m shocked that this is as good as it is; I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Kit Kat Apple Pie

Between this and the birthday cake variety, Kit Kat is absolutely knocking it out of the park with these novelty flavours that have the potential to be horrible but are actually amazing.

3.5 out of 4

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 package, 42 grams): 220 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 40 mg of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, and/or safflower oil), wheat flour: skim milk, corn syrup solids, lactose (milk). Contains 2% or less of: chocolate, natural flavor and artificial flavor, lecithin (soy), salt, yeast, baking soda, artificial color (yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, blue 2 lake, red 40 lake), PGPR.