Mars Archives - Page 2 of 6

April 2, 2021 Michael

Mini Eggs vs. Eggies vs. M&M’s Eggs

Easter Candy

Here it is, the ultimate Easter chocolate showdown. It’s the battle of the small, egg-shaped chocolates; whoever wins, we lose. Or something, I don’t know. They’re all chocolate, so I guess whoever wins, we also win.

It’s Cadbury (Mini Eggs) versus Hershey (Eggies) versus Mars (M&M’s Eggs). Apparently there’s also an egg-shaped version of Smarties, so I guess I could have thrown Nestle into the mix, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

The results of this smackdown probably won’t surprise you. Mini Eggs are the original and the best, though Eggies come surprisingly close. If I tasted them both blind, I don’t know that I’d be able to tell the difference. Aside from the size (Mini Eggs are slightly smaller), they’re mostly interchangeable.

It’s honestly kind of weird how similar they taste. They both have a delicate candy shell encasing creamy, vanilla-infused milk chocolate. It’s a tasty combo. It’s also pretty obvious that Eggies are trying very hard to ape the flavour of Mini Eggs, because the chocolate tastes much less like standard Hershey, and more like what you’d expect from Cadbury.

Meanwhile, M&M’s are off in the corner doing their own thing. They taste absolutely nothing like the other two. They’re just M&M’s in a different shape, with a glossy exterior, a thick candy coating, and that very distinctive M&M’s chocolate flavour. I like M&M’s, but these are easily my least favourite of the bunch; something about the different shape and different candy-to-chocolate ratio completely throws off what makes plain M&M’s so tasty. They’re too sweet, the shell is too aggressively crunchy, and they’re just kind of a bummer to eat. They’re clearly inferior to regular M&M’s, and clearly inferior to the other two in this showdown.

As for Eggies versus Mini Eggs? It’s basically a coin toss, but if I have to pick, I’ll go with Mini Eggs; I think the quality of the chocolate is ever-so-slightly better. But they’re both delicious, so either way you can’t go wrong.

Mini Eggs

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (1 package, 33 grams): 170 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 25 mg sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, modified palm and modified vegetable oil, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, gum arabic, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavour, colour (with tartrazine).

Eggies

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (12 pieces, 40 grams): 180 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 35 mg sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate [sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, lecithin (soy), polyglycerol polyricinoleate, natural flavour], sugar, corn starch, gum acacia, titanium dioxide, artificial flavour, tartrazine, indigotine, allura red.

M&M’s Eggs

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/4 cup, 42 grams): 200 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 30 mg sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 26 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavour, flavour), sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, colour (with tartrazine), carnauba wax, modified coconut oil and / or modified palm oil (medium chain triglycerides), gum acacia.

February 25, 2021February 25, 2021 Michael

Milky Way (European) – Like 3 Musketeers, But Different

Candy Bars

This is the Polish version of Milky Way, though as far as I’m aware, all European versions of this candy bar are the same. That’s not true for the American Milky Way, however, which is what the rest of the world knows as a Mars Bar.

European Milky Way, on the other hand, is closer to the candy bar that we know as 3 Musketeers in North America. Confused yet?

Yes, the European Milky Way is reminiscent of 3 Musketeers, but different enough to feel distinct. The consistency of the fluffy nougat is about the same, but the flavour is entirely different; the stuff in a 3 Musketeers bar has a mildly chocolatey flavour, while the filling here has more of a malty kick. It’s interesting — it almost tastes like Maltesers, but soft and chewy instead of light and crispy.

It’s a bit grainy, however. I’m not sure if the chocolate or the nougat is the culprit, but the texture is slightly off. Still, it’s tasty enough, and if you assumed it was just going to be 3 Musketeers under a different name, it’s worth seeking out.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 21.5 grams): 97 calories, 3.6 grams of fat (1.7 grams of saturated fat, unknown grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 80 mg of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, unknown grams of fibre, 13 grams of sugar, 0.8 grams of protein.
Ingredients (Google translated from Polish): Sugar, glucose syrup, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, sunflower oil, milk fat, palm oil, lactose and milk, whey powder (from milk), barley, barley extract, emulsifier (soy lecithin), egg powder, milk protein, natural vanilla extract.

January 24, 2021January 30, 2021 Michael

Bounty – Delicious Coconut and Chocolate

Candy Bars

I’m really not sure how I’ve managed to get to over a hundred reviews on this blog without doing Bounty, which has always been one of my favourites. In fact, I think it might have been my absolute favourite candy bar when I was a kid, which means that in a lot of ways, my warm fuzzy feelings for Bounty are tied up in childhood nostalgia. So take everything I say about it with a grain of salt.

It’s really good, though.

It’s just coconut and milk chocolate, but as far as these types of candy bars go (I think Almond Joy and Mounds are the other big ones), Bounty is where it’s at. The coconut is very sweet but not overwhelming, with a nice coconut flavour. It’s fairly dense, and moist enough that you’re not going to be chewing on dried up coconut bits long after the flavour has gone.

The generous layer of decent quality milk chocolate compliments the coconut perfectly. The fat kid version of me bought these on a fairly regular basis, and eating it again now, I can definitely see why.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (2 pieces, 57 grams): 270 calories, 13 grams of fat (10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 55 mg of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fibre, 28 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, modified milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, lactose, soy lecithin, artificial flavour), coconut, sugar, glucose syrup, glycerol monostearate, glycerol, salt, artificial flavour, sulphites.

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 23, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Milk Chocolate Bar with Minis & Peanuts – Stop Being Stingy with the Peanuts

Candy Bars, Chocolate

I’ve already reviewed the M&M’s Milk Chocolate Bar with Minis & Crisp Rice, which I thought was decent enough, but lacking in crispiness. Well this is basically the same thing, but instead of not having enough crispy rice, it doesn’t have enough peanuts.

It’s a bit better than that one, I guess. If you get a square with both M&M’s and peanuts, it’s pretty tasty. But the amount of M&M’s and peanuts is dispiritingly anemic — particularly the peanuts.

I guess they’re trying to cut costs? But just charge a bit more and give me more peanuts. Look at the photo of the cross-section of the bar. No rational person could possibly believe that there are enough nuts there. Look at it. Look at it and weep.

Still, it’s not bad. The chocolate is middling, but tasty enough, and when the bar delivers on what it promises, it’s good. The slight crunch from the peanuts and the M&M’s works very well with the creamy chocolate. But then you get a square that’s just plain, mediocre chocolate, and why? Why is this happening? As if 2020 hasn’t been bad enough, now I have to deal with this? Come on.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 bar, 37 grams): 200 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 25 mg of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 3 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)], peanuts (peanuts, palm oil).