peanuts Archives - Page 5 of 8

November 15, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Crispy Crunch – Better than (most of) the Competition

Candy Bars

After reviewing 5th Avenue, Butterfinger, and now Crispy Crunch, I think I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that they’re all about the same. Crispy Crunch is probably the best of the bunch, however, if only for the presence of actual chocolate in the ingredients, and thanks to its more pronounced toffee flavour.

Actually, I take that back — the best of the bunch is none of the above. The real champion of this type of bar is Zagnut, which goes against the grain by forgoing chocolate altogether; instead, it’s coated with a layer of toasted coconut, a combo that works so much better than you’d think. It’s a fairly obscure candy bar that deserves a much higher profile. It’s delicious.

As for Crispy Crunch, it’s the same crunchy, peanut-buttery, toffee-infused candy you’ll find in all the aforementioned bars. Like the rest of them, I wish it had a more pronounced peanut butter flavour, but it’s tasty enough for what it is, and the layer of toffee beneath the chocolate sets it apart somewhat. The thin chocolate coating may as well not even be there, however, and the whole thing is probably a bit sweeter than it needs to be.

Go try a Zagnut is what I’m saying. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (1 bar, 48 grams): 220 calories, 10 grams of fat (4 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 140 mg of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 27 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, glucose syrup, peanuts, modified palm oil, modified milk ingredients, modified vegetable oil, blackstrap and fancy molasses, cocoa, unsweetened chocolate, salt, wheat flour, vegetable oil, mono- and di-glycerides, soy lecithin, natural flavour.

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 8, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

BarNone – A Delicious Candy Bar, Back From the Dead

Candy Bars

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 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.

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.

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.

October 14, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Butterfinger – Nobody Better Lay a Finger…

Candy Bars

Butterfinger, along with Crunch, was recently bought out by Ferrero, who took it off the shelves to reformulate it. In the case of Crunch, this resulted in a noticeably inferior product. So how about Butterfinger?

I’m not sure. I’ll admit that it’s been years since I’ve had a Butterfinger, so it’s hard to say. I think it’s inferior? Maybe?

(This review is going really well so far, obviously.)

The bar is pretty simple — it’s just crispy, toffee-like peanut butter coated in mockolate (and the mockolate predates the Ferrero acquisition, so you can’t blame that one on them).

The peanut butter taste is surprisingly subtle, which is partially what makes me suspect that the bar has gone downhill. I remember it having a really satisfying peanutty flavour, but that isn’t the case here. It’s very sweet, with a somewhat bitter, burnt toffee flavour. The mild bitterness is actually kinda interesting, and helps to cut the sweetness of the bar a bit. But in the absence of peanut butteriness, something is missing.

As for the mockolate, it’s inoffensive enough. The bar is so crispy and sweet that you can barely even tell it’s there.

Manufactured by: Ferrero
Nutritional info (1 bar, 53.8 grams): 250 calories, 10 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 160 mg sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 21 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 5 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Corn syrup, sugar, peanuts, vegetable oil (palm kernel and palm oil), peanut flour, nonfat milk, less than 2% of cocoa, milk, salt, soy lecithin, natural flavor, annatto color.

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.