sweet and salty Archives - Page 2 of 3

December 13, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Reese’s Take 5 – Sweet and Salty Goodness

Candy Bars

Reese’s Take 5 was formerly just known as Take 5, but last year Hershey crammed the Reese name onto it, because apparently all candy bars have to be affiliated with another candy bar. Think about it: pretty much every bar under the sun has about a billion variants (there are about a thousand different Kit Kat and M&M varieties alone), but when was the last time one of the major candy companies came out with an all-new candy bar?

By 2032, all candy bars will converge into one mega-flavour that will cause the universe to fold into itself and reset: a new big bang that’ll start this whole rigmarole over from scratch. Which, let’s face it, is probably for the best.

Until then: Reese’s Take 5, a combo of pretzels, peanuts, peanut butter, caramel, and chocolate.

It’s pretty good, though if you don’t like chocolate-covered pretzels you’re probably out of luck, because that’s clearly the dominant flavour here. I do like that combo, so I quite enjoyed it. In particular, the nice hit of salt you get from the crunchy pretzels does a great job of balancing out some of the sweetness from the rest of the bar. Which is a good thing, because Take 5 (sorry, Reese’s Take 5) is a scorcher; it’s intensely sweet. The caramel is probably superfluous, but the combo of chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels is so delicious that it barely matters.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 package, 42 grams): 210 calories, 11 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 18 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, enriched wheat flour (flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), peanuts, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, canola oil, and/or safflower oil), high fructose corn syrup, chocolate, hydrogenated vegetable oil (palm kernel oil, coconut oil, soybean oil), partially defatted peanuts, skim milk, contains 2% or less of: dextrose, whey (milk), salt, corn syrup solids, dairy butter (milk), glycerin, corn syrup, lecithin (soy), sodium hydroxide, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor, baking soda, carrageenan, milk fat, yeast, TBHQ and citric acid, to maintain freshness, disodium phosphate.

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.

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.

September 13, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Twix Peanut Butter – Obviously Delicious

Candy Bars

Twix Peanut Butter is one of those things that you don’t even need to try to know that it’s going to be good. I mean, it’s chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies. That’s going to be delicious by default. You’d have to work hard to mess that combo up.

And yeah, it’s good. Of course it’s good. Again, it’s chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies. How could that be bad? The chocolate is nice and creamy, the cookie is crispy and sweet, and the peanut butter has a decent amount of saltiness that helps to balance out the sweetness of the bar.

I think the cookie might be slightly different than the cookie in a standard Twix bar? That one has a buttery, shortbready quality to it, but this one seems a bit lighter and crispier. That might be my imagination, however, and either way the cookie here compliments the rich peanut butter quite well.

My only real complaint is that I wish the peanut butter were smoother and creamier. It’s certainly tasty enough, but it’s quite dry and crumbly. Alas, that’s par for the course for a candy bar. I think the only mass market chocolate bar I’ve ever had that featured peanut butter with the consistency of actual peanut butter was PB Max (R.I.P. PB Max; you were too beautiful for this world).

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 pack, 47.6 grams): 250 calories, 14 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 130 mg of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fibre, 25 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavour), peanuts, wheat flour with folic acid and iron (ferrous fumarate), sugar, palm oil, maltodextrin, less than 1.5% – hydrogenated rapeseed and cottonseed oil, modified corn starch, salt, glucose syrup, soy lecithin, baking soda, propyl gallate to maintain freshness.

August 6, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Snickers Creamy Almond Butter – Sweet and Salty Overload

Candy Bars

The first thing you’ll notice about the almond butter variety of Snickers is how comically small it is. Consisting of two tiny little squares that can’t even fill up the small wrapper, it’s definitely one of the smaller candy bars you can buy. I’m assuming the candy companies have done a bunch of research showing that 200 calories is the magic number, and because this is so dense, it had to be tiny. But it’s still weirdly small.

The illustration on the wrapper seems to indicate that it’s just smooth caramel and creamy almond butter enrobed in chocolate, but the caramel is actually dotted with tiny little almond shards. This is a good idea in theory — crunchy nuts would be a nice contrast to the bar’s chewiness, and of course, the peanuts in a regular Snickers are one of its defining characteristics. But the minuscule almond bits are way, way too small to bring a satisfying crunch.

Other than that, it’s fine, I guess. It’s generally decent enough, with a satisfying chewiness that never feels overbearing. But boy is it ever sweet; it’s a throat-burner, that’s for sure. Of course, a standard Snickers bar is also quite sweet, so I guess that’s par for the course.

There’s also a decent amount of saltiness, which helps to counteract the sweetness and gives the bar that satisfying sweet/salty combo. But the intense sweet and salty punch kinda kills all the other flavours of the bar; you can barely even taste the almond butter or the chocolate. It’s basically just there for texture. A more apt name for Snickers Almond Butter would be “Sugar and Salt: the Bar.”

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (2 squares, 38 grams): 190 calories, 11 grams of fat (4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 140 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 17 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Almonds, sugar, invert sugar, milk ingredients, lactose, corn syrup, cocoa butter, corn syrup solids, cocoa mass, modified palm oil, dextrose, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, vegetable glycerine, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, calcium carbonate, soy lecithin, TBHQ, flavour.