The Peanut Festival Continues - Peanut Bars

As I promised - the peanut roll continues!!!

I went through my extensive candy stash and found another couple chocolate covered peanut brittles.  The first one is Jer's Toffee Break - peanut brittle bites covered in dark chocolate:

There's a little bloom here - see the white "dust?"  These must have gotten hot somewhere in my travels and the cocoa butter rose to the surface.  Doesn't impact the taste, they just look a little yucky.

Jer's throws the word toffee in here.  According to The Nibble:
http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/candy/toffee/toffee-information2.asp
this might be buttercrunch, but it ain't toffee.  I'm calling everything that involves the peanut, and is labeled peanut brittle, peanut brittle.  We'll get to toffee someday.

These weren't that hot.  I like milk chocolate better than dark with peanut brittle, and Jer's brittle had a funky aftertaste.  It's almost a smokey taste.  Didn't like it.

I got these at Candy Expo - chocolate covered peanut brittle:

The peanut brittle was overpowered by waxy, crappy chocolate.  Warrell must be another distributor of cheap, crappy candy.  Good idea, but Feridies does it like 1,000,000,000 times better.

The people at The Peanut Patch (aka Feridies storefront) told me they changed their peanut brittle to make it crunchier (thus the name - Peanut Brittle Crunch).  It used to be called Peanut Squares and just wasn't as good.  Don't get me wrong, it was good and tasted like peanuts, but this has a more buttery flavor and is better.

I met the folks from Old Dominion at Candy Expo.  Their stuff is at Walgreen's, and I'm starting to see it in other places too.  Both of these are their bar, just in different packages.  I like the top one better.  Looks much classier:

This one reminds me of the circus:

See?  Same bars.

I think this is an Old Dominion bar too:

Why do I think that?  The ingredients are exactly the same - peanuts, sugar, corn syrup and salt (no butter like in Feridies crunch).  And all say they have 286 calories.  They are all good, but Feridies crunch blows them away.

Mars Munch bar also has a buttery taste and indeed, butter is added to the ingredient list above:

I like Feridies WAY better than the Munch bar.  I even like the other peanut bars better.  The butter taste is a little yucky in the Munch, overpowering the peanuts.  I say Boo!!

Now this bar looks and tastes burned:

Seriously!  What happened?  It's made by  the Golden Grove Candy Company in Warsaw NC, so I really wanted to like it (rooting for the home state and all).  But I can't recommend it - it's overcooked!  I may grab another sometime just to see if this was a bad batch. 

This is a sample I got at Candy Expo from Taylor's Candy:

It was supposed to be coconut peanut brittle.  It was the worst of the lot!

I mean - can you see how few peanuts are involved?  And coconut?  It tasted weird, but not necessarily coconutty.  If you go to their website it looks like they just do cheap, crappy candy and this certainly fits.  Bleech.


Atkinson's (maker of the Chick-o-Stick) makes Peco Coconut Peanut Brittle.  Now Peco means Sin in Spanish.  I'm not quite sure what to say about that:

I can't taste any coconut here either.  Maybe my taste buds are just shot.  This peanut brittle is a bit chewier than the others (which I like) but some of the peanuts taste way over cooked like in the Carolina Crisp bar.  It's also darker in color like that bar.  But the chewiness keeps me eating it and it has lots of peanuts, so I can't totally diss it.  There's something about it that I like.  Maybe it's the Sin factor.  So it's better than Munch, but not as good as Old Dominion.  Now if Old Dominion could get a little chewier - well - SNAP!

This Peanut Crunch is just squares of peanut bars:

It's also from The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg and I think it's the same Old Dominion bars.  Ingredients the same, looks the same, I'm sure it is the same.  The best one?  Feridies Peanut Brittle Crunch - hands down.  In fact, I'd say it's a ten and the others are a three at best in comparison.  Smack down!

Lessons?

The more I learn, the less I know.  Who knew all this about brittle and toffee?  That peanuts could be so different?  That peco means sin?

As usual, you can't judge a book by it's cover!  Here we have the same stuff in four different packages.  It's the inside that counts.

Peanut butter and jelly tomorrow!!!

Grand Coconut Finale

This is it, ladies and gentlemen!  The grand finale of coconut!!  And I'm starting off with something I've reviewed before, but apparently you can't get anymore.  So I am totally torturing you.  Trader Joe's Almond in the Coconut:

You just can't beat these - like an Almond Joy, but better.  Great chocolate, loads of coconut and bits of almond throughout.  YUM!  I hate it when Trader Joe's makes something awesome, hooks us, then pulls it from the product line.  Bummer.

I'd never seen anything like these before:

They are made in Holland and are coconut and coco - very light:

Interesting to try, but not something I would seek out.  But again, I don't love coconut.  A light, different take on the coconut/chocolate combination.

This is it - Easter is finally gone!  These coconut nests are made by Long Grove Confectionery:

And they are great!  They have the right coconut to chocolate ratio.  Lots of coconut, mixed with chocolate - delish!!!  If you can find them, they blow those abominations Russell Stover made this year out of the candy aisle.   (Don't they k=just look great?)

The white chocolate didn't work for me at all - too sweet, and kinda weird tasting.  This is a definite no go.

These are by the Crown Candy Company based in my hometown of Macon, GA:

They are chocolate and caramel coconut tips:

And they are terrible.  They taste like sugar more than anything else.  The chocolate is that crappy chocolate and I don't know what the heck that "caramel" is.  These are just a waste of coconut.  Bleech. 


Abdallah offers this Haystack:

The chocolate is good, but it really overpowers the coconut.  And in a haystack, it just ain't supposed to be that way.  Not bad, but too heavy on the chocolate.

I've reviewed Sanders products before:

And they are always pretty awful.. Their coconut "delights" are no exception.  They not only have coconut, but also crisped rice - which I didn't think added anything.  Not good.

This is peanut brittle covered with dark chocolate and coconut:

I guess my question here is, "Why?"  Peanut brittle is so good, I don't think all this adds anything.  It's not enough coconut to really taste and as a topping, the texture is just kind of gross. 

If you MUST combine peanut butter with coconut, then there is really only one place to go:

Oh yes, the much maligned Chick-O-Stick - crunchy peanut butter and toasted coconut candy:

This is like a Butterfinger without the chocolate, rolled in coconut.  And I gotta tell ya, it works.  I haven't had one of these in years, and I really don't crave the Chick-O-Stick, but hey, it's pretty good.  I ate the whole thing and I pitched the coconut peanut brittle.  I think that speaks for itself.

Remember - it doesn't have to be expensive to be good!  And don't take anything for granted - Trader Joe's reminds us that something great may not be around forever. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed your island vacation!  You can thank Kris for our voyage - she the lover of coconut and dark chocolate.  Next we've got to get back to Scotland for the Shortbread Showdown!! 

Coconut, Summer and S'mores!

One of the very cool things about going to Candy Expo as a blogger is that you are considered "press".  And the press get a great big bag full of candy.  This was one of the things in there:

Atkinson's (makers of the Chick-O-Stick) also makes these.  I saw a booth that sold ONLY these in all the colors of the rainbow.

While it looks festive, I thought the taste was pretty lame.  Kind of dry and tasteless.  And no chocolate involved.  Bleech.

This one from Candy Farm http://www.candyfarm.com/  (a division of Dayton Nut Specialties) was actually a lot better:

It was thicker and the coconut was much less dry.  But this is still a boring candy to me.  They come in different flavors - I liked the chocolate flavor here, but much prefer a real chocolate coating over my coconut.  Coconut lovers - what do you think of these?  They must be popular, I saw a few companies making them.  Anybody have some thoughts?

For 320 calories a slice (these are called coconut slices, BTW), they just aren't that good.

Since I've been planning to blog about coconut, I had to snag these in A Southern Season (my favorite, but oh so expensive food store in Chapel Hill, NC):

They are handmade toasted coconut marshmallows:

And they are pretty darn amazing!  You can see the shredded coconut all over the top.  They also contain almond  and vanilla extract - the almond gives them an awesome taste.  And the marshmallow is so soft and fresh - wow!  I'm not the world's biggest coconut or marshmallow fan, so this is really saying something!

When I got them to the register, they told me there was a BOGO (buy one get one free) sale, so I HAD to get another bag.  I opted for Vanilla Bean (lavender marshmallow just sounded too gross):

These were just average to me.  They would probably be AMAZING toasted, but I'm not going to all that trouble.  I'm happy they were free.

Speaking of toasting marshmallows, I was at a conference last week where the dessert was served outside by a big fire pit where we made s'mores.  (How cool is that?  Go Embassy Suites, Concord, NC!) The hotel had a great set-up, but they were using DARK chocolate disks.  Dark chocolate disks don't melt.  Classy, but we really needed milk chocolate.  So, if you're going to make s'mores this summer - use milk chocolate.

One cool thing they did was add a swipe of cream cheese to the graham cracker.  Never had that before - it was really good!  So experiment - have fun!

If you don't want to make your own s'mores, you could get these:

They really are mini - a little bigger than a penny:

And, as usual, they don't really look like the picture on the box.  Verdict?  Please.  How can this even be compared to a s'more?  They taste like little cheap cookies.  Not even very graham crackery. Definitely not marshmallowy.  In fact, I'd say these taste nothing like s'mores.  Either go real or don't go at all. (Goldfish S'mores - covered in another entry - are better.)

I found these at Candy Expo - they are made by the GudFud company (http://www.gud-fud.com/).  And, in concept, they are great:

Little prepackaged chocolate filled marshmallows.  They also some in fruit flavors which I didn't try.

They are horrible.  Think stale, flattened marshmallow filled with some chocolate-like substance.  YUCK!

Their company tagline is "the best thing to ever happen to a marshmallow."  No, it's not. 

But THIS might be!

These are soooo cute!  And at 10 calories a piece, you can't beat them!  Would make great decorations (cakes, cupcakes, etc.) and they taste good too.  Instead of having that weird powdery coating, these have one that's more like granulated sugar, but very fine.  From Harry and David - YUM!

This bar is also from Candy Expo and is billed as a "feel great super food" - which usually means "tastes like crap":

I have it here because it is called an "exotic COCONUT almond bar":

While it looks good, it tastes pretty boring.  I'd rather have a handful of almonds.  I couldn't even taste the coconut.  But it's all organic!  Kumbaya!  You'll live forever eating these, but you won't want to.

While these have been out for a while now, Hershey was pushing them hard at Candy Expo:

And I gotta tell you, these are good!! They taste coconutty and I swear there are little chunks of coconut in there.  I think they blow the coconut M & M's away.  The M & M's taste more chocolately - not very coconutty.  These are like little Almond Joys.  Well done, Hershey!!!

Since I had the coconut M & M's to compare with these, I tried Sarah Silverman's M & M trick. (38 seconds in the microwave)  Holy God!  She is right!!!  Try, it, try it, try it - it's awesome!!!!!!

Try something new - microwave your M & M's, make some s'mores with different ingredients - it's summer!  Celebrate food and fun!