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 Chocolate Bars

I love the folks at Seattle Chocolates.  I got to meet them at the Fancy Food Show and they really are a terrific group.  They sent me samples of their latest new truffle line and I can't wait to review them!!  In the meantime, let's get back to coconut.  They have a bar that is nothing short of amazing:

Delicious smooth dark chocolate with coconut flakes AND the ingredient that really makes it rock in my opinion - sea salt.  Very different, very, very good.  An excellent, excellent bar.  It's a truffle bar - so see the creamy truffle center? (And you gotta love the coconut AND the sea salt - talk about the islands, mon!).

Seeds of Change (organic - kumbayah) has a dark chocolate and flakes of coconut bar:

And while also good, I enjoyed Seattle Chocolate's a bit more.  The chocolate was creamier.  But if you don't want the sea salt, this bar is an option.

This Lindt bar actually has a coconut filling and milk chocolate, so it is much sweeter than the other two:

And it comes in these cool little cubes:

I have to say - it's pretty damn good.  You can't really compare it to the others because it is so different.  Totally yummy, but sweet.  And I like the little squares!!

Vosges has this neat little assortment of baby bars.  I like this because sometimes you really don't want a whole ginormous bar.  Especially when you may find you don't even like it!

Two of these bars involve coconut - the Woolloomooloo Bar - described as roasted and salted macadamia nuts, Indonesian coconut (not just any regular coconut, mind you), hemp seeds, and deep milk chocolate:

I think I would really like this bar if it weren't for the hemp seeds.  They add a little grainy seedy taste - just like you can imagine.  I swear I think Vosges adds ingredients just to show off.  Or to up the bullshit factor - it actually says on the wrapper - "hemp oil will provide softer skin, stronger nails and thicker hair."  Dear God.  At least they have in tiny print a disclaimer saying the FDA hasn't approved any of this idiocy.

The other coconut bar is the Naga Bar - sweet Indian curry powder, coconut flakes, deep milk chocolate:

This bar is all about the curry.  If you like curry - you'll like this bar.  Me - I'm not that big a fan of curry.  This is an interesting bar to me, I'm glad I tried it, but I wouldn't ever crave it.  Or buy it again.

Vosges has great chocolate, but when you add curry - well, the chocolate doesn't matter as much.

Leave it to Lindt to go completely off the reservation and do a white chocolate and coconut bar:

You all know how I love Lindt, but this bar is not for me.  Not because it's necessarily bad, but because milk and dark chocolate go so much better with coconut!

I'd have to say my favorite chocolate bar with coconut (where the main ingedient is chocolate, not a coated coconut) is the Seattle Chocolates bar - so creamy, with such a fantastic combination of flavors.  And I LOVE the fabulous art deco wrapper!

Lindt's Chocoletti is kind of a hybrid with its coconut filling, but it's pretty great too.

I think the most exciting thing is the variety of choices and the creativity of all the chocolate makers.  How great is that?  I'm telling you, no matter how bad a day you have, at the end of it, if there's still chocolate out there, everything will be alright.  And as long as there is a new chocolate bar to try, there's a reason to carry on!

Woohoo!!!!!

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!