Tag: Candy

REVIEW: Reese’s Big Cup with Reese’s Puffs

Marvo 7 Comments

Reese s Big Cup with Reese s Puffs Wrapper

When I first heard about Reese’s Big Cup with Reese’s Puffs, I had to do some mental measurements. Because as someone who has stuffed his face with the popular chocolate and peanut butter-flavored cereal enough times to be familiar with its size, I wondered if several Reese’s Puffs could fit in a Reese’s Big Cup.

Well, all that mental math was for naught because what’s inside these big peanut butter cups is not the cereal we’ve been eating as part of a complete breakfast or the only thing in the house so it ended up being dinner. What’s stuffed in these cups is less puffy and more pellet-y.

Reese s Big Cup with Reese s Puffs Top

The Reese’s cereal pieces suspended in the peanut butter are a tiny 3/16ths of an inch in diameter, and although it may not look like it in the photo below, they are plentiful. They seem to be primarily concentrated in the middle of the cup, hence the bulges in the center. But a few cereal pieces have found their way to the edges.

Reese s Big Cup with Reese s Puffs Split

Reese s Big Cup with Reese s Puffs Mini Cereal

But after eating several of these, I can’t say the mini cereal pieces enhance the flavor of the Big Cup. I’m not surprised because I assumed chocolate and peanut butter-flavored cereal would get lost in actual peanut butter and chocolate. But I’m okay with that because the mini cereal pieces provide a satisfying crunch to go along with the irresistible Reese’s flavor.

Think of that texture as what you’d get with a Crun…oh wait, this is a Hershey product, and the fine folks there sent me samples, so I mean, think of that texture as what you’d get with a Krackle bar but with a Reese’s Cup. As someone who steals is lucky enough to end up with all the Krackle miniature bars from a mini bar assortment, I love the crispy cereal pieces within the gritty, salty peanut butter.

Reese’s Big Cup with Reese’s Puffs isn’t as earth-shattering as the peanut butter cup being stuffed with Reese’s Pieces or potato chips (or maybe someday with bacon bits…just an idea, Hershey’s). Also, I can understand how this might be ho-hum to some, but I find it delightful.

DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples from Hershey’s. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1.2 oz bar
Purchased at: Received from Hershey’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 package) 170 calories, 9 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar (including 16 grams of added sugar), and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend

Marvo 4 Comments

Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend Bottle

The new Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend has taught me that my eating habits are quite dull outside of what I taste for the site. Because after trying the sweet seasoning on a variety of foods, I later realized those foods also ended up being what I shook the Twix Shakers Seasoning Blend on when I reviewed it —- overnight oats, vanilla ice cream, popcorn, smoothies, etc.

I hate to say this, especially because the fine folks at B&G Foods sent me a bottle of its Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend, but my diet of the same foods over and over again made me realize that the two sweet seasonings could easily be confused for each other.

Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend Closeup

Let’s break it down. As we ALL know, Snickers is made with peanuts, caramel, and nougat in milk chocolate and is a vastly superior candy bar to Milky Way (Nah, just messin’ with you, Milky Way-ers). But after trying it with all the things I tried it with, my taste buds could only notice the chocolate and caramel, which was also the case with the Twix version. And much like the Twix Shakers, it has a weird flavor that’s nothing like the iconic candy bar when tasted on its own.

Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend Popcorn

I can understand the lack of nougat flavor because, let’s face it, it might be the fourth most crucial component in a Snickers. But I’m surprised the peanuts aren’t noticeable even though it’s listed high up in the ingredients list.

Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend Cheerios

Also, much like the Twix version, while the serving size is a teaspoon, I had to add a lot more to my popcorn and Cheerios to get a noticeable flavor. So I recommend, if possible, getting the 9.5-ounce bottle currently available at Sam’s Club instead of the 6.8-ounce one at Walmart.

Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend Ice Cream

As you can probably tell, I’m a bit disillusioned with this Snickers Shakers Seasoning Blend, although I did enjoy it with vanilla ice cream. If I could’ve tasted the peanuts, I probably would’ve liked it more. But with mostly chocolate and caramel flavors, it bothers me that it doesn’t differ much from the previous Twix version.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary product sample from B&G Foods. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 9.5 oz bottle
Purchased at: Received from B&G Foods
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 tsp) 15 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of sugar (including 3 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Frankford Gummy Lunchables Cracker Stackers

Margaret 4 Comments

Frankford Gummy Lunchables Box

Behold! Nostalgia in edible gelatin form!

I confess I tried every Lunchable as a kid. The crackers. The pizza. The tacos. And while I love lunch and I love gummies, do they go together? It is with a quiver in my soul and a trembling of my hands that I find out today!

Frankford Gummy Lunchables Tray

I appreciate that all the gummies have separate compartments, but those crackers look claustrophobic smooshed in there. Let’s take them out!

Frankford Gummy Lunchables Tall Stack

Sugar, dextrin, and yellow number 40. That’s what this little girl is made of, and thank goodness because these Lunchable gummies have plenty of it! They smell like Froot Loops and taste like what happens when you eat every Starburst and Skittle flavor in one gulp. I’m sure each shape is supposed to have a distinct flavor, but they all smell and taste the same: tangy, sweet, slightly citrus-y, not bad, but not amazing.

The texture is a mix of Haribo gummies, Fruit by the Foot, and those squishy candy corn pumpkins that I pluck out of the bag every year. After eating all of them, I have enough energy to hurl a jumbo jet across Central Park.

Aside from the obvious benefit of getting to shovel your face with flavored sugar, you also get to stack your gummy crackers into whatever formation you like. Like a Lego tower. Only not made of plastic. And not ridiculously expensive. So better than a Lego tower! Stacked together in a sandwich, they are about the size of an eyeball and, according to research, there are a lot of good reasons to eat neon-colored gummies the size of an eyeball.

Frankford Gummy Lunchables Small Stack

So if you want a Lunchable without the lunchbox, weirdly shaped turkey slices, or smelly school cafeteria, you can eat these and still feel a sense of triumph (or maybe that’s the sugar rush?). These may not have particularly distinct flavors, but the shape is unique, they’re fun to smoosh together, and they beat overcooked cafeteria green beans any day.

Purchased Price: $5.00
Size: 6.2 oz. pack
Purchased at: Five Below
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/6 of the tray or 30 grams) 100 calories, 0 calories from fat, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 0 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Twix Cookie Dough

Marvo 9 Comments

Twix Cookie Dough Wrapper

I have no substantial evidence, but I have a feeling the new Twix Cookie Dough might be a Twix Cookies & Creme but with a classic Twix cookie bar instead of a chocolate one. One piece of proof I have is that it’s not beneath Mars to slightly tweak a Twix to generate a new variety. See: Twix Salted Caramel.

But that’s circumstantial evidence, and I might be watching too much Law & Order.

The product’s press release says the new candy bar combines the classic Twix cookie bars with a cookie dough-flavored layer sprinkled with chocolate cookie bits, all of which are coated with milk chocolate.

The use of chocolate cookie bits instead of tiny chocolate chips is what initially made me question the cookie dough layer and wonder if it’s the same one from the older Twix variety. Because when it comes to cookie dough-flavored products, it’s usually the combination of something that replicates the sugary dough and bits of chocolate or something that tries to emulate the taste AND feel of chocolate, and that’s not what the cookie dough layer in this Twix has.

Twix Cookie Dough Closeup

When I eat the layer on its own, I don’t think of cookie dough. Although, to be fair, I don’t immediately think of cookies and creme either. It does have a sugary, vanilla-ish flavor with bursts of chocolate from the dark bits, which you could convince a jury via taste or appearance that it’s either cookie dough or cookies and creme.

But the bar, when eaten whole and not layer by layer, does convince me that it’s cookie dough-flavored. However, it’s not the black and off-white layer that makes me think that way. It’s the crunchy cookie bar, and because it tastes like it provides all the dough flavor, I feel Mars reused its cookies and creme layer for this candy.

I rest my case, Your Honor.

My verdict: Twix Cookie Dough is a delicious candy bar with a noticeable cookie dough flavor. Although I have my suspicions about it, they shouldn’t prevent anyone from trying it.

(NOTE: Twix Cookie Dough will be available nationwide in December 2022. Samples were sent to 1,000 Twix fans who entered a drawing in June to try the candy bar early. And some of those folks sold their samples on eBay, which is how I got my hands on some. And because I got them from a seller on eBay who had to ship it across the country, they look like they might’ve stared for a moment at the Ark of the Covenant after it opened.)

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 1.36 oz bar
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pack/2 cookies) 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar (including 16 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Brach’s Funfetti Candy Corn

Mark 10 Comments

Brach s Funfetti Candy Corn Package

What is it?

Brach’s has brought us Funfetti Candy Corn to join the seasonal counterparts of Funfetti Jelly Beans and Funfetti Candy Canes.

Brach’s is the best brand of candy corn (at least that I have tried), so I’m happy it’s the one taking on this challenge.

How is it?

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’ve ever had an officially licensed Funfetti cake. But I have eaten plenty of cake.

And this candy corn really does taste like cake!

Or rather, it takes like frosting. But haven’t we all wanted to eat frosting by the spoonful out of a can? This candy corn allows us to do that without the shame.

Brach s Funfetti Candy Corn Closeup

Of course, frosting is just intense sweetness without a particularly strong flavor. The same could be said about candy corn. So Funfetti candy corn isn’t that different than regular candy corn.

Anything else you need to know?

Candy corn is usually known for its vibrant colors, so it’s a bit surprising they opted for drab shades of yellow and pink for the Funfetti variety. That’s not fun! But the edible confetti pieces help out.

Conclusion:

Funfetti Candy Corn tastes like cake icing. But if you snuck some of this flavor in with regular candy corn, the eater probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference. I enjoy eating Funfetti Candy Corn, but it is not better or worse than its ordinary Brach’s counterpart.

Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 8 oz. bag
Purchased at: Walgreens
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (15 pieces) 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 22 grams of sugar (including 22 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.