Tag: Mars

What are White Chocolate Sugar Cookie M&M’s?

M&M’s is taking a softer approach to the Christmas creep this year. “Sugar cookies are year-round favorites, right? They’re sugar cookie flavored. No big deal. Just a little red & green sugar on the bag…oh, and Red’s wearing a little Santa hat. Shhh, it’s okay. Just buy the small pack. We know it’s too early, but you want to try it, don’t you? Yeah, put down that candy corn…”

This is one of those flavors that seems like it should have existed already, but – surprise! – has somehow escaped the novelty flavor grinder until now. They have crispy rice centers – I believe this is the first time we’ve seen a white chocolate/crispy center combo (correct me if I’m wrong). They’re the standard M&M’s size and come in the usual holiday red-green-white candy coating color combination.

How are they?

These were delicious – the creamy white chocolate worked really well with the crispy rice center. The crunch gave them the texture of thin sugar cookies. I inhaled the first single-sized bag without even realizing I’d eaten them all. Dangerous.

They didn’t quite capture the flavor of sugar cookies, however. I wanted to taste the “bake” here – caramelized sugar, butter and flour. I didn’t get any of that. They tasted, to me, like a fantastic white hot chocolate I used to buy cups of every winter at a defunct, ritzy grocery store in Manhattan. It was milky and thickly sweet with white chocolate. These M&M’s were exactly like that – more like milk that might have had a sugar cookie dunked in it, but definitely a pound of white chocolate. I had to ding them for not being what they claimed. If they were called M&M’s White Hot Chocolate, they’d rate higher.

One other tiny thing – I did wish there were some red and green sprinkles inside to give the centers some color, but not a deal breaker. Just a sprinkle-obsessed request for next time.

Anything else you need to know?

Not sure if it’s sabotage or synchronicity, but Hershey’s also has sugar cookie-flavored Kisses hitting shelves as well. 2020 will go down in history as the Year of the Sugar Cookie!

Conclusion:

If you’re here for wonderfully tasty M&M’s, come right in. If you’re here for sugar cookie flavor, buy a box of sugar cookies.

Purchased Price: $1.09 (on sale)
Size: 1.35 oz bag
Purchased at: Duane Reade by Walgreens
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pack) 180 calories, 8 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, including 21 grams of added sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

While the weather on this packaging is frightful, Mars has launched a new seasonal M&M’s flavor that they hope you think is delightful.

Just in time for the holidays, Peanut Brrr-ittle M&M’s have popped up on Target shelves. To be honest, I wouldn’t have pegged peanut brittle as a holiday flavor, but my recent internet searches suggest that homemade peanut brittle makes a great Christmas gift. A terrible gift, but a gift nonetheless.

It’s also possible that Mars only chose Peanut Brrr-ittle for the punniness of the name. If that’s the case, I’m glad that Brrr-occoli or Brrr-ussel Sprouts didn’t make it past the testing phase.

Since these M&M’s are a Target exclusive, you’ll have to journey through the holiday labyrinth that is the Target Christmas section. If you can avoid the shattered ornaments on the ground, the unorganized stockings strewn about, and the incessant droning of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” from a chorus of battery operated gyrating conifers, you’ll land upon the Peanut Brrr-ittle M&M’s nestled between the other holiday varieties.

Upon opening the bag, I was greeted by what looked like a traditional package of holiday Peanut M&M’s. I did a double take – had I picked up the wrong bag on the shelf? Had there been a horrible error on the M&M’s assembly line? Thankfully not – the smell of these M&M’s is very different from the traditional variety, a strong dark caramel scent that borders on artificiality.

Those same caramel notes come through in the taste, similar to what you’d find between the peanuts in a traditional brittle. While the basic peanut still sits in the center of each candy, the chocolate coating offers the aforementioned caramel flavors with hints of a more roasted flavor, similar to a hazelnut. I found the flavoring to be inconsistently applied across the M&M’s I sampled (read: most of the bag), as some tasted more heavily of the normal peanut interior, and some bordered on an overwhelmingly artificial caramel coffee creamer flavor.

While I found these M&M’s to have a jarring taste at first, I warmed up to them over time as I got used to the nontraditional flavor. I will say that it’s difficult to eat more than a handful of these at each sitting, as the peanut brittle taste does get a little bit overpowering the more you munch.

Thankfully, the Peanut Brrr-ittle M&M’s feature a RESEALABLE ZIPPER! (their emphasis, not mine), so you can save a few to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Overall, these M&Ms are a perfect way to get your peanut brittle fix without any of the danger of burning yourself with hot sugar on the stove.

(Nutrition Facts – 1.5 ounces – 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 20 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $3.19
Size: 8 oz. bag
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Caroling while eating. Roasted, caramel flavor. Oh so punny. RESEALABLE ZIPPER!
Cons: Stocking slalom on the way to the shelf. Overwhelming in large quantities.

These White Pumpkin Pie M&M’s are simply white chocolate with a pumpkin pie flavor. But it got me thinking that a pumpkin pie engulfed in hardened white chocolate would actually be an epic holiday dessert. If you make this, you’re officially invited to my family Thanksgiving.

These M&M’s are your standard specialty M&M’s, slightly larger in size and featuring several different colors. (Side note: Is it me or do M&M’s and Oreo seem to be in a competition for who can create the most flavors? I’m certainly not mad about it. Let’s get Mars and Nabisco in on this, stat.)

I LOVE all things pumpkin, so I was super PUMPed (see what I did there?) to try these guys. I had my hesitations, of course, because oftentimes I find that food supposedly flavored as pumpkin really just tastes like “fall” (nutmeg, spices, etc.) and not really pumpkin itself. Beer is the perfect example of that. More spice and less pumpkin.

I’m super happy to report that the White Pumpkin Pie M&M’s DO in fact taste like pumpkin pie. But boy, are they sweet. Not in a bad way, just in a “You better be ready for dessert way.” The sweetness becomes more prevalent as you go, and there’s also a nice cinnamon aftertaste to them. I could only eat a small handful each time I opened the bag.

When I bit into one for a cross-section photo, that’s when I could see the inside looks like white chocolate, which is the first ingredient listed on the bag. (Above anything pumpkin, please note.) Now I’m wondering what white chocolate flavor M&M’s comes up with next…

Anyway, I did like these a lot. So much so that when my husband tried to hijack the bag to take to a work meeting, I immediately stopped him because I enjoyed them so much and wanted the bag for myself. (First rule of marriage: Let your wife have all the candy!) They’re a good fall treat and good for grabbing a quick handful as I enjoy my morning coffee. Now, who’s up for a Pumpkin Beer and White Pumpkin Pie M&M’s tasting?

(Nutrition Facts – 1.5 oz – 210 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 40 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 28 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 8 oz. bag
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Tasty pumpkin flavor, perfect fall treat.
Cons: Too sweet for more than a handful. Should have added “Chocolate” in the product title.