Mint Chocolate M&Ms

Hi guys! I've just found out this morning that I'm going on a short trip, so here's a rushed review of my last Christmas product. I'll be back sometime next week -- probably on the 2nd -- and this blog will have a whole new face for the new year!

The M&Ms line has expanded lately. Dark and Dark Peanut have been added as regular flavors, and we’ve also seen a few limited editions pop up, such us Razzberry, Cherry Cordial, and this Mint Chocolate M&Ms.

Being a Holiday Mix, these come in red and two shades of green. They are a little bigger than plain M&Ms, being close in size to the Peanut Butter, I think. They are shaped irregularly, and in the picture you can see my favorite little conjoined Mint M&M.

They are a mint infused milk chocolate M&M, and honestly, that’s the best way to describe them. I think they taste like an Andes Mint, but I don’t have any on hand to do an actual comparison.

I liked these a lot better than Hershey’s attempt at mint infused milk chocolate. In retrospect, the mint probably doesn’t do well with that Hershey’s tang.

I think these are a nice seasonal item. I wouldn’t want to have them all the time, but popping up once a year is fine.

Ingredient Watch: All clear.

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is about 1/4 cup of M&Ms. Each serving contains 210 calories, 9g of fat, 26g of sugar, and 2g of protein.

Rating: 7/10

Name: Mint Chocolate M&Ms
Brand: Mars
Store: Target
Price: $2.00 (11oz)

A Russell Stover Christmas

We’ve already had a Russell Stover Halloween; now it’s time for a Russell Stover Christmas. The products that I reviewed for Halloween are available in Santa forms, but I chose a few new products this time. There are still a few varieties that I passed on though. I guess we’ll get to those for Easter!

Coconut Wreath: I wouldn’t call this a wreath. I would call it an unattractive (but tasty) dollop of milk chocolate and toasted coconut. I usually don’t care for coconut. I like the flavor but find the stringy texture unappealing. However, the coconut here is toasted and crispy, which lends a great crunchy texture. This is a simple, sweet mix of chocolate and coconut, and I really liked it! (140 calories, 9g of fat, 11g of sugar, 2g of protein.)

Rating: 8/10


Chocolate Marshmallow Snowman: This petite snowman is chocolate marshmallow covered in milk chocolate. The chocolate marshmallow has a mild cocoa flavor and is super soft, smooth, and springy. It’s less sweet than a typical marshmallow, but the bar’s sweetness is kicked up by the milk chocolate coating.

Unfortunately, this contains sorbitol, an artificial sweetener, which really irks me. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t think that artificial sweeteners belong in candy. Of course, neither do partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. But I’m sensitive to artificial sweeteners, so the inclusion is a little more bothersome -- I didn’t bother to read the ingredients until after I ate this. Still, it’s Christmas, so I’ll give it the rating I would have given it sans sorbitol. I’m sure some of you don’t care about it! (100 calories, 3g of fat, 13g of sugar, 1g of protein.)

Rating: 7/10


Marshmallow Santa in Dark Chocolate: When I reviewed Halloween’s Buzzard Egg, I mentioned that I would like to see a dark chocolate covered marshmallow. Well, here it is! I think that Santa shape here is actually pretty well done. I can definitely make out his outline.

Again we’ve got soft, springy marshmallow. One thing I like about Russell Stover’s holidays products is that they are fresh. This really shows in their marshmallow products. (I also like the line because it’s very cheap -- 39 cents a piece!)

The marshmallow is sweet, but the semi-sweet chocolate tones it down. It’s not nearly as sweet as the milk chocolate covered marshmallow is. The chocolate comes though more, lending a better balance.

However, again with the sorbitol. Again I’ll let it slide for the rating. I should know the read the ingredients before I eat something. This is something I do with everything I consume except for candy. I say I’ll try any candy once, but artificial sweeteners are a no go for me. (So much for the Peppermint Peeps!) (110 calories, 3g of fat, 14g of sugar, 1g of protein.)

Rating: 8/10

Brand: Russell Stover
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.39 each

Peeps Cutouts

Just Born has been expanding its Peeps line over the past few years. You can find them for all the major candy holidays, not just Easter. They’ve also added flavors: Cocoa Cats, Peppermint Stars, and even Cookie Cutouts. Last year was the first time I saw these cookie flavored Peeps. I bought a pack because they looked like good gingerbread house occupants. But I ended up baking cookie people for the gingerbread house, and these Peeps sat around into January. I almost threw them away. I like Peeps, but cookie flavored? Weird.

I decided to give them a try anyway. I was horrified. Horrified that I actually liked them. Yes, I liked them quite a bit. So much that I bought another package this year.

That being said, I don’t think that these really taste like cookies. They taste like a mix of artificial vanilla and almond. Yes, artificial… so artificial, but man, I like them. Don’t ask me why.

Like all Peeps, these are soft and springy marshmallow with a sparkly sugar coating. These are colored all the way through, unlike most Peeps, which are white with colored sugar.

Come on, they’re cute. Admit it.

Ingredient Watch: Nothing suspicious. These are basically just sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin. Not remotely healthy, but hey, fat free!

Nutrition Breakdown: Servings size is two peeps. There are 100 calories, 0g of fat, 24g of sugar, and 1g of protein per serving.

Bottom Line: I should not adore these.. But I do!

Rating: 7/10

Name: Peeps Cutouts
Brand: Just Born
Store: Target
Price: $0.99

Nestle Meets Santa Clause is Comin' to Town

Santa Clause Is Comin’ To Town is one of the classic stop-motion Christmas specials -- you know, the one with the Burgermeister Meisterburger. I’m not exactly sure how it ties in with Nestle, but let’s just go with it.

These come in Nestle Crunch and Butterfinger. The wrappers feature jolly old Santa, a few snowflakes, and the North Pole pole. Nostalgic. The chocolate medallions also feature Santa, which is a little weird. I feel bad eating this with Santa’s little molded face staring back at me. I don’t want to end up on the naughty list!

Butterfinger: Regular Butterfingers are covered in lackluster mockolate. This however, is made with real milk chocolate. That’s a necessity, because this is mostly chocolate. There are plenty crispy little Butterfinger bits that bring the salty peanut butter flavor, but it’s nothing close to the full on peanut butter blast of the Butterfinger.

I like this and I’m glad to have tried it with real milk chocolate. That being said, Nestle chocolate isn’t a favorite of mine, so I feel pretty ‘meh’ towards it.

This contains partially hydrogenated oils (most likely in the Butterfinger bits). The label does note that this “adds a trivial amount of trans fat.” So a slight tip of the hat to Nestle for at least noting that. (160 calories, 8g of fat, 18g of sugar, and 2g of protein per medallion)

Rating: 6/10


Nestle Crunch: So, this is pretty much a round Nestle Crunch; we’ve got the familiar sweet Nestle chocolate and crispy rice bits. I may say that I’m not crazy about Nestle chocolate -- and I’m not -- but the Nestle Crunch always wins me over in the end. It’s slightly malty, and I love malt. It’s familiar and good, but still, I want more from it. With a little more flavor, a little more maltiness, I would reach for these more often.

To it’s credit, this is free from any suspect ingredients. (170 calories, 9g of fat, 19g of sugar, and 1g of protein per medallion)

Rating: 7/10

Name: Santa Clause Is Comin’ To Town Butterfinger and Nestle Crunch
Brand: Nestle
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.50

KitKat Holiday Assorment

I’ve always underappreciated the KitKat. It’s never been a go-to candy for me, but every time I have one I remember how good they are. After eating my way through this assortment I’m a bit more interested in the KitKat and the wacky flavors you can find across the world. This assortment is pretty classic though: milk, dark, and white KitKats.


Milk Chocolate (red): This is your classic KitKat, but the smaller size throws off the proportions a little. There is more chocolate to wafer here, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. It’s sweet and perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. Scrumptious! Rating: 9/10

Mildly Sweet Dark Chocolate (dark brown): I’ve never had a Dark KitKat, but I’ve heard people rave about it. I have to admit that I was a little under-whelmed by this. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away. The initial flavor reminded me strongly of coffee, but that morphed into a semi-sweet chocolate chip flavor, which overtook the wafer. I think this would be very nice in a regular size, with more wafer to chocolate. Rating: 7/10

White Candy (white): Note that this is white confection, not white chocolate. That’s because it’s made with various vegetable oils, not pure cocoa butter. I’ve come to expect that with most mass-produced white products. Still, I did enjoy these. It has a strong vanilla flavor that works well with the wafers. Rating: 7/10

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is 5 pieces. Each serving contains 210 calories, 12g of fat, 20g of sugar, and 3g of protein.

Name: KitKat Assorted Minis
Brand: Hershey’s
Store: Target
Price: $1.66 (11oz)

Candy Cane Kisses

I heard a lot of good things about the Candy Cane Kisses last year, but I never got around to buying them. This year I made sure to pick up a bag. They really are quite cute. Red stripes stand out against white confection, which is dotted with red nonpareils. They are dressed in silver foil wrappers adorned with red canes.

The white confection is sweet and tastes strongly of vanilla. The infused peppermint flavor is refreshing and festive, but not overwhelming. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed, because I expected candy cane bits, not nonpareils. But the nonpareils add a nice crunch, and don’t stick in your teeth like candy cane bits probably would.

Ingredient Watch: These aren't white chocolate, as they aren't made with pure cocoa butter. There's a good amount of palm, shea, sunflower, and safflower oil here. These also contain PGPR.

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is 9 pieces. There are 220 calories, 12g of fat, 25g of sugar, and 4g of protein per serving.


Bottom Line: Tasty and fairly addicting. Too bad these aren't pure cocoa butter; a good melt would blow me away.

Rating: 7/10

Name: Candy Cane Kisses
Brand: Hershey's
Store: Target
Price: $2.00 (11oz)

Hot Cocoa Creme Kisses

I've been curious about these. How can hot cocoa work as a flavor? What sets hot cocoa apart is the fact that it is hot; aside from that you just have chocolate milk. Still, I think they probably captured the flavor as best as they could. I suppose they could have thrown in some marshmallow flavor. After all, who doesn't have marshmallows with their hot cocoa? But no, no marshmallow here (and it may be better that way).

These are reminiscent of a regular Hershey's Kiss, but a bit milkier. It's smooth, milky chocolate creme surrounded by classic Hershey's milk chocolate. They're sweet, but not throat burningly so. I find them rather comforting, actually. I think that fits in with the hot cocoa theme. They really remind me of homemade chocolate buttercream icing.

Ingredient Watch: These contain PGPR.

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is 9 pieces. There are 210 calories, 13g of fat, 23g of sugar, and 3g of protein per serving.

Bottom Line: This remind me of comforting, homemade chocolate icing. That can't be bad.

Rating: 7/10

Name: Hot Cocoa Creme Kisses
Brand: Hershey's
Store: Walgreens
Price: $1.00 (8.5oz)

Dove Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is very fashionable these days, but I can't think of many “convenience” dark chocolate bars. When I say convenience candy, I mean the candy that most people buy -- the candy at the checkout aisle. In fact, the only plain dark chocolate convenience bars that I can think of are the Hershey's Special Dark and the Dove Dark Chocolate. Or am I missing something?


Most chocolate lovers wouldn't call this dark chocolate. It contains milkfat, and the first ingredient is sugar. But I think this works. It's a convenience candy, so it's meant to appeal to the general public. Really dark chocolate can be a bit of a shock to people who are used to milk chocolate. I think this bar is a good introduction to dark chocolate.

Dove chocolate is always very smooth, and this is no exception. It melts excellently. It's sweet, but still has the deeper chocolate flavor that I expect from dark chocolate. There's better chocolate out there, but not much at 50 cents a bar.

Rating: 7/10

Name: Dove Rich Dark Chocolate
Brand: Mars
Store: Walmart
Price: $0.50

Immaculate Baking Co. Cookies

These caught my eye with the line “A Better Cookie For Kids.” Hey, if they're better for kids, they must be better for me too. The label reads that they are 100% organic (USDA approved), low in saturated fat, contain no trans fat or GMO, and are made from pure and simple ingredients. For me, the absence of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils warranted these a try.


There are three varieties of cookies in the box. Choca Doodle Doos are Chocolate Chip Oatmeal, Hunka Chunka Chocolate are Double Chocolate Chip, and Doohickeys are Oatmeal Raisin. I had four bags of Choca Doodle Doos and three bags of the the other two, for a total of 10 one ounce packages. There were 5-6 mini cookies in each bag.

All three varieties had the same, rather odd texture. Usually cookies are either moist and dense or dry and crumbly, but I found that these were dry and dense. I suppose it's just the texture of the oatmeal. I don't have oatmeal cookies often, so I'm not used to it. But don't let the description of dry turn you off; they don't have a bad mouth-feel. They aren't moist, but they are nice, thick, and chewy.

Choca Doodle Doos

These are the chocolate chip oatmeal. The actual cookie has a good flavor. The oatmeal has a nice nutty taste. I'm really not tasting the chocolate though. There aren't enough chocolate chips to compete with the cookie. I'd normally give these a 5 for lack of chocolate, but the wholesome advantage bumps it up to a 6.

Rating: 6/10

Hunka Chunka Chocolate

These are the double chocolate chip, and trust me, they aren't skimping on flavor here! They have a strong chocolate taste, almost like a brownie. The thick texture also reminds me of a brownie. I usually find packaged chocolate cookies disappointing, but these served my chocolate craving. I'd have them again.

Rating: 7/10

Doohickeys

These are the oatmeal raisin. Again, they aren't skimping on flavor. They smell and taste strongly of spices, but not overwhelmingly so. There are also some salty notes, which I like with my oatmeal. There aren't a whole lot of raisins here though. I think the problem with all the varieties is that the cookies are two small to hold an adequate amount of chips/raisins. But I don't think raisins add much to cookies, so I still really enjoyed these. They were my favorite of the lot.

Rating: 8/10

I would buy these again. The cookies are tasty and I like the healthy ingredients angle. I'm also really interested in some of the companies other cookies, which include flavors like Pumpkin Ginger and Key Lime. Yum! I hope I see those in the store soon.

If you have children, I'd suggest giving these a try. The bright packaging and fun names may help them forget that these are oatmeal cookies. And if not, more for you!

Name: Cookies For Kids Multi-Pack
Brand: Immaculate Baking Co.
Store: Target
Price: $4.99 for a package of 10

A Russell Stover Halloween

Buzzard Egg
This is a marshmallow egg covered in milk chocolate. I didn't quite realize what it was until I got home. An egg? For Halloween? Did they decide to slap a buzzard on leftover Easter stock and call it Halloween candy?

Silliness aside, I actually like the packaging. The wrapper is a nice blackened purple/silver color and the buzzard looks sharp. I'm rather afraid of taking her egg.

The chocolate layer was very thin... and very sweet. The marshmallow was fluffy, soft, sticky... and very sweet. Yes, the whole thing was very, very sweet. Throat-burningly so. But that's okay with me; I like very sweet. I was also very pleased with the freshness of the marshmallow.

At 110 calories, this is a nice treat that I don't have to feel guilty about. I'd be interested in a dark chocolate version to cut some of the sweetness.

Rating: 6/10


Caramel Pumpkin
The caramel is chewy, with a nice stretch – I pulled it in half and the caramel stretched for a long time. However, it's lacking in taste. It's not buttery, salty, burnt, or even particularly sweet. It's not bad, but it's distinctly lackluster.

Rating: 5/10


Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin
I suppose this is the love child of the marshmallow egg and caramel pumpkin. Now, I know I just knocked the caramel pumpkin, but I wonder if my taste buds were off that day because the caramel here is much better. It's buttery, but it would benefit from some saltiness. The marshmallow adds sweetness and interesting texture.

Rating: 6/10


Coconut Cream Pumpkin
My first thought was, 'Wow, what a poor misshapen pumpkin.' While the other two pumpkins actually resembled pumpkins, this looked much more like a hockey puck. It seemed very heavy and solid to me, almost like a chocolate covered cookie (or hockey puck). It's not pretty, but I can forgive that.

The middle didn't strike me as cream, but more like fluffy, sticky icing. I'm not sure that the cream is actually coconut flavored. It tasted mostly of vanilla, but there were pieces of coconut throughout. Not so much that it had that stringy texture, but enough to give it a nice flavor. Coconut isn't a preferred flavor of mine, but I liked this.

Rating: 7/10


Overall, I think these would be nice additions the special Halloween bags you might make for your kids/grandkids/other special kids in your life. They are also a nice, cheap treat to pick up for yourself. They are fresh and come in a greater variety than what I've reviewed here (orange marshmallow, strawberry creme, etc.).

The calorie count is much lower than a regular candy bar. The Buzzard Egg has 110 calories; the Caramel Pumpkin has 160; the Caramel Marshmallow Pumpkin has 120; the Coconut Creme Pumpkin has 150.

Brand: Russell Stover
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.39 each

3 Musketeers Mint

I'll be honest: I didn't expect to like this. For one, I don't care for the original 3 Musketeers. Two, I didn't think this could measure up to the York Peppermint Pattie, which I'm a big fan of. However, I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by this bar.

The 3 Musketeers Mint is whipped-up minty candy covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate. Like the original 3 Musketeers, this is advertised as a 'lighter' candy option. According to the wrapper, it's “a lighter way to enjoy mint chocolate.” With 150 calories and 5g of fat, I'd say that's a fair assessment. Better yet, this isn't a single bar, but two smaller bars, which makes it perfect for sharing or portion control. One smaller bar has only 75 calories, a pretty guiltless treat. I like it when a candy lives up to its claim.

The mint is sweet and fluffy. The texture reminds me of a dense marshmallow. The mint flavor is pretty mild, much less intense than a York Pattie. Whether that's good or bad depends on your taste. Now, what's odd about this bar is the aftertaste... I can only describe it as salty. It's strange, but I rather like it.

I ate one of the bars when I was in the need of a evening candy-fix, and it was surprisingly satisfying. I decided to put the other half in the freezer overnight. When I pulled it out the next day I found quite a treat. Of course, mint and cold work well together. I would eat these frozen fairly often over the summer.

While this doesn't overtake the York Pattie in my book, I can see myself alternating between the two.

Rating: 7/10

Name: 3 Musketeers Mint
Brand: Mars
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.69