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

Newman's Own Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

I'd been curious about these, so I was especially excited when I found them. I love peanut butter and dark chocolate, so the combination could lead to nothing but love, right?

Well, color me disappointed.


Each package contains three cups housed in a plastic tray. The cups are smaller than a Reese's Cup. They are sturdy, due to the very thick layer of dark chocolate that surrounds the peanut butter. I'd say the proportion here is 66% chocolate and 33% peanut butter... heck, there might be even less peanut butter!

That lack of peanut butter is the downfall of this candy. The chocolate completely dominates the peanut butter... so much so that I can't say much about the peanut butter. I didn't taste it that much. It's smooth and needs salt. That's all I can say!


The chocolate is fine. It's slightly sweet and not at all bitter. It's fruity but lacks a chocolate punch. The thickness gives it a nice snap, but that's not what I'm looking for here.

With 60 calories to each cup, they're good if you're watching what you eat and can exercise portion control. Dark chocolate and peanut butter are the healthier candy ingredients, after all. Also, it's all organic, which is a plus.

If you are looking for a dark chocolate peanut butter cup, this may be it. If you are looking for a peanut butter cup with lots of chocolate and little peanut butter, this is probably it. But it's not what I was looking for or expecting. I'll wait for the limited edition dark chocolate Reese's that are supposed to be coming, thanks.

These get a 5, which is what I give products that aren't bad, but I don't care for. Sorry Newman. I'm still interested in your Peppermint Cups and Ginger Os!

Rating: 5/10

Name: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Brand: Newman's Own
Store: Walmart
Price: $0.50

The girl bakes! Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Ah, chocolate and peanut butter. A match made in heaven. This week's baking bit translates the combination into cookie form.


I've been making these cookies for a long time. They are my brother's favorite. The recipe comes from the back of the Reese's Peanut Butter Chip bag, but I'm sure that it can also be found at Hershey's Kitchens. It's always worked for me, so I've never bothered to tweak it, but I may try in the future.

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pkg. peanut butter chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to wire racks to cool completely.

I do recommend that you time these. I usually don't pay attention to baking times; I just use my own judgment. But it can be difficult to tell when these are done because of their dark color.

I tossed some chocolate chips in mine because we had an open bag, but I don't think they added much.

These are 'safe' cookies. Everyone likes peanut butter and chocolate. My dad and brother are picky eaters (My mom and I will eat anything.) but they both love these.

Goo Goo Peanut Butter

The Goo Goo Cluster is made by the Standard Candy Company in Nashville, TN. It's one of the few surviving regional candies. I'm not sure if you can find them outside of the South. I'm in the New Orleans area, and I can find Goo Goos at discount stores and the “mom and pop” grocery store (a dying breed themselves) in my town. I don't ever see them at the big grocery chains.

The Goo Goo Cluster comes in the original, Supreme, and Peanut Butter version. I've tried the original and Supreme before, but this is my first Peanut Butter. I picked it up at a discount store even though it was due to expire in a month. I kind of regret that now, because it would probably get a better review if it were fresh. But I've got to take what I can get.

A Goo Goo Cluster is peanuts, marshmallow, and caramel covered in milk chocolate. The Goo Goo Peanut Butter is just peanut butter and peanuts covered with milk chocolate. It's not very attractive -- it's just a plop of ingredients -- but it has it's charm.

The peanuts obviously weren't fresh. They weren't crunchy, but they were awfully salty. The whole thing was too salty for me. The chocolate didn't add enough sweetness on it's own. I think they should have added (or rather, kept) either the caramel or marshmallow from the original Goo Goo. This would have added more sweetness and kept it more true to the original. It's just too much peanut butter.

While this bar has definite problems, I know it would have been better had it been fresh. I'll consider giving it a second chance if I find a fresh one.

Rating: 5/10

Name: Goo Goo Peanut Butter
Brand: Standard Candy Company
Store: Big Lots
Price: $0.40

The girl bakes! Peanut Butter Fudge

Okay, so technically this should be “the girl candy-makes,” but I've always associated candy-making with baking. Maybe because both are associated with the holidays?

Today's recipe is for peanut butter fudge, one of my absolute favorite treats. Here is the good news: it's ridiculously easy. The bad news? You may be tempted to eat it all in one weekend if you are a peanut butter lover like me.

This fudge is made in the microwave. Now, I'm usually very suspicious of microwave fudge; I've never met a good chocolate fudge from the microwave. But this peanut butter fudge is just as good as any! So, the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 c. butter
1 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 lb. powdered sugar

Instructions:
1. Line a pan with wax paper. If you want your fudge to be thin, use a 9x13in pan. For thicker fudge use a 9x9in pan. Or whatever size you have; it really doesn't matter.

2. Microwave butter and peanut butter for two minutes.

3. Stir, then microwave for two more minutes.

4. Remove from microwave, then add vanilla and powdered sugar.

5. Stir the mixture until it becomes dull.

6. Spread into the pan.

7. Cover the surface of the fudge with another piece of wax paper and refrigerate until firm.

I told you it was easy! The hardest part is lining the pan with wax paper. I love giving this as a gift around holiday time. Candy will stay fresher longer than cookies and other baked goods, so it will last them longer!

I've never tried this, but you may be able to mix goodies into the fudge. Next time, I might try it with M&Ms minis. I'll let you know the results.

Until then, enjoy the peanut butter goodness!

Twix PB

The Twix PB is a chocolate cookie topped with peanut butter and coated with milk chocolate. It sounds good – a chocolate covered peanut butter cookie – but I feel the three elements have trouble working together.

The cookie is bland. It adds a nice crunch to the bar, but there's little going on in the flavor department. The chocolate coating doesn't add much either. It cuts into the peanut butter with a little sweetness, but it's not providing that chocolate/peanut butter combination I adore.

In fact, all I'm really getting here is peanut butter. It's good, although perhaps a little on the oily side. It's slightly salty with a grainy texture, which I like. But I want more than just decent peanut butter from this bar. While I like the crunch the cookie adds, I can get the same effect by spreading some PB on a graham cracker.

In the end, I'm spoiled by the many superior peanut butter products out there, and this bar just can't compete. But if you're a fan of Twix or peanut butter, I still suggest giving it a try. It's not a bad bar (I did eat it!); it's just not something I'll reach for again.

Perhaps a dark chocolate coating would have added more chocolate flavor?

Rating: 5/10

Name: Twix PB
Brand: Mars
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.69