I wasn't impressed. First I ignored all the hazelnut chocolates (sue me, I'm American and I hate hazelnuts. I read a great book about the Hersheys and the Mars family and how the Mars family has been trying to get hazelnuts in one of their chocolates but they never make it because Americans don't like hazelnuts. I'm patriotic that way.), but I did choose a couple that had coffee or mocha centers, and just plain ganache centers. I wasn't impressed.
I don't have one of those developed palates that can tell you the notes in the chocolate or what bean they come from, but I know what I like and I don't like these. Give me Target's Choxie any day.
This is made with Bissinger's sweet milk chocolate, with tons of dried cranberries and pecans. The dark chocolate version is a bit better, since the milk chocolate is a bit sweet with the sweetened cranberries, but this version is also amazing! I'm impressed with the amount of mix ins, unlike other bars I've had that only have a bit. This is chock full of fruit and nuts. It's so good, you'll wish it wasn't seasonal!
I started with the second row from the right (not knowing each row was different), with some salt caramels. I've never had salt caramels before and I'm not entirely sold on them. I think I may end up scraping off the salt and eating them plain. I also had a milk chocolate caramel which turned out to be one of the Bear Claws. It's basically a tiny turtle, and really good!
I also tried one of the dark chocolate caramels. At first I thought it was raspberry flavored, then cherry, now I don't know if it's raspberry or blackberry, since they offer both, but it's really interesting. It tastes like they flavor the chocolate with fruit flavor, and the caramel is vanilla. Very interesting.
ETA: It is definitely blackberry, because I tried the raspberry and it is a much more intense flavor. I really prefer the blackberry since it is such a light fruity flavor. I also tried the vanilla, which has a dark chocolate coating, and it's fine. So far my favorites are the Bear Claws and the Blackberry Caramels.
I'm a huge caramel fan, so this was just up my alley!
I got the Choxie Espresso Truffle Bar and it was delicious! My husband likes more bittersweet chocolate and I like more sweet chocolate, but this must have been just the right amount because we both loved it! It was a mildly sweet (sweeter than chocolate chips I think) dark chocolate, with the flavor of espresso. The chocolate looked like it would be hard but it wasn't - it was truly like eating a truffle in a bar, because it was slightly soft when you bit into it.
If this is a good example of the quality of Target's Choxie chocolates, I'm definitely a fan!!!
First problem - the staff at my local store were awful. They didn't take us in order, and I had to wait forever to get three chocolates. Second problem - they don't weigh the candy, it's by the piece. So the truffles are the same cost as the other chocolates, which are smaller. These three chocolates, two truffles and a regular chocolate, were $5. $5!!!
I'm no stranger to expensive chocolate, but this company is owned by Kraft, so the cost seemed a bit much. I think See's chocolates are 50 cents each, or maybe a little bit more.
Anyway, first up was the Milk Ganache Bliss, the smaller chocolate on the right. I didn't like it. To quote the movie Sixteen Candles, "It's not ugly, it's just void." I didn't think it was worth the calories, so I didn't bother finishing it.
Next up was the Extra Dark Chocolate Truffle. This felt like there was some sort of crunchy thing inside, but there wasn't that I could see. However, it was delicious. Not too bitter and not too sweet dark chocolate with just the right thickness of chocolate coating and a light layer of dusted cocoa. I would definitely get this again.
Finally, the Cappuccino Truffle, For some reason I remembered this as being a coffee truffle, so I was surprised at how sweet the center was. It was a soft center, with a more latte flavored ganache. It was also delicious. It was like a cup of very sweet, creamy coffee, with just the right thickness of dark chocolate coating. I would also get this again.
Just not in my local store.
I loved when Hershey's made Soft and Crunchy Heath. That was my favorite. I also am a huge sucker for good toffee. I am not, however, a huge Heath fan, and the bites are even worse than the actual bar. They just have too much chocolate and not enough toffee, and the chocolate is too sweet. Basically I'd say if you want toffee, try another brand, or at least the regular sized bar.
Ever since I worked in a drug store I have been a big Russell Stover
candy fan. A couple of years ago I got into their chocolate covered
marshmallow Easter Bunnies. I tried other shapes - the pumpkin, etc.,
but they didn't have the same amount of chocolate in the right
configuration as the Russell Stover chocolate covered marshmallow
Easter Bunny. I particularly like them cold, and my favorite part is
the chocolate between the head and the ears.
That being said, when I saw that Russell Stover came out with a dark chocolate covered marshmallow Santa, I decided I had to try it. I love marshmallow. I love chocolate. The Santa is so far the closest to the Easter Bunny as I can get in other parts of the year. It's got a similar size and shape, but not that little section of chocolate between the head and the ears. Oh well. It's still delicious!
As for the dark
chocolate versus the milk chocolate coating: I liked them both. The
dark chocolate wasn't enough of a difference in taste for me to prefer
one over the other. I think I'll eat them all!
During the mad post-Halloween rush, I got suckered into trying the new Mega M&Ms. I thought they were on sale because they were with the Halloween candy. They weren't. Anyway, I'm a huge M&M fan, so I wanted to try the new bigger M&Ms. So far all the larger versions of traditional candies I haven't been a fan of (Reese's Big Cup, Big Kat, etc.) but who knows.
The first thing I noticed with these Mega M&Ms is that they changed the color. They had some fancy name for the colors, but basically they're not traditional M&M colors, which is a bit disconcerting. They are about the same size as the peanut butter M&Ms (yum!), only solely milk chocolate inside. I love regular (sorry, "milk chocolate") M&Ms, and am always pleasantly surprised when I buy some peanut M&Ms and get one without a peanut but a lot of milk chocolate only, but in this case they don't do much for me. I guess I don't like the flavor of the M&Ms milk chocolate enough to want more of it in the same piece of candy. Give me a handful of traditional M&Ms over these new Mega M&Ms any day.
For the inaugural post of my new candy blog, I've decided to show my most recent candyswap package. My pal is from Canada, and tried to send me Canadian candy, which I loved!
She included pumpkin fudge (in the paper bag), which was interesting. I love fudge and I love pumpkin. This was a very interesting flavor. I'm not sure if there is a pumpkin extract, but basically I'll stick to rocky road.
She also included candy corn/mellowcreme pumpkins, which I love! So sugary! I like the pumpkins the best since the candy is a bit less dry than candy corn, which I also like.
She introduced me to the Aero bar, which I think is aerated chocolate. It was definitely full of air. It wasn't a very strong chocolate flavor, but my husband seems to think that the mouth feel of the larger bar is better rather than the solid chocolate, but I wasn't too excited with this one.
She reintroduced me to Smarties, the Canadian/English version of M & Ms (interestingly enough, M & M/Mars is an English company, but still ...) They're a bit thinner and flatter than M & Ms and have Cadbury tasting chocolate. These were my favorite candies growing up, and it was fun to try them in the Halloween size.
My favorite introduction from my pal was the Coffee Crisp bar. Think a large Kit Kat (but not that sub-par "Big Kat") with coffee flavored cream. It was so good! I'm lucky we have two gourmet grocery stores within walking distance, and one carries this candy, because I'm hooked!
Thank you so much Jennifer!
