In 1999, on the cusp of new millennium meltdown fears, my favorite M&M without the word “peanut” in its name was born.
Crispy M&M’s channeled the fun textural contrast of Nestle’s Crunch Bar in a portable, poppable format that worked for me and became my go-to anytime I wasn’t feeling nutty. Then, without warning, they vanished and I was left to chomp only the outer shell of an M&M without any inner crunchy surprise.
In 2015, my faith in humanity was restored and Crispy M&M’s returned in a new green bag with all the same deliciously simple crispy-rice-meets-chocolate flavor I remembered from my snack-heavy childhood. As delicious as they are, I always felt like the odd man out with my love for them, especially considering its ten-year hiatus of production in the United States. But now, the crispy boys are getting their shine in a winner-takes-all food fight under the new moniker of “crunchy.”
While 2016’s inaugural M&M’s voting contest saw the much more popular Peanut variety go head-to-head with new unique flavor offerings, this year’s feels a bit more underground. Welcome to the chocolate arena –- Mint, Espresso, and Raspberry.
Crunchy Mint M&M’s
The Crunchy Mint M&M’s are in-TENSE. They have a strong peppermint presence matched up with semisweet chocolate for a combination that’s not for the faint of heart. While the flavor isn’t toothpaste-y, it’s on the verge of being too much and could benefit from a bit more sweetness to be truly delectable.
I’m a fan of chocolate and mint together so I like the classic mashup, but the balance feels a wee bit off and leans towards breath freshening over sweet tooth satisfying.
Crunchy Espresso M&M’s
Crunchy Espresso M&M’s feel like a direct offshoot of the winning Coffee Nut M&M’s and placing last year’s victor in the mix feels both appropriate and lazy. There’s a strong ground coffee aroma wafting from the package that translates pretty convincingly to the taste. Chocolate and coffee is one of the best flavor combinations known to man and it’s almost cheating how well they work together.
The semisweet chocolate gets an elevated boost from the coffee flavor which adds more depth and darkness than standard Crispy M&M’s while not getting too bitter. Much like in the Peanut version, the balance is pretty much spot on and are an enjoyable treat.
Crunchy Raspberry M&M’s
Crunchy Raspberry M&M’s are the most interesting, unique, and risky of the bunch, but I’m happy to report they are DELICIOUS. The raspberry flavor is big and floral without tasting artificial and is wonderfully tempered by the, once again, semisweet chocolate. Raspberry and cocoa are another one of those classic sophisticated combos that I can’t help but love when executed properly, and Mars did a terrific job of balancing the two into a surprisingly complex spherical candy.
The texture of the Raspberry ones are also a little different. They have the expected rice crispness but also what feels like another layer of almost-chewy chocolate that helps them stick out among the pack. Cutting into the M&M’s reveals two tones of color when compared to the other two, which might add to the triple texture effect.
If I had the final say in this battle of chocolate I would definitely keep Raspberry around for a victory lap. While Espresso and Mint are good, they’ve already been done and aren’t really pushing the envelope. But hey, I was also that weirdo that wanted the Chili Nut M&M’s to win in the first contest, so I’ll probably lose this one too.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 pack – 180 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 35 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 1 grams of protein.)
Purchased Price: $1.49 each
Size: 1.35 oz. bag
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Crunchy Mint)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Crunchy Espresso)
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Crunchy Raspberry)
Pros: Same awesome crispy crunchy flavor. Giving some shine to the underground. Raspberry is a refreshing different flavor. Espresso strong and classic.
Cons: Playing it safe with mint and coffee. Mint balance far too strong. Why are these not “crispy”?
I like the usual Christmas minty M&Ms, but I felt like the crunchy mint M&Ms were too minty. Rather than toothpaste as you mentioned, I felt they were a little on the Halls Menthol cough drops taste spectrum. I probably won’t buy this flavor again. Maybe I’ll try the 9/10 rated crunchy raspberry next.
I give the Crunchy Raspberry 100% to keep. I really took my time to eat these thats how good tgey were.
Mint was good to but i feel a little to minty
I bought the espresso ones.
These are my favorite ! I liked these better than the Coffee Nut !
My favorite is the Crunchy Espresso,in fact I liked them better than Coffee Nut,and I was hooked on those,the Espresso is awesome,my new favorite.,
I fondly remember when Crispy M&Ms came out in 1999, my senior year of high school. We passed around a bowlful in one of my classes. Addictive and they still taste as good as they did then.
I would love to try the newest variations.
Crunchy Raspberry impulse buy was my big fail for the day. For some reason I thought the crispy center was going to be raspberry flavor. I dislike crunchy M&Ms in general, and these were no different. I wanted candy, not rice crispies. Too little chocolate, too little flavor. Kinda blah, unless you pop a whole handful in your mouth at the same time. Not the way I like to eat candy.
Where can I find these?! I went to my 7-11 and they only had the mint ones. I tried them and they’re good, but I really want the espresso ones. I’m obsessed with coffee!
Tried both the Raspberry and Espresso. Liked the Espresso very much. The Raspberry was suttle in flavor.
The crunch was nice. I might like it better w/out the crunch.
I like mint, haven’t tried either raspberry or the espresso yet, but the mint has my vote from first bite.
I have tried all three flavors and they are ALL uniquely delicious, in their own way. However, if I had to pick a champion, it would be Crunchy Espresso. I adore the combination of coffee and chocolate, and the crunchiness makes them over-the-top amazing!
Second place goes to Crunchy Raspberry. I want to point out that this is not the first time M&Ms has tried releasing a raspberry flavored chocolate. Several years ago, I remember buying bags of raspberry M&Ms (based on the Milk Chocolate variety, with raspberry flavor inside), and I thought they were the best flavor to come out for a while. The additional of crunch makes them even better.