Author: Julie

REVIEW: Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Bar

Julie 8 Comments

Reese s Crunchy Peanut Bar Wrapper

Some new Reese’s products are announced with great fanfare —- social media announcements, television commercials, or (as I like to imagine) a red carpet dotted with Reese’s Pieces to lead the way to the closest candy aisle. Other products seem to surprise us, one day gracing shelves with an air of nonchalance that makes you think they’ve been around for years.

For me, at least, the Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Bar falls into the latter category. After all, it seems like a simple idea and consists of everything Reese’s does best: chocolate, peanut butter, peanut butter creme, and, of course, crunchy peanuts. When I first saw the bar in stores, I wondered if it was the Cheshire Cat of Reese’s products, disappearing and re-appearing to play tricks on my mind, until social media confirmed its brand-new status.

Reese s Crunchy Peanut Bar Coating

Despite its unassuming entrance into the Walmart checkout and, therefore, my growing sugar stash, one thing about the bar isn’t unassuming: its size. This King Size packet contains one hefty bar, which comprises three servings of Reese’s goodness and measures about 3/4 of an inch in thickness.

Reese s Crunchy Peanut Bar Split

The combination of flavors in Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Bar is a sweet-and-salty lover’s dream. Inside the standard chocolate coating are a substantial layer of peanut butter and lots of roughly chopped peanuts, densely packed and held together by peanut butter and creme. The peanuts are the dominant force, providing a nice hit of salt that plays beautifully with the other components. The bar has a greater peanut-to-filling ratio than any crunchy-filled peanut butter cup I’ve tried and maybe even enough peanuts to make a PayDay feel insecure.

Although the wrapper lists peanut butter and peanut butter creme as separate components, they taste similar and are initially hard to distinguish. The visible layers of soft peanut butter filling are deliciously sweet with a lighter, smoother texture than your standard Reese’s filling.

Reese s Crunchy Peanut Bar Crumble

Meanwhile, the subtle peanut butter creme seems closer to a peanut butter-flavored version of the “white creme” (oil-based white chocolate substitute) that we all know. Delicate layers of hardened creme are remarkable more in function than taste, acting as a binding agent to hold the peanuts in place. Because of this, the bar crumbled apart easily, like a dessert bark, and sometimes felt like an odd choice. At times, I wished for more of a creamy element to add some moisture, especially when the loose peanut crumbles felt like trail mix in my mouth.

If you are a believer in the peanut butter war that pits Team Crunchy against Team Creamy, the Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Bar is definitely a victory for Team Crunchy. As a member of Team I Shouldn’t Have to Choose, I enjoyed this new product, but found it easy to detect small flaws due to its simplicity. Peanut fans will revel in Reese’s latest release, while others yearning for more daring or complex flavors might find that, among other options, this bar fades into the background.

Purchased Price: $1.48
Size: 3.2 oz (90 g)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1/3 bar) 170 calories, 12 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 70 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Key Lime Pie Kit Kat

Julie 21 Comments

Limited Edition Key Lime Pie Kit Kat Wrapper

What is Key Lime Pie Kit Kat?

Kit Kat’s latest limited edition bar features Key lime-flavored white crème.

How is it?

Kit Kat’s seasonal flavors always seem to hit the mark, so I’ve come to look forward to them. I especially appreciate Kit Kat’s dedication to a sensory and aesthetic experience, using creative colors and details to pay homage to its flavor inspiration. This year’s Key Lime Pie Kit Kat is no exception: its vibrant wrapper and pastel bar are as green as Kermit the Frog counting dollar bills in a grassy field.

Kermit should exchange one of those bills for a Key Lime Pie Kit Kat because the candy is all-around delightful.

Peeling off the wrapper yields a strong, divine aroma of vanilla and lime as a hint of what’s to come. The green white crème coating delivers on its promised flavor. A creamy vanilla taste is present in the coating, which is not too sweet, and adds flavor reminiscent of whipped topping.

Limited Edition Key Lime Pie Kit Kat Wafer

However, the Key lime is still the most prominent flavor. It provides just enough zesty citrus bite, especially in the aftertaste. The standard Kit Kat wafer offers a crispy crunch that mimics pie crust texture, completing the experience of what it is like to enjoy Florida’s official state dessert.

As this flavor grows in popularity, will Key lime replace lemon foods in my citrus-loving heart? Possibly. I loved Key Lime Pie M&M’s, and these Kit Kats are even better due to that hint of sharp citrus. With more product testing, I might yet achieve my life’s dream of appearing on a Food Network show, identified by an oddly-specific job title like “Key Lime Pie Expert” or “Kit Kit Historian.”

Anything else you need to know?

Limited Edition Key Lime Pie Kit Kat Fingers

It is hard to tell in photos, but embedded in the Kit Kat’s chocolate coating are flecks of what look like graham cracker crust crumbs. The crumbs don’t really carry a taste or texture. Although the bar’s ingredients list includes graham flour.

Conclusion:

Key Lime Pie Kit Kats are a subLIME experience, combining creamy and crunchy elements with a Key lime zing.

Purchased Price: 88 cents
Size: 1.5 oz (42 g)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 40 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Pepsi Mango

Julie 20 Comments

Pepsi Mango 2021 Can

Confession: I’m a mango fiend.

I love them in savory or sweet dishes, juiced or whole. When my local grocery store’s supply is paltry, I will happily enjoy artificially flavored products to get my fix. Basically, if a mango is involved, I will likely be nearby, begging for a taste and sneaking leftovers into my Tupperware container for later. My love for the precious tropical stone fruit is why I was drawn to Pepsi Mango like a thirsty fruit bat to an actual mango.

Although Pepsi Mango – Pepsi’s first permanent flavor in five years – was a new discovery for me, the world has seen its likes before. Previously introduced as a limited offering in 2019, it joined lime and berry varieties to give Pepsi Wild Cherry competition as the brand’s most beloved fruit-and-cola mashup.

(Why am I late to the Pepsi Mango party? In 2019, I was likely still distracted by the release of Diet Coke Flavors, a lineup that included a mango version of my favorite caffeine source. Alas, those products, which I found too artificial and astringent-tasting to truly love, left me disappointed.)

Pepsi Mango 2021 Pour

Forgive the gaps in my soda experiences. The important thing is that today is a new day, and I get to experience Pepsi Mango now. The product’s package promises classic Pepsi “with a splash of mango juice and other natural flavors,” and even before my first taste, the juice’s presence made itself known. The soda’s aroma is wonderful and genuinely fruity. If it weren’t for the carbonation tickling my nose, I would have thought my glass was full of fresh juice or smoothie.

Pepsi Mango 2021 Top

In the first sip, mango flavor is at the forefront. Like the Pepsi’s smell, the bright, refreshing taste is strong and unexpectedly accurate. The classic cola taste follows, and while the mango overpowers it by a mere hint, the flavors play together well. I had expected the juice ingredient to give the Pepsi an additional harsh sweetness, but somehow it wasn’t too saccharine. The tropical flavor is a natural pair to Pepsi’s citrus notes, and this combination seems to cut through the syrupy quality that dark colas can have.

Pepsi Mango also has a smoothness and overall drinkability that I would not expect from a cola. Its end result is a delicate aftertaste that almost reminds me of drinking flavored iced tea — without sacrificing the carbonated crispness. This quality, combined with its spot-on fruity flavor, elevates this soda to next-level good.

Pepsi Mango 2021 Box

Mango fans will be pleased with Pepsi’s choice to resurrect this product, which is also available in the Zero Sugar variety. (Look for both kinds in 20-ounce bottles and 12 packs of 12-ounce cans.) Come summer, I will look forward to enjoying this Pepsi again as a refreshing treat on a hot day. The only downside: the three brands of mango-flavored sparkling water stashed in my pantry now seem a lot less enticing by comparison.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 12 pack of 12 oz cans
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 12 oz can) 150 calories, 0 grams of fat, 95 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 41 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Reese’s Snack Cake

Julie 18 Comments

Reese s Snack Cake Package

What are Reese’s Snack Cakes?

Each snack consists of a chocolate cake layer topped with Reese’s peanut butter creme and covered in milk chocolate.

How are they?

Reese s Snack Cake Exterior

When I unwrapped my package of Reese’s Snack Cakes, I was expecting a take on a Hostess CupCake or Zinger: a supple, airy sponge slicked with icing. What I found looked more like a candy bar: two chocolate-coated rectangles nestled in a cardboard sleeve, compact and entirely coated with milk chocolate.

Intrigued by the snack’s appearance (and anything involving peanut butter), I felt this warranted deeper investigation. Because I’m weird, I like to analyze snacks layer by layer, pretending that I’m a junk food scientist studying a sugary ecosystem. Here are my findings:

The milk chocolate coating is smooth and creamy. It tastes like what you’d find in the candy aisle, but a little sturdier and less prone to melting.

Next, the peanut butter creme has the delicious flavor of Reese’s filling, but with textural differences that remind me of marzipan or even hard fudge. It is soft, but dense and malleable enough that the layer can retain its shape when separated from the cake.

Reese s Snack Cake Innards

Finally, the cake layer is difficult to classify. Its deep cocoa flavor pairs well with the other cake components, but its texture is unsuccessful. Dense, dry, and crumbly, it is barely a cake. It tastes like a cake deprived of moisture or air, with all of its crumbs squeezed together. It brings to mind protein-enhanced snack bars (think Protein One), and with six grams of protein, it could probably pass as one more easily than it could pass as a cake.

Overall, the peanut butter and chocolate outshine an unsuccessful cake, which should have been the star of this snack. A different product name would have helped to leverage expectations, but the result is not Reese’s strongest offering.

Anything else you need to know?

Reese s Snack Cake Size

In press releases, Reese’s has billed its Snack Cakes as breakfast or mid-morning snacks. Given both the product’s candy bar sweetness and lack of resemblance to cake, I don’t understand the breakfast connection. Coffee cakes, muffins, and scones will not need to fight these snack cakes for space at the brunch table.

Conclusion:

Decidedly un-cakelike, Reese’s Snack Cakes deliver on the classic chocolate and peanut butter pair, but are worth less than the sum of their parts.

Purchased Price: $1.99
Size: 2.75 oz pack (2 cakes)
Purchased at: Sheetz
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 380 calories, 21 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 45 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 33 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Key Lime Pie M&M’s

Julie 8 Comments

Key Lime Pie M M s Bag

Scheduled for a spring release, Key Lime Pie M&M’s made an early appearance at my local gas station in Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney Phil assures me that this is a sign we are in for an early spring, so what better way to celebrate than by digging into these lime-flavored white chocolate M&M’s? As a fan of both real white chocolate and last year’s Orange Vanilla Cream M&M’s, I was excited to try out this new citrus-inspired treat.

Larger than your standard plain variety, Key Lime Pie M&M’s have an appetizing scent, a mixture of sweet cream and citrus that somehow manages not to smell like hand lotion or furniture polish.

Key Lime Pie M M s Colors

The shell colors include shades of Kelly and pastel green to represent Key limes and pie filling, as well as off-white/eggshell to evoke whipped cream or a lightly-baked pie crust. The color combination is appealing, not only because it looks like components of Key lime pie, but because the colors match the outfit Ms. Green is wearing on the wrapper, which I think she would appreciate.

The white chocolate’s taste captures the essence of a lime pie filling, where sweet creamy or whipped filling is combined with a lime element. While Key lime pie purists might describe the creaminess as uncharacteristic of a Key lime’s sharp acid, the resulting balance in the M&M is really delightful.

Key Lime Pie M M s Innards

The white chocolate tastes mellow and un-cloying in its sweetness while the lime is refreshing and not too tart. (I don’t know that I’ve ever described white chocolate as refreshing before, so definitely take that as a sign of an interesting bite!) As I ate more, the lime flavor seemed to grow stronger, as did a pleasantly zesty aftertaste.

Of course, your mouth will not pucker from eating these M&M’s as it would a sour candy. On a 10-point scale of sourness with 1 being, say, a plain, humble noodle and 10 being a straight-up lemon wedge, these hover around 3 or 4. Anyone who loves that pucker a sharp lime curd or limeade brings may be disappointed, but I think the balance is really successful in terms of highlighting both the lime and white chocolate flavors.

Absent from the M&M’s is a pie crust flavor, which I am honestly okay with. A graham center, or even a standard crispy one, would have been fun way to add some texture, but the quality of the M&M does not suffer without one.

Although I have never won a blue ribbon in my county fair’s pie contest (I will one day — watch out, Mrs. Johnson!), I know that over-zesting citrus can lead to a bitter pith. Luckily the flavor of Key Lime Pie M&M’s didn’t leave me much to be bitter about. I’m sure I’ll be buying them again well into spring.

Purchased Price: $2.19
Size: 2.47 oz. Share Size bag
Purchased at: Sheetz
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 35g or 1/2 pack) 170 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.