Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of them, share your thoughts about them in the comments.
(Spotted by Amanda Y at Target.)
(Spotted by @ReneBarba89 at FoodMaxx.)
(Spotted by Rachel J at Fred Meyer.)
This is not a new product, but I think this is the first year without the colored drizzle. (Spotted by Robbie at Sam’s Club.)
(Spotted by Robbie at Sam’s Club.)
(Spotted by Val B at Target.)
The gold standard of diet ice cream is doubling up on the dessert by infusing (Kind of? Theoretically?) its light ice cream with chocolate cake batter. Or, you know, at least some candy sprinkles. Because those are on cakes. Sometimes.
Thoroughly unnecessary. See, the ice cream is fine. It’s creamy and surprisingly rich for healthy ice cream. Halo Top’s chocolate base is a good one, and the different-than-normal-ice-cream texture almost makes it reminiscent of a frozen chocolate malt concoction you’d get at a baseball game. (Have you ever had one of those things? Comes with a wooden spoon? Those things.)
So, ice cream = good. But for the life of me, I can’t tell what makes this “Chocolate Cake Batter.” Except for the aforementioned sprinkles. And here’s the thing about the sprinkles: there are a lot of them. And they’re, you know, sprinkles. Just little crunchy bits of mostly tasteless confection. They don’t really add anything, unless you’re four years old. In which case, how’d you end up on this website, anyway? That’s pretty weird.
Probably not surprising, but Wikipedia has a wildly robust page on sprinkles. I was Googling to find out where they are called “jimmies” (it’s a northeast United States thing, and it always makes me laugh), but I also learned that in England — and Australia and New Zealand — they are also popularly referred to as “hundreds and thousands.” I love it, but it’s so wordy! When you go to the ice cream shop, do they actually ask, “An’ would you like ta’ top off yeh Sundae with some ‘undrets an’ thousands, guvnah?” That’s wild!
Regular Halo Top chocolate ice cream is a nice, comparatively healthy frozen dessert treat, and I’d recommend it to just about anyone. I’d only suggest getting the kind with HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS if regular chocolate is out, though. Or you’re four. In which case, again, I ask, “What are you doing here? How are you reading this?”
Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Hy-Vee
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (86 grams) 110 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of dietary fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.
Passionfruit gets a lot of product love. I wish guava and lychee would get as much attention from companies. So, thank you, Twizzlers, for your artificially flavored addition of guava to this product. (Spotted by Erin K at Cub Foods.)
Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.
(Spotted by Robbie at Walmart Neighborhood Market.)
(Spotted by Rachel T at Walmart.)
(Spotted by Robbie at Walmart Neighborhood Market.)
(Spotted by Jason S at 7-Eleven.)
(Spotted by Robbie at Sam’s Club.)
(Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)
(Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)
(Spotted by Robbie at Walmart.)
M&M’s has taken a fancy new natural approach by kicking the candy coating to the curb in favor of a crunchy baked shell.
They’re one of the five best M&M flavors I’ve ever had.
Let me walk that back a little…
These are clearly different from the usual M&M, but I don’t care; they destroy most of them, especially the classic brown bag originals.
These are not so much pieces of candy as they’re tiny little chocolate chip cookie balls, and they’re good chocolate chip cookies at that.
They start with a chocolate crispy core, which I was already pumped about as Crispy M&M’s are also in my top five. The core is encased in the standard chocolate, but the real marvel here is the shell, which has a perfectly crispy baked flavor that reminded me of a Famous Amos-type cookie.
Now you’re probably thinking, “So what, plenty of cookies use M&M’s,” and you’re right, but I just found this inverse to be much more exciting. I don’t know why, but I really loved the flavor of this bite-sized “candy.” Usually, if M&M’s releases a flavor with the promise of “cookie,” it would taste like an M&M with a hint of that cookie’s flavor. These taste like cookies without even really promising that.
I’ve never actually had Keebler Gripz, but I recall a similar product from my youth. They were just little tiny chocolate chip cookies in a pouch, and my Googling has brought no help. Anyway, that’s what I ultimately walked away thinking of. These taste like an upscale, more chocolatey version of those with a much nicer crunchy texture.
If you can’t tell, I really dug the shell. I even think the colored “M” on the tan shell looks great.
These could be a reinvention of the M&M wheel. I could also picture these being a truly elite ingredient in a great trail/snack mix.
I hope these expand on shelves and everyone gets to try them. They should really market these. Introduce a “Baked” M&M character to the revamped lineup. Give him little dreads and a goatee. Eh, maybe that’s a literal pipe dream.
Either way, these are legit. They also come in a salted caramel flavor if you’re lucky enough to find them.
UPDATE: By luck, my aunt had the Salted Caramel Munchums at my family’s Easter get-together! It is with great regret that I inform you they taste like a cheap salty café latte absorbed in a piece of cardboard. I cannot believe the stark difference between the two flavors. Don’t even bother with the Salted Caramel, and just get the Milk Chocolate flavor.
Purchased Price: $3.49
Size: 4.94 oz pouch
Purchased at: Wegmans
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Milk Chocolate), 3 out of 10 (Salted Caramel)
Nutrition Facts: (1 oz, 14 pieces) 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of total carbohydrates, 9 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.
