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.
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.
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.