Finding gluten free candy isn’t all that hard any longer, but a gluten free candy bar that also has a crispy cookie-like center? I’ll bet there are lots of folks looking for that.

The Glutino Gluten Free Candy Bar comes in Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate varieties. I couldn’t seem to find them in single serve purchase size so I had to buy a full box of them - which was $4.99. So I picked the dark chocolate ones since it appeared by the ingredients list that they’re also vegan.

The candy bar is rather simple, a potato-flour wafer stack with chocolate cream centers is covered with dark chocolate. It reminded me of the old Bar None except it doesn’t have crushed peanuts.

The bar is crispy, the foamy wafers are rather flavorless but provide a rice cake type crunch. The cream in between is smooth and melts well; it’s more buttery and sweet than chocolatey. The chocolate coating is rather thick on the top and bottom so there’s a lot more chocolate than I expected. It’s nicely tempered, so it had its own crunch. The flavor was mellow, like semi-sweet chocolate chips - rather woodsy.

I liked them and for a gluten free and vegan bar it doesn’t taste like there are any compromises in there. Sure there are palm oils in the cream filling, so that’s something to be aware of but it is organic (I don’t know about the sustainability of organic palm oil). But as far as taste and texture profile, if you didn’t know it was gluten free, you wouldn’t know the difference.

As one bar is under an ounce, it’s not quite satisfying. The box was rather weird, as you can see from the top photo, it’s much taller than it needs to be so I’d say there’s an overpackaging issue (I wonder if they have standard size boxes and just kind of shrugged it off). So I felt a little duped by that. Also, the nutrition panel says that a bar has 140 calories. That doesn’t make sense to me. It’s less than an ounce, which should put it at about 110 or even 100 calories considering the fact that it has those fat-free wafers in there. Even a solid bar of dark chocolate has about 145 calories per ounce.

There are five bars in the box which cost $4.99, so the bars are expensive for something that’s a “snack size” and not a “dessert size”. I’ll finish the ones I have but unless I needed to have a bar that fit the gluten free parameter, I’ll probably stick with the Q.bel Double Dark.

Related Candies

1. Go Max Go Jokerz Candy Bar
2. Ritter Sport Neapolitan Wafers
3. Crispy Cat
4. Nestle Crunch Crisp
5. KitKat Bitter & White

Actually, don’t eat these. They’re probably thirty years old. I really miss Pine Bros Throat Drops. They were glycerin cough drops, soothing and firm and slightly gummy after they softened up. They came in licorice and honey lemon. 

UPDATE: Pine Bros did come back. You can find them in drug stores in two flavors.

Trader Joe’s usually markets house branded products that are a bit upscale. Their candies usually emulate something you’d find at Whole Foods or the imported bars you’d find at a gourmet shop. This is the first one I can recall that seeks to compete head-to-head with a mass-produced consumer product. In this case they’re going up against Hershey’s, the most popular plain chocolate bar in the United States.

Their new Trader Joe’s Classic Milk Chocolate Bar has some nice looking lines. The plastic/mylar packaging is a comforting shade of milky brown with silver swirls and the word CLASSIC emblazoned across two thirds of the face. It’s 1.55 ounces and retails for 69 cents ... that’s identical to the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar.

While Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry any Hershey’s products, they do carry Scharffen Berger, which is owned by Artisan Confections, which is a subsidiary of Hershey’s. I find it a little odd that they’d make a product that’s supposed to be better than the Hershey Bar, but it’s nothing Hershey’s should feel threatened about since Trader Joe’s aren’t ubiquitous and never sell their products at other stores.

Here’s what the Fearless Flyer had to say:

Classic Chocolate Bars • 69¢ “Thanks to Joseph Fry, who discovered that he could make a moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cacao butter back into Dutch cocoa, the first Chocolate Bars were born in 1847. They were an instant classic. And the bar took a once-exclusive luxury and made it an accessible, much adored treat. As their name implies, our Classic Chocolate Bars hark back to their original roots. They are simple, luscious bars of Classic Milk or Dark Chocolate, molded into 12 easily breakable sections. And they are made with chocolate “real chocolate” without the use of artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Whether you prefer the creamy Milk Chocolate or the rich, smooth Dark Chocolate, these Bars bring on satisfied smiles. Especially at the great price of 69¢ per bar. Classic.

The bar looks pretty good. The sections are easy to break and it has a satisfying snap. It’s not as fudgy or bendy as the Hershey Bar tends to be, but the molding design isn’t quite as compelling.

It smells like sweet cocoa, not rich and not much of a dairy note at first. Biting into it, it’s soft and creamy but very sweet. There’s a nutty and caramel note to it with a light milk flavor. But the chocolate punch is missing for me. While Hershey’s doesn’t have much of a chocolate punch either, it does have a strong tangy, chocolate cheesecake flavor. This just tastes like Easter chocolate to me.

I bet this would make great S’mores and because it’s all natural and Gluten Free, there are a lot more options for who can eat it. I can’t see myself buying it again when they have so many other great chocolate options in the store.

If Trader Joe’s is competing with the Hershey’s Special Dark Bar, it’s not much of a competition. I knew this was going to be better before I even opened the wrapper, I just can’t imagine Trader Joe’s seeking to duplicate a Special Dark. The Trader Joe’s Classic Dark Chocolate Bar has a similar wrapping to the Milk Chocolate version, the color is just a little darker and has pink text instead of citrus colors.

They missed the boat here with the ingredients. Though it’s marked as gluten free, like the milk bar it’s processed on equipment that handles wheat, peanuts and tree nuts - so this is not a solution for folks with allergies. But the substantial issue I have is that it has dairy in it. Way down on the list, after cocoa butter and before the soy lecithin there’s some butterfat. If that wasn’t there, this would be a dairy free and vegan bar. What an awesome achievement that would be.

The back of the package says that it’s a 53% cocoa solid bar. So we’re not talking extra dark, we’re in the realm of sweet chocolate or perhaps semi-sweet. The bar isn’t as attractive as I’d hoped. Though the top looks pretty good, the bottom is swirly and has an inconsistent color. There are quite a few air bubbles. The snap is good, though softer than many dark chocolates I usually eat.

It smells like hot cocoa and marshmallows, the vanilla scent is strong. The snap is good, but a little bit softer.

The cocoa profile is hard to discern. It’s a bit fruity and has a touch of coffee. The finish is clean - it’s not bitter, chalky or dry. It melts well - though not entirely silky it has a satisfying mouthfeel. It has a much fattier melt, in fat there’s more fat in here than a Special Dark bar (14 grams of fat versus 12 grams in a Special Dark).

The package doesn’t say where the chocolate is made, though it doesn’t say that it’s Belgian or French, so I’m going to assume that it’s American. It’s Kosher. If I’m at Trader Joe’s though, I would still go for something else of theirs before this (usually the dark chocolate almonds) and probably these Belgian 3-bar stacks if they still had them.

If Trader Joe’s set out to make a better bar for less than 70 cents than Hershey’s, I’d say that they succeeded. They didn’t actually make one that I’d want, but I’m sure these will appeal to lots of folks.

Related Candies

1. Trader Joe’s PB & J Bar
2. Trader Joe’s Sweet Story
3. Trader Joe’s French Truffles
4. Trader Joe’s 100 Calorie Chocolate
5. Nestle Milk Chocolate
6. Hershey’s Miniatures
7. Dove Chocolate

I wish they came without coloring, I avoid the pink ones because they have an aftertaste. (Luckily The Man picks up the slack.)

Previous review here.

One of my favorite chocolate bars as a kid was the Nestle Crunch or Krackel. Both of them went downhill in the nineties (Hershey’s Krackel isn’t even a chocolate bar any longer) but the Nestle Crunch seems to be inching its way back to respectable. About two years ago Nestle released their “Now Even Richer” tweak, which improved the bar but it wasn’t hard when it was so waxy and flavorless before.

Nestle is going for it again with their Nestle Crunch Even More Scrumptious version. Since we’re in a crossover period where both the “Now Even Richer” and “Even More Scrumptious” version are on shelves, I picked up two for comparison.

The bar’s shape and size is exactly the same. Same package design with the familiar red, white and blue colors that have been used for at least 50 years but of course updated from time to time. The mold has the bold CRUNCH lettering that lets you know what it is inside or out of the mylar. I prefer a bar with segments. While pretty molding is nice if you’re eating the whole bar yourself and don’t care about the sanitariness of biting right into it, I usually break my bar into pieces so I can share or portion. Though the ingredients on the old and new version are identical as is the nutrition information, flipping both bars over reveals the most significant difference:

(Now Even Richer version on the left - Even More Scrumptious on the right)

Sometime in the mid-2000s (I think), Nestle started using these little BB shaped & sized crisped rice pieces. Not just in the Crunch bar but also in the 100 Grand Bar. I don’t like them. They lack the irregular air pockets that gives a Crunch bar its more rustic texture. But the big rice pieces are back, I took this as a good sign.

(Now Even Richer version on the left - Even More Scrumptious on the right)

The color of the two bars is slightly different. It could be age, the new formula is obviously a fresher bar though both are within their freshness dates.

But what’s the difference in taste, how did they make it better without actually changing the ingredients or nutritional profile?

Well, it’s creamier. Not by much but the fact that the rice pieces are larger seems to make a difference as well. The bigger crunch makes the chocolate texture difference more noticeable. Is it really that much more scrumptious?, I’d say yes, there is some notable improvement in the creaminess and sweetness level of the chocolate. It still lacks a well-rounded chocolate flavor and texture. It’s far too sugar intense and not chocolatey enough for me, or even milky enough. It’s an entertaining enough piece of candy for the price, but not a satisfying bar of chocolate. It does earn the right to scootch up from at 6 out of 10 to a 7 out of 10. I hope the other holiday versions get this changeover, too.

(I think that’s Jenilee Harrison as the first bar-eater. What I got from this commercial is that it’s a candy bar that white people like.)

Related Candies

1. Malley’s Chocolates
2. Wilbur Milk Chocolate Crisp
3. Nestle Milk Chocolate
4. World’s Finest W.F. Crisp
5. Nestle Crunch Crisp
6. Nestle Crunch with Peanuts

Caramel Creams are like cookie dough candy and less like caramels. They’re really filling so they make a great snack. (Original review here.)

This large marshmallow bunny had fearsome fangs, but it wasn’t until I put him near this sweet and succulent baby bunny that I found out his true intentions.

Yes, it’s true, there are vampire marshmallow Easter bunnies. Beware.

(No, he doesn’t have those evil eyebrows, here’s the package.)

March is over, which means that Candy Season is coming to a close with Easter on Sunday. I’ve decided to start doing a monthly recap of things related to Candy Blog and the candy world mostly because I’ve been running a lot of reports at my day job so I figured I’d do the same here just to kind of track some tends.

Last year I asked readers which candy holiday was their favorite and 45% stated Halloween, but Easter was in second place with 25% of the votes. It’s by far my favorite, perhaps because of the pleasant colors but also because it’s a much more intimate candy holiday - it’s about family and friends, not begging from strangers.

The latest poll was What do you prefer: Egg, Bunny, Chick or Bean?. I admit it’s a pretty vague poll and I chose egg myself, not for the Cadbury Creme Eggs but for Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs and Cadbury Mini Eggs.

Previous polls revealed that while 39% of responding readers don’t like Peeps at all, ones that do prefer stale to fresh but 12% simply don’t care how they’re treated or prepared, they’ll eat them any way.

Chocolate bunnies are a different matter.

By the number of votes compared to the egg, bunny, chick or bean poll, people like chocolate rabbits. They also agree that if they’re for eating, they should be good quality.

In candy news one of the big developments has been the old good news & bad news scenario. More studies are being done on chocolate’s positive health benefits, especially for the cardiovascular system. The latest study released shows that even small amounts are great for overall heart health and reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Chocolate, especially very dark chocolate, reduces blood pressure, increases elasticity of blood vessels and may reduce inflammation. The caution though is moderation - if you’re going to eat a lot of chocolate, which is high in calories, make sure you reduce other discretionary calories appropriately. So instead of those chips and dip and later that bowl of ice cream, have some chocolate throughout the day.

But the flip side of that is news that fatty foods can be associated with addiction in the same way that drugs can.

Earlier in March I also attended ExpoWest, which is a trade show for natural products held at the Anaheim Convention Center. The exhibits take up the entire show floor and though the majority were not of a candy nature, there still were at least 50 that did have candy or chocolate. Fair Trade, organic and fortified still seem to be the primary selling points. Many big companies that we’re familiar with that use artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners were exhibiting new product lines that are more wholesome versions - real natural ingredients and more traditional candy-making methods that appeal to natural product buyers. Raw chocolate has been around for a few years but this is the first time I’ve tried versions that rival the roasted stuff. (I’ll have reviews of those at some point when I get a hold of some actual whole product instead of a few bites here and there.)

Most Popular Candy Blog Posts for March 2010

1. Coconut M&Ms - these were initially released as a limited edition item and I reviewed them last year, but now as they’re hitting the store shelves as a new item there’s a lot of renewed interest.

2. Cadbury Mini Eggs - I’ve loved these things my whole life even though Hershey’s has mucked with the classic recipe by adding PGPR. Based on the number of visitors to that post every year around this time, I’m not alone in my love for the little morsels.

3. Kinder Surprise Egg

4. Reese’s Eggs - it doesn’t matter that I’ve reviewed several newer versions, the classic is the classic. 

5. Skittles - yeah, just plain old Skittles. This post from 2007 includes the classic Fruits, Wild Berry, Tropical, Smoothies (discontinued) and Sour (reformulated).

6. CVS Marshmallow Pop

7. Wonka Scrumdiddlyumptious

8. Reese’s Line

9. Skittles Fizzl’d Fruits - probably should have been called Bubbling Berries.

10. Chocolate Covered Peeps

Though I treasure my faithful readers and how they spread the word about Candy Blog, a fair number of visitors are just passing through via a search engine. I like to share these because it gives a sense of what the candy conversations are out there in the real world. Here are the most popular search phrases for March 2010:

1. Coconut M&Ms
2. Cadbury Mini Eggs
3. Extinguisher Candy
4. Kinder Eggs
5. Kazoozles
6. Almond Joy Pieces
7. Nestle Promotion Code (I actually don’t have any promotion codes on Candy Blog)
8. York Pieces
9. Turkish Delight recipe
10. Choxie

At the beginning of the month I moved from my old domain (typetive.com) to candyblog.net. I was afraid that beyond my regular readers that new readers wouldn’t find me, but it turns out that Google is pretty quick to catch up on spidering the new site. For a couple of weeks some photos were missing, but I think things are humming along smoothly now.

The dominant theme for March here on Candy Blog was obviously Easter, and with the 2010 season I’ve now reviewed more than 100 Easter candy products so far. I took about 1,600 candy photos this month (of course only about 200 were uploaded to Flickr and only

But I’m not alone in reviewing Easter candy, check out these excellent roundups - I’m going to guess that between and and the other diligent candy bloggers we’ve covered just about everything on the market:

Sugar Pressure’s Easter Candy Reviews
ZOMGCandy!‘s Easter Candy Reviews
The Candy Enthusiast’s Easter Candy Reviews
Candy Yum Yum’s Easter Candy Reviews
On Motivation and Chocolate’s Easter Candy Reviews
Gigi Reviews Easter Candy Reviews
Serious Eats has a serious obsession with Peeps
Chocablog’s Easter Chocolate Reviews
TodoCandy has Easter Candy Shopping
Jim’s Chocolate Mission’s 2009 Easter Archive (he didn’t tag Easter candy this year)
Candy Critic’s Easter Posts