One thing that was missing in the Dove chocolate line was white chocolate. Well, Dove’s new Dove Peppermint Bark Promises are the first step to remedy that. This new holiday version of Dove’s foil wrapped bites of chocolate has special holiday tips on the wrappers from Martha Stewart.
I was a little hesitant to pick up this bag when I saw it at RiteAid last weekend. Of course I was excited by a real cocoa butter version of peppermint bark with white chocolate. As mentioned in our forum discussion about new holiday candy, I was hoping these would replace the Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses in my heart, which are no longer made with 100% cocoa butter. And of course I love that Promises are easy to eat and share. But they were priced at $4.99 for an 8.5 ounce bag. That’s pretty steep for drug store chocolate.
When I opened the bag I wasn’t blown away by a minty smell; actually I didn’t catch much of anything as far as scent. But that’s not a bad thing, it means that the foil wrappers are doing their job of not only protecting each piece but also keeping their mint out of other candies that you might throw in the same bowl. Each little foil wrapped piece is cute: silver foil with red and green polka dots. They’re definitely easy to spot in comparison to the existing Promises line.
There’s a dark chocolate base with a white chocolate topper. The white chocolate has bits of red and white peppermint candies mixed in.
The melt is great. The dark chocolate (not totally dark, there is some milkfat in there, like most Dove) melts a bit quicker than the white chocolate. It’s a silky and fatty melt, slick and with some decent woodsy cocoa notes, but there’s also a cocoa experience ... a dryness like eating cocoa powder. No worries though the white chocolate layer is sweet, also fatty and of course minty. There’s a slight vanilla note to it and a bit of a dairy milk flavor with a hint of salt. The creaminess offsets the dry bite, as long as you eat the layers together.
The whole effect is a mint meltaway with a really tasty chocolate punch to it. Far and away better than an Andes Mint. The candy bits provide a good crunch (though I don’t necessarily need them, but without them it’s not a very convincing bark product.)
Price aside, these are awesome. They really fit the holiday season with the mint and chocolate combo. It’s also available in an actual bark shape, but I haven’t seen that in stores.
Related Candies
- Dove Peanut Butter Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate
- Ritter Sport Peppermint
- Ghirardelli Holiday Squares
- Trader Joe’s Peppermint Bark White Chocolate Bar
- Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch
- Dove Promises (Caramel & Almonds)
- The Mint Kisses: Chocolate Mint & Candy Cane
Found these for a great price at Target! I saw them for around $2.99 after seeing them for $4.99 at Albertsons! So glad to read your review, can’t wait to dig in!
These look really good. Gosh, I love your blog. I’ve tried sooo many candies because of Candyblog. Great photos too. I’m temporarily living in Canada & may have to cross the border soon to get my holiday candy fix at Target. Just cannot get the varieties I’m used to up here. I’m shedding a tear I’m going to miss the Fancy Food Show in SF again in January. If you go have a chocolate toffee chew for me. Keep up your great work!
I just found your blog, and it’s seriously amazing! I’m glad to have finally found someone that loves Lemonheads as much as I do.
These sounds delicious, and I’m always looking for good holiday candy. It’s just something special about the holiday versions that I really love.
I too was excited to find these (on sale, luckily). I really liked them and will probably buy more if they are on sale. (On a side note, it seems like Dove and Hershey Bliss have recently gone up in price for no good reason?)
I have to say though - Martha’s “tips” on the wrappers are a little dumb.
I am a sucker for peppermint bark, and these look mighty tasty. They look easier to eat than the regular type of bark, and seem cheaper overall too. I am heading out tonight and buying a couple of bags.
I found these at my local Wegmans for $2.99, price still seems steep. I’ve yet to try them.
I sent this post to my best friend and we went on a hunt for them today in Houston. We each bought a bag for 2.99 at Target but we saw that they were 2/$5 at Walmart. They’re fantastic! I love the candy crunch.
What?! Better than Andes Mints?! I love those mints and was so excited to see them at London Drugs here in Canada last week. Hopefully the Dove Peppermint Bark will also make an appearance.
I saw this review, and then went out and got these (they were 2 for $4 at Walgreens + the wacky Chicago candy tax). I was hoping they’d be like the T Jo’s bar, but more manageable. They really are pretty good, but I found them to be just a little too salty and not quite as minty as I’d hoped. But they’re good, and the size is a lot better than the T Jo’s bar.
I can’t stop eating these. They are sooooooo good.
How do these stack up against the Ghirardelli version? I LOVE Ghirardelli’s peppermint bark but it’s just a little too rich for my blood these days. Maybe Dove is providing a cheaper alternative this year, as I’m a fan of their chocolate as well.
Sara - I think I might like the Dove better, though they’re both pretty good. I like the thick nugget if the Promises. The Ghirardelli stuff doesn’t have crushed peppermint candies, they use corn flakes.
I’d rather have the candy cane hershey kisses. there is no mint flavor!!!!! the white chocolate is barely noticeable. all i DO taste is the dark chocolate. very disappointed.
Well, after searching over 7 different stores for these for both of my grandmothers and my mother, I finally found one bag left that was mixed in with some other stuff at Gerbes. (One of our local grocery stores here in the Midwest.) They loved the first bag I bought about three weeks ago, that between the three of them it was gone in one afternoon. I hid the bag I just found, and have doling them out. I’m pretty sure it’s the last bag in Columbia, MO.
I bought a few boxes of the Dove bark in the actual bark shape (found in the holiday section of Target), and it was FANTASTIC. Seriously, the best non-homemade peppermint bark I’ve ever had—definitely better than Ghirardeli.
Will we see Dove peppermint Bark for Valentine’s Day in February?
Why can’t they sell the peppermint bark dove chocolate pieces all year? Why is everything peppermint only sold at Christmas? Can you find these anywhere now in April 2010?
Dove’s Dark Peppermint Bark are incredible - they are mine, my sister’s and my cousin’s favorite holiday chocolate!! I’m so sad they are not available longer in the winter - the Christmas season goes by too fast and then they’re gone!
I am not a fan of peppermint but was pleasantly surprised at how good the Dove Peppermint Bark Candies were! I couldn’t stop eating them! I went desperately searching the internet to find them since I was told that you can only get them at Christmas time (real bummer!) and did find them at http://www.candywarehouse.com out of CA. However they are $7.50/bag and to ship 3 bags of these cost almost $11.00…which I found a little ridiculous. So you can get them after the holidays but at for a price!!!
These are on sale at Walgreens this week 2/$6.00 and then a $2 Register Reward prints making them essentially $2/ bag. That’s a great deal for an absolutely delish candy. I just bought them yesterday for the first time.
These tasted like buttered bread to me. The white chocolate was just too fatty and the dark chocolate too bitter, and once I tasted it I couldn’t un-taste it. Even my husband liked them until I said that and then he agreed with me and we didn’t finish the bag!
I did not buy any, I am usually not a fan of peppermint. It upsets my stomach. A friend gave me a piece of the Dark Chocolate Dove Peppermint bark right after Christmas. She knows I am a big Dark Chocolate nut. OH MY GOSH!!! I LOVE it. I really would like to more. One piece is just cruel!!! Does anyone know how I can get more. Our Walgreens, and HEB stores are out. I went to the Dove Website, but there was no way to contact them.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this chocolate!!!!
I am really hoping that you can help solve a mystery. 2 (maybe even 3) winters ago my co-worker found some Dove peppermint candies that were dark chocolate on the top with a line of peppermint on the bottom. completely opposite of these. I had contacted Dove and they said they were always made as you are showing them. Starting to think my co-worker bought a mixed up batch. Also they did not have pieces of candy cane in them. Beginning to wonder if they were not even Dove but we both remember them this way as also a cousin of hers. Any ideas or are all 3 of us nuts?
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