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Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Head-to-Head: Butterfinger vs. 5th AvenueI know that the 5th Avenue is a lesser known bar, but it’s quite similar to the Butterfinger. Though they’re both a peanutbutter crunch center with a chocolate(y) coating, they do have some differences. I’m doing this head-to-head in part to introduce Butterfinger fans to what I think is an exceptional bar. But in order to do that, I had to see them side by side again:
 Both are massive bars. The 5th Avenue rings in at exactly 2 ounces and the Butterfinger at 2.1 ounces. The main difference, as far as I can tell between the two is that the Butterfinger coating is not chocolate but a chocolate-like substance where the 5th Avenue has a creamy milk chocolate enrobement.
 The 5th Avenue bar of my childhood was not a Hershey product but made by Ludens (yes, the cough drop people). Also made in Pennsylvania, the 5th Avenue bar may not have had the wide distribution of the more well-known Butterfinger. When I first got to college I was forced to eat Butterfingers and developed a taste for them, but now that I’m back in an area that offers both, I’m a 5th Avenue girl. Of course, I seem to have a vague recollection of there being a couple of almonds on top. Does anyone else remember that? The center is a crispy, crunchy peanutbutter crisp. Kind of like a flaky toffee. It has some peanutbutter between the layers, as far as I can tell. It also has a distinct molasses flavor to it, which brings out the roasted flavors of the nuts.
 The Butterfinger bar was also not originally made by its current owner, Nestle. It was invented by the Curtiss Candy Company based in Chicago (a great candy town) that also made the Baby Ruth (also made by Nestle now). It predates the 5th Avenue, and frankly, has a much better name. It’s buttery and resembles a big finger and of course the play on words of being a clumsy person is kind of fun. The Butterfinger was always known as a great candy buy when I was a kid. Because the bar was so huge, you were sure to be satisfied. The center has similar crunch peanutbutter toffee-like layers that seem a bit crumblier (in a good way) than the 5th Avenue. The overwhelming taste in this center is buttery. A good hit of peanuts and a smooth, sweet and salty buttery taste. I’ve always loved the inside of Butterfingers ... it’s the fake chocolate coating that’s always bugged me. It’s waxy, overly sweet and just not milk chocolate. So, if the fake chocolate doesn’t bother you and you’re looking for flaky, crunch buttery experience, pick up a Butterfinger. If you like your crunchy peanut flakes with real chocolate and a good robust hit of molasses, 5th Avenue is for you. UPDATE 2/21/2007: I just found out via the comments that 5th Avenue no longer uses real chocolate ... such a shame. It was such a good bar, it’s sad that Hershey’s has now taken away the unique position it had in the market as the only chocolate covered peanut crispy bar. They have, however, introduced the Reese’s Crispy Crunchy bar, which has peanut butter and crushed peanuts in it. Not the same, but at least real chocolate. POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:37 pm Nestle • Hershey's • Mockolate • Head to Head • Peanuts • Chocolate • United States • 
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICEAll content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2008 by Cybele May
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VOTE IN THE POLLDo you consider chocolate covered cookies or pretzels candy?
Total Votes: 217
Yes 
22% (47)Yes but only if it's real chocolate, not yogurt.
10% (21)No
53% (114)I don't care what it's called
16% (35)
 
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SUPERB
YUMMY 
TASTY 
WORTH IT 
TEMPTING 
PLEASANT 
BENIGN 
UNAPPEALING 
APPALLING 
INEDIBLE 
Great, I think you made the right decision, but how do they stack up against the Clark bar, yet another chocolate covered peanut crunch bar?
Butterfinger bars were long one of my favorites, but in recent years I noticed the waxy element of the Butterfinger chocolate - and became aware of the Nestle boycott. So thanks for reminding me of the similar taste of a 5th Avenue bar!
I definitely remember two almonds on top of my 5th Avenues when I was younger. I also grew up on Clark Bars and love them equally with 5th Avenues, when I can find them. Butterfinger is a 3rd choice.
Anna & Russ - so I’m not alone in thinking that the 5th Avenue used to have an almond on top?
jim - I like underdogs and all, but I’m finding that some of the nostalgia and small-maker candy bars don’t use the best ingredients (hydrogenated oils and fake chocolate). Not all of them, of course. But then sometimes I really dig them like Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews which don’t use real chocolate but I eat them anyway because no one else does a molasses peanut chew.
Bryan - the photo stuff is tough.
First, I take most photos in the morning while it’s still cool. Second, wash your hands in really cold water before starting, just a few degrees cooler and your hands won’t melt the chocolate as quickly.
I try to break the candy while it’s still inside the package, it cuts down on the mess and if I have melted it, it’s not as likely to look like a fingerprint (which are about as appealing as a hair in your food).
I have debated using gloves. But then again, I’m taking photos at the office (on my own time of course, either morning or lunch break) and if someone came into my office they’d be truly puzzled.
When I redo the site, I’ll try to put up some candy styling tips for other folks who like to take pictures of food.
I remember an old, old, commercial for 5th Avenue that claimed it had “honeycomb candy, yes indeed” in the center. I always loved that description.
they are a better choice than Butterfinger, but the Clark bar is even better.
I usually prefer non-chocolate candy, so the Chick-o-Stick (and its cousins w/out the coconut) are my absolute preference. Plus, Atkinson is an underdog—I almost always prefer to support the little guy over the big guy.
I’m with Anna. I’m a huge, lifelong fan of the Butterfinger and can’t remember ever eating a 5th Avenue. It may have been the almonds that threw me off, or maybe I confused it with some other bar that had coconut, which I detest.
Then again, I never noticed the chocolate as being waxy, so my tastes aren’t very refined.
I have always been afraid of the 5th Avenue bar, I guess I thought it was more nougat with nuts for some reason! (I don’t like nuts in my candy.) You have convinced me to give it a try!!
I’ve never been a big fan of the butterfinger type bars… not because of the taste which is delicious, but because the insides tends to get stuck in your molars. I guess the solution is to swallow without chewing, hehe.
Cybele, when you’re handling non-coated chocolate candy to get ready to photograph, do you have problems with it melting in your hand? Our house is already super warm, and me breaking the candy in half to get good shots like you do is tough as the chocolate starts to melt off in my hands. I almost feel like i need to freeze the candy for a bit first. Or wear gloves. =)
Jeremy - you mean I could get paid for this?
Oh - I did the Junior Caramels back in July - check them out here. I gave them a 6 ... just okay.
Your blog is the best. I’ve discussed reviewing candy professionally, but I was just ridiculed! Now I have inspiration!
PS. You might want to try the Caramel Junior Mints. Perhaps it’s time for a bad review…
I really have to find a local source for the Clark bar - I tried a couple of places over the weekend.
When I get a hold of one I’ll be sure to do a Short & Sweet entry on it. Really a favorite of mine growing up too (and the Zagnut).
My neighbor just gave me a chik-o-stik last night, so that’ll have to go up too!
Why dont you have whats in the candy bars on this website? Yes you have the Nutrition facts, but i want to know whats IN the bar. like the ingredients. not nutrition facts. you need to have both.
Thanks for your feedback, Jill. I don’t plan on putting the ingredients on the site anytime soon. Candy manufacturers often change those details and much of that information is readily available on the company’s own website.
There are also quite a few sites that have scans of the entire candy wrapper that include the ingredients.
Give this one a try:
http://www.mikescandywrappers.com
My father grew up in Reading, PA, former home of the 5th Avenue bar and Luden’s cough drops. He told me about how the 5th Avenue bar was named after the street where the bar was made: Reading’s 5th Street. There also used to be almonds on top of the bar until Hershey bought it out. I was told that up until Hershey bought Luden’s out thet “Butterfinger” and “Clark bar” were essentially curse words in th city.
I’m trying to find some bite size 5th Avenue bars for my Mother who will be 81 in April. She says the regular size ones don’t have the same taste/flavor.
Do you know ‘where’ I can find some?
Hi Sam - I don’t know if I see the snack size ones regularly anymore. I’ve seen them around Halloween and you may have luck finding the junior sized ones at a 99 Cent Only or Dollar General store.
5th Avenue bars used to have 2 BRAZIL nuts on top of them.
I had a craving for a sugar rush yesterday and bought a Butterfinger from the vending machine at work. I love Butterfingers but, Oh My GOD! It was HORRIBLE! Nestle has changed the formula of the ‘crispity, crunchity’ center to some slab of non-descript, tooth defying matter. Maybe they just had a bad batch but I don’t think so. I will not be eating (or buying) anymore of those and I don’t care if Bart Simpson IS the spokesman!
For my money, 5th Avenue is a much better bar than Butterfinger. They’re similar in makeup and basic ingredients but the “Avenue” just has better flavor. Also, if you don’t get a Butterfinger when it’s nice and fresh, it’a almost inedible - the inside becomes hard as a rock, and tastless.
It was definitely almonds, NOT Brazil nuts. They went away when Hershey’s took over twenty years back. That’s the bad news (I still miss those almonds). The good news was that the quality control went up with a more consistent texture and improved chocolate. I ate Butterfinger as a kid but, by the time I was ten, 5th Avenue was IT! I like the “darker” flavor and more peanut butter flavor over the cloying sweetness of Butterfinger. Clark Bars are okay, but can’t hold a candle to a 5th Avenue.
Butterfinger’s fake chocolate is a bit annoying, but I can bite in a perfect way to make it come off in big planks. I tried 5th Avenue, but the filling was a bit off. I did want to like it, but I could only finish half.
You are remembering correctly. 5th Avenue Bars did indeed have almonds on the top. I was very upset when the company decided to discontinue the almond.
I love 5th Avenue Bar. I also love a Clark Bar.
Butterfinger just doesn’t have the same intensity of peanutbutter flavor. And I find that the Butterfinger bar is stickier when I chew it up. The other two are dryer and crunchier, somehow.
5th Avenue all the way! I just bit into it’s crunchy peanut-buttery goodness and thought i’d do a search to find out more about it, so as i enjoyed the last little bit of it, i’m typing this entry, and enjoying the blissfulness of it’s lingering deluctibleness! yum, can i have another? no waxy crappy chocolaty “substance” on this bar!
I definitely remember the almonds in the 5th Avenue which in my opinion made it better. Wish they would start making it this way again. Maybe if enough people sent an e-mail to Hersheys they would. I already have started the ball rolling by sending mine. There is also a toll-free number you can call to suggest it.I also have tried the Clark Bar and love it as well.
Just an observation on my part about the Butterfinger, If you get them while they are fresh they are nice and soft & a pleasure to eat, but after sitting for a while the inside seems to really get very hard. However, (and this is the interesting part) I have yet to bite into a Butterfinger Mini that was hard? Maybe something about the size. Not sure?
Came across this site when trying to find a supplier of 5th avenue bars here in the Netherlands. I can get them at one of the expat grocery stores but they are quite expensive. I was hoping buy (and subsequently consume) them in bulk.
Indeed, the Fifth Avenue bar of my childhood was actually two smaller bars (like Mounds and Almond Joy), each with a sliver of almond.
Although the Fifth Avenue bar of today is still my favorite, I consider the day they stopped putting the almond slivers on top one the darkest days in American history—right up there with election day 2000.
Rich - as you may have noticed from update I did here that the 5th Avenue no longer has real chocolate. It’s quite disappointing ... I don’t know if it’s worth importing in bulk.
yes the 5th Avenue used to be a 2 piece bar with the Almonds and made in Reading. I know that the Clark Bar plant was in Pittsburgh for years so I am sure there was a battle between the 2 Pennsylvania rivals. Looks like Pennsylvania is like the the Hollywood of the chocolate world here is the United States.
Hershey’s has recently introduced the Reese’s Crispy Crunchy which is very similar and tasty. Same as the 5th Ave but with peanuts. Yummy!
i’m a huge supporter of the 5th avenue! i eat one at least once a week. i know i’m not the healthiest, but they’re too delicious to stay away from. the flaky crunchiness in the middle with the soft chocolate stuff on the outside is the perfect combination. i agree the butterfinger has a waxiness to it, and it just doesn’t have the same flavor.
I have always loved the 5th Avenue. It is way different than the Butterfinger, or the Canadian Crispy Crunch. To me, it tastes more “peanut buttery”.
I know the old 5th Avenue candy bar quite well. My grandmother worked at the old Luden’s plant in Reading, PA back in the 60s and 70s. There where 2 almonds on top of these original versions and they where then removed when Hershey’s foods took over. My grandmother would always come home with a gigantic big plastic container will with “broken” 5th Avenue bars. I also remember that they where even better when put in the freezer and frozen rock solid. It’s a shame that the 5th avenue has changed so much, and to be honest I always thought that it tasted better than a Butterfinger. I think nationwide the Butterfinger is more well known only due to it having better marketing. The 5th Avenue brand has all but been abandoned which is probably a mistake on the part of Hershey foods.
I also wanted to mention, the if you drive through Reading, PA today and you drive through the city you will notice that 5th Street has street signs which proudly display the 5th Avenue candy bar. Every time I drive past the old Luden’s plant, it brings back alot of memories. The building still exists, however I’m not sure who owns the building or what is actually done there anymore.
Butterfinger and 5th Avenue are very similar candy bars, with Butterfinger having a much larger profile (easier to find; 5th Avenue can be elusive). But for my money, 5th Avenue has the superior taste. Butterfinger somehow doesn’t live up to the promise of its appearance. In your heart, you wish it were a 5th Avenue. And yes, I remember the Clark bar, also very good, and more like a 5th Avenue bar.
I grew up near Cleveland, Ohio in the 50’s and Clark was (and is) my candy bar of choice. 5th Avenue was a close second with Butterfinger not on the list at all. I find the Butterfinger too sweet and chewy. A good, fresh Clark or 5th Avenue bar will melt in one’s mouth even though the coating on the Clark is not what I would call the best chocolate around. Where I live the only Clark bars I can get are the miniatures that are only available near Halloween. I never see a regular size (of course much smaller than the ones I bought for a nickel in the 50’s) is never seen in central Virginia. And, yes, when ate 5th Avenues there were most definately two almonds on them.
i cant understand how everyone is duped by the 5th vs butterfinger comparison. very different, butterfingers are very buttery compared to the peanut heavy 5th avenue. the middle texture is also different.
im a butterfinger guy (crisps #1 altime)
I have been having a running discussion at work. One of my co workers remembers a white chocolate bar made by Ludens’ and call a Frosty Bar. It had krispies, and peanut butter (possibly, the hard peanut stuff you find in 5th Ave. bars) I think he’s delusional! Have you heard of this bar? Thanks. Liz, Reading, pa
The Butterfingers are not the same as in my youth. They used to be thicker and the insides would get stuck in your teeth. Half the fun was picking the molten orange stuff out of your choppers. Now they are thinner and not as good. Oh the Butterfingers of yesteryore.
Can someone please tell me where I can order/purchase 5th Ave candy bar snack size? I don’t want the 2 oz.....I’m trying to find the “mini” version. Thanks!
As a kid I loved the butterfingers, but it was so hard to find one that was flakey. I would get hard ones and was disappointed. I began to get the 5th Avenue and it was much better. Try this if you like your coffee Black. Get a big cup of hot black coffee and start in on your 5th Avenue. now drink a large gulp of the coffee. It is not hot anymore. I can drink a cup of coffee by the time I am finished with the bar. Great together. Although that was my power breakfast for those hard working days.
Hey, I just heard they stopped making %th Avenue bars because they closed down Ludens in Reading---is that true?
That is untrue. The Ludens factory in Reading has been closed quite a few years now, however Hershey’s now makes the 5th Avenue. They have removed the nuts and have started using a cheaper chocolate than the original that was made in Reading. As far as I know however, Hershey’s is still making them.
Does any body know if there is a place in Florida where you can buy snack size Zero Bars. I have been looking for a couple of years now.
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