NEW! Nature Valley Nut Butter Peanut Biscuits (Sainsbury's)

My love for peanut butter knows no bounds, which is why my heart skipped a beat a couple of days ago when I spotted these new nut butter filled Nature Valley bars on @productsinstores instagram feed. They've been out in the States for quite some time, and I've been desperately wanting to try them ever since. In fact I even had a conversation with @candyhunting a year or so ago about doing a food swap which would have included them -that was before we realised how insane the extortionate shipping fees were. None of the import companies seem to do granola bars either, so I've just had to ignore the jealousy that prevailed anytime I saw the Nut Butter bars pop up on social media.

Not any longer though! Nature Valley are finally twigging that many of us Brits also love peanut butter and launched the (slightly disappointing) Crunchy peanut butter bars at the beginning of the year. I really hoped these would live up to my drawn out expectations, especially as they were on the expensive side at £2.90 for a box of four bars -they seem to be exclusive to Sainsbury's at the moment. 

"Crunchy biscuits made with wholegrain oats, barley and honey with a peanut butter flavoured filling."

I was pleased to find that they were decent sized biscuits, and even more chuffed when I prised the top layer off to find a decent peanut butter layer in the middle! Hurrah! 

Jesus F Christ. I was not expecting that! The biscuits tasted like Hobnobs. I'm sorry but if you don't like Hobnobs, we certainly can't be friends. They're arguably one of the best standard (i.e non chocolatey) biscuits. I'd chose them over a digestive every time. Stop rambling Amy. Anyway, they were oaty, sweet, and crunchy. Biscuit perfection. 

Please let the peanut butter be equally delightful. 

It was too! In fact Rob was laughing at me last night, as I actually squealed whilst trying them:

"Oh my god, oh my god, they're even better than Nutter Butters!....Well, maybe not better, but just as good!"

That peanut butter was completely authentic (it's simply made from peanuts and salt) and there was enough of it to really pack a punch. It seems Nature Valley have redeemed themselves from the shortcomings of the peanut butter crunchy bars. They were so good that I've actually detoured on the way home from work today to pick up a box of the Almond Nut Butter Biscuits, and I'm eating one as I type... so stay tuned for a full review of that flavour too!

10/10*

*I was tempted to give them 11...

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (Sweet Victory Products)

A week or so ago I received the following message from Sweet Victory Products:

"Hi Amy,we noticed you are a fan of peanut butter and was wondering if you would like to sample some of our sugar free peanut butter crunch bars for a review?"

Well, of course I did, how could I refuse such a gracious offer? A couple of days later a parcel arrived containing a purple pick and mix bag...




The bars are made by an American brand, Atkinsons, who make all sorts of sugar-free sweets. As you may have gathered, I've recently been venturing into sugar free sweets (courtesy of Sweets Without) but had never come across peanut butter flavoured ones!

"Crispy, crunchy and completely peanut buttery! Peanut Butter Bars are packed with our famous peanut butter and handmade with Splenda."

Uh oh. That sounded remarkably similar to the description of my peanut butter nemesis: the Butterfinger bar. They did however smell extremely peanut buttery and so I put my preconceptions aside to give them a good go!

They tasted delicious! The peanut butter was prominent throughout, with a resounding sweetness. I tried my hardest to suck them as I would a normal boiled sweet, but due to their size (and the overwhelming temptation to crunch) it wasn't long before I cracked them open between my molars. 

Unlike the Butterfinger bar, they didn't make my jaw ache and were fairly soft. Without the chocolate coating, they were also far less sickly than the Butterfingers, however, they did lodge themselves between my teeth -making them fairly awkward to eat in public. Fortunately, I'm not particularly ladylike so I've kept on eating them regardless, but I thought I should let you know what you're letting yourself in for with these Atkinsons peanut butter crunch bars!

At £1.59 for 100g I think these are excellent value for money, and are perfect if you want a sweet (yet sugar free) peanut butter fix to keep in your handbag (or car). As far as I'm aware, we have nothing similar to these in the U.K so please do head over to Sweet Victory's website where you can benefit from 10% off your first order with the code AMYS10!

8/10

Thank you to Sweet Victory for the samples!

Coffee Nut M&Ms (A Taste Of The States)

If you read my review of the American white chocolate M&Ms a couple of weeks ago, you might recall my rant about the appalling lack of flavours we have in the U.K. Luckily, we've got A Taste of The States who have come to our rescue and brought the funkier flavoured editions to British shores on our behalf. Do you remember I mentioned the gift card they gave me? Well as well as the Mrs Freshley's cinnamon swirl bun (now back in stock), I also ordered a pack of the Coffee Nut M&Ms.

The coffee nut M&Ms were the winners of a flavour vote last year which coincided with the US presidential elections and included three options: coffee nut, chilli nut and honey nut. I must admit, I'd have gone for coffee nut too! Honey nut also sounds tempting, but I wouldn't have tried the chilli nut. Bleurgh. Which one would you have chosen? Drop me a comment below (or on Instagram) and let me know!

I was surprised by the strength of the coffee aroma that welcomed my nostrils as soon as I opened the share sized bag -which for info is 92.7g and equates to 2 servings, although I'm not sure how one measures 46.35g of M&Ms 😉! The candies, again, were larger than the British counterparts -but that does't surprise me anymore. 

Each M&M contained a full sized peanut, wrapped in chocolate and covered in the standard sugar coating. Mars have shun their usual bright colours too, opting for coffee-esque shades, which I think was a smart choice. 

I didn't really expect the full on mocha hit that I experienced with these M&Ms. In my head, the flavours shouldn't really work well together -no coffee shop that I've ever visited has offered peanut syrup- but I really enjoyed them. Admittedly, the coffee and chocolate completely overshadows the peanut, meaning that all the centre really offers is a textural contrast with a slight earthy undertone.

I can't help but wish that Mars had chosen to fill these coffee nut M&Ms with either whole almonds or hazelnuts, but I'm not really complaining. They're unusual and wholly addictive. In fact, they're my favourite M&M flavour to date. 

You can order these coffee nut M&Ms from A Taste of The States, and also benefit from 20% off the entire site with the code: AMYSEEKS20. Go on, treat yourself!

9/10

Thank you to A Taste of The States. 

Salted Peanut & Caramel Ice Cream (Sainsbury's)

Has anyone else noticed that the standard 'half price' offer (AKA the only price that you'll spend if you're sensible) on Ben & Jerry's has gone up in the last month? Shocking. All the supermarkets seem to be charging a minimum of £3 per tub; it's been £2.50 until now. My heart weeps. I was, in fact, on a B&Js mission when I spotted Sainsbury's 500m own brand luxury ice cream tubs on offer. 

"Caramel flavoured dairy ice cream swirled with peanut butter sauce, caramelised peanut pieces and chocolate coated salted peanuts."

Chocolate coated salted peanuts? Caramelised peanuts? This sounded rather good - and even better, it was only £2! Having just finished the Gelatelli Pretty Peanut Butter, it was time to take a punt on a pint of Sainsbury's....

The ice cream smelt incredibly sweet, emanating buttery caramel tones the moment the tub was open. I was pleased to find that the ice cream was a good consistency too; none of this 'wait 10 minutes to scoop' nonsense, but neither was it so soft that it was a puddle the moment you tried to cone it up either -something I find is often the case with caramel based Ben & Jerry's ice cream. 

What is this wizardry?! How on earth is an own branded ice cream so damned delicious? I mean the ice cream itself wasn't as creamy as Haagen-Dazs, but it was far superior to Tesco's attempts at luxury. So often we see a peanut butter ice cream that's swamped by caramel sauce, so it was good to see that Sainsbury's had opted for a caramel base with both peanut praline and peanuts in.

The magic really happened when I got a taste of those caramelised peanut pieces too. Think of the caramel brittle in the Haagen-Dazs, now imagine it to be peanutty. Are you envisaging heaven yet? You should be. Seriously now, it was ingenious. 

The chocolate coated peanuts were also good, and although I don't go out of my way to buy peanut M&Ms (until only recently, I really didn't like them) I did enjoy their inclusion in this ice cream. Yes, they're obtrusive, but so are the added elements in the Ben & Jerry's tubs - and that's exactly why I love B&Js so much. 

Sainsbury's, I'm angry at you for keeping this deliciousness secret from me for so long. I'm so glad I've eventually found it. I'm utterly hooked, and as such will have to try their other ice cream flavours soon...

Have you tried this tub? I'd love to know whether you were as impressed as I was!

10/10

NEW! Peanut Butter & Jelly Biscuits (The Co-Op)

It's such a lovely feeling when a new peanut butter product hits the U.K shelves and you guys make an effort to let me know. It makes me appreciate that I'm not the only PB obsessive who gets excited by the new treats. Saturday evening three of you got in touch to let me know about the new peanut butter & jelly biscuits in the Co-Op's American range, so thank you. It did however mean that I made a detour after a super early start at work yesterday to the big Co-Op on the other side of town. Read: I bent Bert's arm to pick me up and take me.

'Biscuits with forest fruits filling and peanut butter, sprinkled with biscuit crumb.'

£1.79? For 6 own-brand biscuits? You've got to be kidding me! I felt the pressure to review them after the triple prod about their existence, and prayed that they would be good whilst popping them in my basket. I also spotted these new pretend chocolate coated Oreos, which I can't imagine would be as tasty as the (authentic) white chocolate covered Oreos. 

Each biscuit was individually wrapped, making them perfect for eating on the go, but that's not how I roll. Instead I opened two of the square shaped biscuits as part of my peanut butter inspired late night snack.

They were much thicker than I imagined to be, and I didn't expect them to be square either. The base was very crisp and crunchy, tasting more like shortcrust pastry than biscuit. As you can see, there wasn't a huge deal of the jam filling, meaning that it made little impression on the overall flavour of the biscuit. As for the peanut butter.. well at first I thought it wasn't real peanut butter* because it lacked the salinity that I expected -when in fact, the biscuits contain 19% peanuts, However, the more I ate, the more I enjoyed the biscuits and although there wasn't as much salt or as much jam (or jelly) as I'd have liked, they were edible and fairly enjoyable. There's just no way on earth they're worth £1.79 per pack.

7/10

*If you've had the British peanut butter Oreos, you'll know exactly what I mean by that. If you haven't (lucky you) then I'll fill you in: for some reason Mondelez decided to use a synthetic peanut flavouring instead of real peanut butter. Both disgusting and mind boggling. 

NEW! Krispy Kreme Reese's Peanut Butter & Jelly Doughnut

Without a shadow of a doubt, the best Krispy Kreme I've ever had was one of their Reese's peanut butter doughnuts. The best doughnut I've ever had? The Tandem Bakery's PB&J. Therefore it should come as no surprise that I was super excited to see that Krispy Kreme have re-released their Reese's Peanut Butter & Jelly doughnuts as part of their new American range, though this time it has a new raspberry gloss. In fact I'd have been tempted to make the 46 mile round trip purely to get my grubby mits on the pb&j Krispy Kreme last Monday (when the range was released) had it not been for the fact that my vehicle is still off the road and that I'd already planned a trip to Birmingham on the Saturday to meet the lovely Sian. 

"Filled with Reese's Peanut Butter & Raspberry filling, hand-dipped in a sparkling raspberry flavoured gloss and topped with peanut butter chips and peanut butter drizzle."

It was even glittery! I've heard that glittery food tastes on average 1467&9x better than non-shimmery food, so I felt it was worth the hefty £2.20 price tag. Feel free to gulp if you like. 

The best thing about the Reese's Krispy Kreme was the ample peanut butter filling. Sweet with a slight salinity, it hit the spot and made me grin from ear to ear (after I'd finished smacking my lips of course). 

FFS. It was only yesterday that I mentioned Krispy Kreme's infamously unreliable filling skills. This had got to be a joke right? Surely I'd just cut into it wonkily*.

Apparently not. There had got to be a maximum of half a teaspoon of peanut butter and half a teaspoon jam in that off centre nugget. I could've cried. It's a huge shame because the single mouthful that contained the filling was delicious. In the end I retrieved my jar of Skippy from the cupboard and made my own Krispy Kreme - something you shouldn't have to resort to when spending £2.20 on a doughnut (the equivalent of 11 supermarket jam doughnuts).

On the plus side, the glittery topping was full of flavour. The raspberry worked really well, but be warned, it's very sticky and therefore only advisable to eat when you're near a sink to wash your hands after. I'd have liked to have seen a few more of the peanut butter chips too. Hell, it would've been nice to have some kind of pb in the doughnut. 

In the aftermath of reeses-pb&j-donut-gate I sent an email to KK, including the above images, who replied and said... 

46 miles for a replacement? You've got to be kidding...

The doughnut I had: 2/10

What I imagine a properly filled pb&j KK would score: 10/10.

Is it worth the gamble though? You decide.


 *new word alert!

NEW! Gelatelli Master of Taste Pretty Peanut Butter Ice Cream (LIDL)

If you'll recall if you read my review of the Neo cones, I also picked up a peanut butter tub during American week at Lidl. It sounds a lot like Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup, but at £1.99 per 500ml is cheaper. After the disappointment of the Neo cones though I didn't hold out much hope that this would be a decent copycat.

"Peanut butter flavoured ice cream with peanut butter filled milk chocolate pieces (20%)."

The first thing I noticed was how solid the ice cream was. I mean I couldn't scoop it. Now to others that might sound like a problem, but I much prefer hard ice cream -it melts slower and therefore I can enjoy it for longer. Plus there's no need for the gym when you have a ten minute wrestle with a tub of ice cream! The second thought that struck me was the lack of peanut butter pieces. Where were the Reese's cups that I'd imagined? I mean the packaging didn't show cups, but it did say 'peanut butter coated chocolate' and everyone knows that means Reese's (or fake Reese's at least). 

The ice cream was delicious though; the robust nutty flavour shone through the creamy base, which is no doubt due to the high peanut content (13.6%). It was far richer than the Snickers ice cream, and its density meant that it tasted more luxurious than the Co-Op's tub. I was pleased to see that they hadn't included a caramel sauce to dilute the flavour either, I mean who puts peanut butter and caramel on toast? Jam yes. Caramel no. So why do so many companies insist on adding it to their ice creams? Hats off to Lidl, the ice cream itself was a very good Ben & Jerry's rip off, but let's talk about those chocolate cups...

When I posted the photo of my ice cream on instagram I was met with an instruction to buy another tub by someone who'd apparently had much more luck on the cup front than I had. My first portion hadn't heralded a single cup -only shards of chocolate- hence my aforementioned thoughts that maybe I'd come to the wrong conclusion about the chocolate pieces. So before I reviewed this, I had a second portion to see if I could find any of these promised cups. 

Digging down to the bottom of the tub I found one and a half mini cups. They were a similar size to the Reese's cups, and a fairly good imitation, which made me all the more gutted that I'd been so unfortunate regarding the amount my tub had in. It's a huge shame really, because this Gelatelli ice cream would be getting extremely good marks if it had contained more cups. 

Now It may sound a little redundant that I'm reviewing this ice cream when the supermarket won't be getting deliveries of it again anytime soon but when I popped into our local branch yesterday they still had plenty left, and even if your local store doesn't have any, I'm sure there'll be another American week in the future months. 

8/10 

NEW! Reese's Crunchy Cookie (Online)

There's a new Reese's Cup in town. Well there's kind of two, if you count the British and American markets separately. You see, the Reese's Pieces Cups are now available to buy from Sainsbury's, but there's also a brand new variety Stateside: Cookie Crunch. 

As a huge fan of the American mini Reese's filled Oreos (please, don't insult my tastebuds by suggesting that the British ones are anything other than disgusting) I was looking forward to trying the new cups, but I'd promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more chocolate. Then one night when the insomnia was driving me utterly crazy, I consoled myself by placing a 2am order with American Fizz. Damn it. I kicked myself even harder when the parcel arrived with an item missing and half of the snacks broken and/of battered. American Fizz have truly gone downhill.

Anyway, the pack contained two crunchy cookie filled cups, which appeared no different to the standard cups. I found myself wondering if the crunch would be as disappointing as it had been in the Reese's crunchy cups and toenail cups -sorry, pieces cups. 

Ooh. Look at that slice through! There were plenty of Oreo-esque pieces to be seen in the standard orange coloured centre. Texturally Reese's delivered on its promise at long last too: the cups were crunchy, with an odd -but enjoyable- grittiness. 

Unfortunately, the cocoa biscuit flavour overshadowed the peanut butter. I shouldn't complain I suppose, as they are meant to be cookie cups, but as a peanut butter lover I felt the ratio was slightly off. For this reason, I imagine king sized versions of the cookie cups would be incredible as they always have a greater filling ratio. To be honest I always find the King Size Reese's products to be superior anyway! I'm still not sure they'd beat my favourite white chocolate Reese's cups though.

The crunchy cookies are an unusual peanut butter cup and at least Reese's have more successfully brought the cookie element into their core range more successfully than KitKat. They're worth a try, but I'd recommend waiting until the king size Crunchy Cookie cups make their way to British shores.

7/10 

NEW! Snickers Ice Cream Tubs (ASDA)

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I caved and bought the Mars ice cream tub? Well it didn't take long for me to return to ASDA on the pursuit of the Snickers tub. Normally I'm a Mars bar over Snickers girl, but I'd heard great things about the ice cream version and simply had to find out for myself what it was like! 

"Peanut (4%) dairy ice cream with milk chocolate coated peanuts (10%) and caramel (7.5%) and chocolate sauce (7.5%)."

The caramel sauce was instantly evident as soon as I removed the lid, and so was the softness of the ice cream. In fact I was patient enough to wait for the temperature outside to cool down last week before attempting to try the Snickers ice cream (just for info Ben & Jerry's Sofa So Good is sofa no good to scoop on the hottest days either, unless you fancy mousse).

I couldn't see a huge deal of the chocolate coated peanuts though, and felt a pang of disappointment at the lack of chocolate shards that made a surprise appearance in the Mars tub. I hadn't written this ice cream off just yet though... 

Kudos to Mars for using real peanuts in the ice cream (yep, I'm looking at you Mondelez), but unfortunately it wasn't as flavoursome as I'd hoped. There was a mild peanut taste but it certainly wasn't on par with Ben & Jerry's or the Co-Op. It was still enjoyable though, and despite the chocolate sauce being as lost in this pint as it had been in the Mars version, the caramel sauce made up for that. 

Oh there they were: the chocolate coated peanuts! Jackpot! They'd just been well hidden amid the ice cream, and actually there was an abundance of them. They were pretty smashing too, large in size and delivering the chocolatey hit that was missing from the sauce, as well as a textural contrast from the welcome crunch. 

Perhaps the link between ice cream and chocolate bar is on the tenuous side, given that there's no nougat in the ice cream and that the peanuts aren't chopped and are chocolate covered, but I don't mind that -like I say, I'm not a huge snickers fan anyway. Personally the Mars tub pips the Snickers to the top spot, but only just, and it's well worth a try whilst on offer for £2.

7/10

Kingdom Milk Chocolate & Peanut Butter Centre (Wholefoods)

Ok so I might have been hoarding this bar since before Christmas, when I found it in a WholeFoods store on a trip to London. Despite the vast selection of Reese's chocolate that I owned at the time (and still do, honestly I could open a shop) I couldn't resist the call of this Kingdom bar. As you know I'm always open to trying new peanut butter products, but adding fuel to the fire was the memory of good feedback about Kingdom. For those of you who haven't come across or tried their chocolate before, Kingdom promise "to make exciting chocolate from only tip top ingredients" using Ethical Ugandan cocoa. 

"Quality peanut butter and superb milk chocolate make this bar a 

potential superstar of the range."

The 100g bar was chunkier than the other gourmet bars I've reviewed recently from the likes of The Chocolate Smiths and Choc Affair. It was a similar colour though thanks to its high cocoa content (minimum 34% cocoa solids and 27% milk solids). Unlike Cadbury Kingdom have used real peanuts in their peanut butter bar, so I didn't have to worry that it would be anywhere near as atrocious as the Dairy Milk peanut butter Oreo bar.

The chocolate tasted every bit as luxurious as I'd hoped, with a rich flavour and silken texture. I bit further into the centre of the first chunk and realised I'd tasted it before... well not the exact same bar, but very very similar. The Montezuma's peanut butter eggs! It was then that I read the packet and realised that Kingdom is owned by Montezuma's. Ahhhh, it all became clear. Anyway, the peanut was delicious, and I actually preferred it to the eggs despite the fact that there was far less of the paste in the bar than in the eggs (10% compared to 48% respectively). I think the preference was due to the prominence of salt in the Kingdom bar, which came from large that seemed to supercharge the flavour and provide welcome contrast against the sweetness. The balance made the bar even more addictive than the eggs and I had a hard job to restrain myself from eating all 100g in one sitting! 

Serious noms. 

9/10

Mrs Freshley's Reese's Peanut Butter Swiss Rolls (Protein Pick & Mix)

It's been ages since I've reviewed any foreign imports, despite recently munching my way through a whole host of Japanese products courtesy of Nat (of Lot-o-Choc blog) on top of the vast array of treats I bought back from Malaysia. The main reason I haven't written reviews is because I'm not sure if and where you can find them in the UK, but please let me know if you want the low downs on what was good and what was terrible. These Reese's peanut butter flavoured Swiss Rolls are available to buy in the UK though, and were a birthday present from Nat (she's good like that). A quick google shows that they're available from Protein Pick & Mix.

I have tried a couple of Mrs Freshley's products before with varying degrees of success. The banana pudding cupcakes were rather good, as were the cinnamon twirls, but the peanut butter brownie was less impressive. I found myself really hoping that Mrs F had done these peanut butter Swiss rolls proud as they sounded absolutely marvellous. 

Let's just start by acknowledging the size of these cakes. Cadbury's mini rolls are 27g each, whereas this two pack was a whopping 79g. The packet suggests that one roll is a serving, but I don't have that kind of restraint and so ate both in one sitting.

Unfortunately the covering had shattered in transit, but that meant I got to peel off the chocolate as I would with a Jaffa cake. Yes, the peanut butter drizzled chocolate was thick enough to peel, and whilst it was far from the most superior I've tasted, it was about on par with Reese's (in other words it was weirdly addictive). 

Swiss roll cake is traditionally made without butter and that's why it tends to be drier than your normal sponge. At least that's what I was reminding myself whilst devouring Mrs Freshley's offerings. The cake has a taste and texture that's not dissimilar to our British Cadbury's versions, however the filling was very different -thank goodness for that...

...Yes, I could actually taste peanut butter, hurrah! Where Mrs F's brownie had failed to get the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate right, these mini rolls were gloriously nutty. I'm not sure the photo does them justice, but I thoroughly enjoyed the combination. Noms.

These Swiss Rolls aren't dainty enough to serve your nan for a posh afternoon tea, but there's nothing wrong with that. They might be clumsy and full of additives, but they're charming and pack a peanutty punch, which means they get the thumbs up from me!

8/10

NEW! Dessert Menu Milk Chocolate & Peanut Ice Creams (M&S)

Peanut butter, chocolate and ice cream are my three favourite foods, so a product that combines all three just screams to be tried. These new ice cream sticks at M&S form part of their "Dessert Menu", which I've had success with in the past*. I think they're approximately £3 per pack, but my local store had messed up the labels and so I was lucky enough to buy my box of three for the price of a single, at just £1.20. I do love a good bargain.

"Peanut butter ice cream with a toffee ripple 8% coated in Belgian milk chocolate (3%) and roasted peanut pieces (3.5%)"

There was none of the so-thin-you-can-see-through-it chocolate to be found here. Cough. Iceland. Cough. The Belgian milk chocolate was generously flecked with sizeable peanut chunks too - looking good Marks & Sparks! 

The chocolate was damn delicious. It's luxuriously rich with a good melt, and it's thick enough to crack pleasingly when you bite into it. The larger nut pieces worked well too; they were big enough to administer a robust flavour as well as the added texture. 

Unfortunately the peanut flavoured ice cream didn't pack the same punch. The nuttiness was mild at best, and was overpowered by the sweet toffee sauce, reminding me of the issues with the Magnum Double Peanut Butter. It's a shame really because the quality of the ice cream is good - it just requires more peanut! 

As far as peanut butter ice cream sticks go Marks & Spencer's don't rival ASDAs, which I guess is a bonus for my bank balance! 

7/10

*you can find my review of their hazelnut sticks here & their salted caramel sticks here! 

Montezuma's Peanut Butter Mini Eggs (Waitrose)

There is a week to go until Good Friday. Have you arranged any nice plans for the long weekend? Perhaps you’re seeing family, taking the kids out, or even getting away for a bit. Either way, I hope your Easter Sunday will include lots of chocolate. As a Catholic I probably should bestow a more religious greeting upon you, but let’s be honest, chocolate is just as important.

Do you agree that Cadbury are the kings when it comes to Easter. Their Creme Eggs (although something I can’t abide) are the mainstay of supermarket shelves this time of year. Admittedly, they've been just about everywhere since Christmas Eve, but that’s by the by. Cadbury’s Mini Eggs are much more my cup of tea -which reminds me, I must make some chocolate nests sometime soon (made with Coco Pops not Shredded Wheat though).

Cadbury certainly aren't the only ones making mini eggs though, and last year I was overcome with jealousy at the people who were able to buy Montezuma's Peanut Butter Mini Eggs from Ocado (who still don't deliver in rural Herefordshire). I hadn't tried any of the chocolatier’s products before, but had heard great reviews from those who were lucky enough to sample them. Yes, Reese’s eggs are wonderful, but they’re not known for their superior quality and I wondered whether Montezuma had managed to elevate my favourite combination of peanut butter and chocolate to the next level. Luckily for me Waitrose are stocking them this year, although they’re a little on the pricey side at £3.99 for 150g.

“Soft centered, bite sized and very addictive! Our chocolate mini eggs come in a deliciously rich milk chocolate with salted peanut butter.”

I’m not sure how big Montezuma’s mouth is but they were bigger than I expected. Instead they were sized roughly mid-way between Cadbury’s Mini Eggs and their Oreo filled Egg & Spoons. Without the crunchy shell or foil to protect them, Montezuma’s Peanut Butter Mini Eggs looked a little battered. The chocolate was flecked with chips, a shame really as I imagine they would have been quite glossy when they left the production line.

I sliced an egg in two to have a better look at its innards. I found a centre that looked similar to praline embedded with tiny nut nibs, all encased within the relatively thick chocolate casing.

I immediately appreciated the high cocoa content*. The flavour of the chocolate was richer than your usual milk but thankfully lacked the bitterness of dark. As for the filling, it was soft but not gooey, and the salinity came through well. The peanut however wasn’t as strong as I’d have hoped, despite the eggs containing 48% peanut paste. The chocolate was by far the dominant of the two flavours, not a problem per-se, but very different to what I’m accustomed to.

Montezuma are right, their Peanut Butter Mini Eggs are addictive. Thanks to their richness they’re not the kind of treat I could eat all 150g of in one sitting, but I have been dreaming about them since my first bite. 

8/10

*Cocoa Solids 41% / Milk Solids 21%

Creative Nature Superfoods Bars (WHSmith)

Creative Nature got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago to ask if I would mind reviewing some of their products. I didn't know much about the company but had seen (and been tempted by!) their bars in WHSmith. Of course I agreed and a few days later received a parcel containing one of each of their bars, as well as a bag of their award winning brownie mix -which will be reviewed in the coming weeks.

For those of you who aren't aware of Creative Nature, they're a brand who specialise in healthfoods. Their current range encompasses their raw flapjack bars as well as items such as goji berries, maca powder, cacao powder and muffin mixes to name just a few.

It's their bars that are the name of the game today though! They're all raw, gluten free, vegan, and (bar the peanut one) contain one of your five a day. Creative Nature only use natural and raw ingredients in their products too.

Ginger Teatox
Now I have to admit that the name of this bar grated on me a bit. I'm not a believer in the whole fad diet/clean eating approach, and certainly don't agree with teatoxes. I do, however, like ginger.

“I’m the ginger one, packed with natural detox ingredients like Organic Barley Grass, Yerba Mate Tea, Ginger and Coconut”

I decided to break up the bar and serve it on top of some Greek yogurt mixed with honey and topped with plums.

Crikey. I was surprised at the power behind the taste of this bar. The boldness is a brave mood by Creative Nature, but it's delicious too. The pineapple, coconut and papaya counteracted the zingy ginger with enough sweetness to bring the flavours into balance. It's soft and squidgy too,  meaning that it's comforting to eat.

The Ginger Teatox is also one of the few raw bars I've tried that doesn't contain dates, which enables the flavours to remain pure. A great tasting bar

9/10

Goji Goodness
I'm not sure I can tell you what the flavour of Goji is because I don't think I've ever eaten them on their own before! Still I love my berries so looked forward to this fruity bar in the middle of a dull afternoon lecture.

“I’m the fruity one, packed with raw superfood ingredients like Goji Berries, Cranberries and Gluten Free Oats”

Weirdly I thought this bar tasted of dates, which I must've imagined because there's none listed in the ingredients. I didn't find the flavour as punchy as the ginger teatox though; it just had a mild but sweet berry taste. I thought that the texture was as soft as the other bar until I came across something that I thought was a stone, but in reality was a reaglly hard bit of dried fruit.

I'd happily eat this bar again but didn't enjoy it as much as the Ginger Teatox.

6/10

Peanut Protein
I think it's hard to ignore how much I love peanut butter on this blog. It gives me life and I can't go a day without it, so this was the bar that excites me most. It contains 7g of protein from pea protein powder, as well as a mixture of dates, sunflower seeds, sultanas and vegetable glycerine.

“I’m the protein one, giving you a vegan, dairy free alternative to whey protein snacks!”

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of chopped peanuts, it was literally chock full! They were crunchy too, adding texture to the otherwise smooth bar. Flavour-wise it was sweeter than I expected, and I felt like it could do with a touch of sea salt. I warmed the second half of my bar in the microwave and can definitely recommend doing so for an extra comforting, healthy, peanutty snack.

7/10

Raw Cacao
Chocolate anything? I'm all over it. But could a healthy cacao bar at 125kcals that counts as one fruit portion cut the mustard?

“I’m the chocolate one, packed with raw superfood ingredients like Cacao, Goji Berries and Maca“

Again despite the lack of dates I'm sure I could taste them! The bar had a sweet chocolate taste that reminded me of Trek's Cocoa Chaos bar (no bad thing). Texturally it's much softer than Trek though. I topped my Raw Cacao bar with M&S' Maple & Pecan peanut butter -the perfect match.

8/10.

The Creative Nature Superfoods bars are great lunchbox staples. They're full of goodness, and help towards hitting your 5 (or 10!) a day. They have also just launched a new line of high protein flapjacks that sound rather good...

Photo courtesy of Creative Nature's Instagram

Creative Nature is stocked in ASDA, WHSmith, Ocado, Revital and Lloyds Pharmacy, or alternatively check your nearest supplier here.

Thank you to Creative Nature for the samples!