Orion Studentská Pečeť Duomix: Nestle's White & Milk Chocolate Bar with Peanuts, Raisins & Jelly

Last week I popped into one of Hereford's Eastern European Deli's, one that I don't often visit due to its location. In it I found a number of chocolate bars that I've not seen before, by a brand I'd also never come across - Orion. However, when I picked up one of the bars out of sheer curiosity (I hope you'll understand why) I soon discovered that Orion is a nestle brand. Ahhh. Now I didn't give into temptation at the time, but posted a couple of stories about the range on my instagram. Within minutes I was inundated with messages about how great the bars were. I was going to have to try this unusual chocolate...

At £1.29 for 180g the bar was excellent value too - at least I thought so until I realised it was a month out of date. Oh well, it wasn't about to kill me. The Reese's cups that were 15 months out of date didn't anyway. Not being able to speak Czech or Slovakian I'm afraid I couldn't be sure of what the bar entailed. Google translate (of Orion's website) paints a very odd picture... 

"DUOMIXCan not you decide if you have a taste for a white or milk STUDENT CARE? Duomix offers a bit of each variation, while the tongue dissolves so quickly that you want to taste another dice."

I was met with a very aesthetically pleasing bar when I retrieved it from is foil wrapping. Made primarily of white chocolate, each cube was topped with a milk chocolate topping, whilst the underside was heftily nobbled. I hadn't seen a bar this interesting for a long time -if ever. 

Unfortunately the quality of the white chocolate wasn't all that great. It tasted chalky and whilst I wasn't expecting the creaminess of luxury Belgian white chocolate, I did expect it to be on par with Nestle's Milkybar. The milk chocolate topping tasted more like a smooth praline to me. The hazelnut flavour came as a welcome surprise though and complimented the white chocolate beneath.

But what about the pieces within the bar I hear you ask? Each cube provides a different textural experience thanks to the the abundance of chopped peanuts, raisins and jelly beans. Both the peanuts and raisins worked well with the chocolate. The peanuts of course added salinity and crunch, whilst the raisins added moisture and a slight chew. 

Those jelly beans though. They're the main reason I don't buy the Cadbury Marvellous Creation bars. Jelly in chocolate just doesn't work for me, and seems to be a cheap filler to bring down the cost of production. I find that they're obtrusive little pests that offer little in the way of flavour but seem to wedge themselves frustratingly between teeth. Perhaps that's just me though. 

All of my complaints make it sound like I didn't enjoy this chocolate bar, when it some strange way I did. There's a certain charm to it - perhaps because it's so unusual, or maybe it's because it didn't leave me out of pocket. I wouldn't rush to buy it again, but If you spot it and fancy something completely alternative to what we've got in the UK then give it a go! 

6/10

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 KitKat Bites (B&M)

I think I've done well to refrain from both the new peanut butter chocolate bars until now. I had made a promise to not buy any until I'd made a healthy dent into my Ridiculous Reese's stash from Xmas, but there was a couple of additional reasons that I'd stopped myself. Neither the new KitKat bites or the Butterfingers excited me all that much. I mean I got so excited by the Cookie Dough Chunky last year and haven't bothered with it again, and I can't even stomach American Butterfingers. 

"Mini crispy wafer fingers with a creamed peanut filling (17%) covered with milk chocolate (70%)."

With my pb chocolate supplies starting to wane I gave into the KitKats. The peanut butter KitKat Chunkies are pretty good after all; as are the Reese's Sticks. £1 for a bag it wasn't too much of a gamble either (I bought them in B&M but they're available in most supermarkets and WHSmith now).

I find 'bites' a bit of an odd name for them. They're more than one bite in size, but I suppose it makes sense if you consider that they're smaller than the awesome KitKat minis that Nat bought back from Japan. To be honest, my biggest concern was that in their non chunkified format that there wouldn't be much room for the peanut butter and that they'd be a bit bland as a result. 

Bravo Nestle! They do indeed deliver on the peanut butter front, and theyve been mastered the salinity that makes Reese's so moreish. It helps that they've used roasted peanuts too, to really boost the flavour. I'm not normally keen on Nestle chocolate, however it's evidently better than the Reese's variety, and this makes the bites all the more enjoyable. In fact, I found that the ratio of chocolate:wafer:peanut butter was pretty damn good, and had a hard job to not finish off the entire bag (16 bites) in one sitting. Serious self restraint required. 

9/10

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! 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! 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

Gianni's Limited Edition Peanut Butter Cones (ALDI)

June will mark a full year of hunting for ASDA's peanut butter cones. They've still not arrived in sleepy old Hereford, Humf. How dare the supermarket produce such a treat and then keep it from my greedy paws? Sure, there's plenty of peanut buttery ice cream sticks out there (such as M&S' new Belgian Milk Chocolate & Peanut, ASDA's Peanut Butter & Salted Caramel, of course not forgetting the disappointing double peanut butter Magnum) but we're stuck with Cornetto's so-so 'Peanut Butter Love' when it comes to pre-made cones. Of course I make my own with the Co-Op's PB&J ice cream, Jude's peanut butter chocolate ripple and with the last of my Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cookie Clutter stash (FYI stock up if you love it as it's been discontinued), but sometimes I'm lazy and just fancy a pre-made cone -especially as they often have a chocolate nib at the bottom to look forward to. 

Anyway, I peered into ALDI's freezers yesterday and saw that their summer range is in. The new ice cream range includes plenty of sorbet-ice cream mixes (much like Waitrose's blood orange and chocolate pint last year), as well as some interesting looking Gin & Tonic and Prosecco lollies. Most exciting however were the two new cones: Eton Mess and Peanut Butter!

My brimming chest freezer was instantly forgotten and a pack of each went straight into my basket, especially as they were just £1.39 for four. You'll have to come back for my review of the Eton Mess cones I'm afraid, I just couldn't wait to tell you about the peanut butter ice creams. 

At 110ml they're a decent size. The ice cream was smattered with peanut pieces and a small amount of chocolate. I was pleased to see that the ice cream was flecked in colour (unlike the peanut butter Oreo) and saw that as a good sign that it might actually taste like peanut butter. 

"Peanut butter ice cream in a biscuit cone, with chocolate flavoured coating, rippled with sea salted caramel sauce, topped with chocolate flavoured coating and peanut pieces."

And it did! Hurrah! It came through extremely well, tasting both bold and natural. The ingredients list claims that the peanut butter (which makes up 6% of the ingredients) used is simply made from peanuts and sea salt, so it can't be bad quality and that's apparent in the flavour. If I was to be pernickety, I'd admit that the quality of the ice cream base was far from the best I've tasted. it was soft and airy but lacked the creaminess of premium brands. 

A little way down the cone I came across a huge pocket of salted caramel sauce (as I had with the rhubarb in Tesco's new cones -perhaps they're manufactured by the same company). To be honest I'd all but forgotten about the sauce, but it was pleasant -despite lacking any salinity and tasting more like toffee than rich Dulce De Leche. So often when companies choose to combine peanut and caramel in ice creams, the caramel overpowers the peanut flavour. However, this was only momentarily the case in this cone, for once the pocket was eaten there wasn't much more of the sauce to be found. 

This sounds slightly odd to mention, but I really noticed how crispy the waffle cone was. There's nothing more irritating than biting into a soggy cone, but ALDI have provided a really thin and biscuity cone here. It was one of the best I've had in a while. 

Hurrah! A success. I already can't wait for my next Gianni's. Peanut-butter-holics head to ALDI post-haste!

9/10

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!

NEW! Trek Chunks Cocoa Peanut Peak (ASDA)

It's a good time of year when Natural Balance Foods release their new lines, although recently they've been mainly focused around the Nakd branch of the business. This time around though the company have brought out an extension of their Trek range in 'energy chunk' format -as well as the delicious sounding lemon drizzle bar that I've read smashing reviews of by both EatExploreEtc and Erin. The new Trek Energy Chunks are available in three flavours: Toffee Triumph, Cranberry Kick and Cocoa Peanut. But what are they? I'll let Natural balance foods explain:

"Brand new TREK Chunks are deliciously different.
Instead of relying on mysterious additives & syrups, TREK Chunks are packed with a precise cold-pressed balance of powerful wholefoods, delivering sustained energy … when you need it most.
With 12g protein and all important natural slow release energy, Chunks satisfy mid-afternoon grazing, hunger on-the-go and interval fuelling. What's more, TREK Protein Energy Chunks are vegan, gluten free and 1 of your 5 a day too."

Well there you go. Of course I opted for the Cocoa Peanut. I'm a big fan of both the Cocoa Chaos and Peanut Power Treks, and I really hoped that the new chunks would be the perfect amalgamation of the two. 

Inside the pack were 12 cube shaped chunks, which were dark in colour and firmer than expected. They smelt more of cocoa than peanut and I wondered how Natural Balance would have pitched the flavour balance. 

It turns out that they did a pretty good job. The cocoa was indeed the more prominent flavour, but the chunks contained a resonant nuttiness. Texturally they were quite crunchy, a point of differentiation to the Trek bars and more similar to Nakd's crunch range. Another plus point.

In fact, I'm not sure I could find anything to moan about with the Energy Chunks save for the high -but natural- sugar content. Considering I don't pay too much attention to my sugar intake this wasn't an issue for me, and I'll be buying them again in future -especially if I find them on offer!

9/10

White Snickers

There are not many chocolate bars that can't be improved by swapping milk for white chocolate. White Reese's cups & Twixs are God's gift to man, and don't even talk to me about the devastating loss of white Maltesers, let alone not finding out that white chocolate Côte D'Or's Bouchées exist until this late into my adulthood (which thankfully I now have a healthy supply of thanks to the kindness of One Treat). I've reviewed many of the Snickers* (excluding the PB squared which is my favourite to date) but none have left me craving my next bar. In fact I could happily not have some of them ever again. The continental White chocolate Snickers piqued my interest though, was this the one variation that could finally turn me into an knickers *sorry snickers* addict? If Nat's review on Lot-O-Choc was anything to go by (and I trust her opinion implicitly) they could certainly be up to the job.

Could I find the imported white Snickers though? Of course not. Luckily for me the lovely Sîan offered to send me a bar. Only she didn't just send me one, she sent me three. How fortunate am I? Thanks Sîan.

They looked much more striking with their snowy white covering. Just look at that cross section! Isn't it attractive?

Crikey. How can a change in chocolate type make all the difference? By all accounts the sweetness should be sickly, but in actual fact the salinity of the peanuts works extraordinarily well against the creamy white chocolate. The Caramel and nougat were as soft and gooey as normal, providing the ultimate juxtaposition of textures against the crunchy nuts.

There's not much more I can add really, apart from that if you're a peanut lover with a sweet tooth then you simply MUST track these limited edition bars down pronto. It's one of the best chocolate bars I've had in a good while!

10/10

*Other Snickers bars I've reviewed:
Almond
Rockin Nut Road
Crisper