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 馃槈! 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.
January is known for being generally awful, but at least today is National Peanut Butter Day and the month has been a wonderful time for British peanut butter lovers. Finally we're seeing our favourite nut spread given the recognition it deserves! Not only have we recently seen the release of Peanut Butter Oreo ice cream sandwiches and Grenade's Peanut Nutter Carb Killa as well as Rocky and Nature Valley Bars (which I've yet to find) but now Kellogg's have taken note and are manufacturing an epic sounding new cereal.
I can't even explain the excitement that took hold just over a week ago when Richard gave me the heads up on twitter about the new Crunchy Nut Peanut Butter Clusters. My day was made, nay even my week. I've often moaned about the lack of peanut butter cereals here in the U.K and have relied on American imports instead to get my fix (FYI Reese's Puffs are delicious, Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch is somewhat less desirable). Time's are finally a'changing folks! Fortunately for me, the lovely guys at Kellogg's offered to send me a sample to review and yesterday two boxes arrived at my house.
"New Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Peanut Butter Clusters is a combination of delicious oats and wheat crisps, baked to crunchy perfection with added chunks of peanuts. The cereal uses peanut butter as the binding ingredient – a first for any Kellogg’s cereal."
I poured myself a bowl and was surprised by the sheer size of the clusters. It's at this point that I'll admit to something embarrassing: I've never tried Crunchy Nut Clusters before. I'm not sure why but they've never particularly appealed. With that in mind I can't make any comparisons to the other flavours but rather offer a fresh opinion on the clusters as a whole. The other surprise came from the amount of whole peanuts mixed in. The sight of the chunky clusters and whole peanuts combined with the overwhelming scent of peanut butter pleased my soul. The biggest problem thus far was that it's quite a heavy and dense cereal so the 45g suggested portion size doesn't go far at all.
Crikey. That's damn good. Peanut butter lovers rejoice for Kellogg's have created a cereal that can make us Brits proud. It's the best peanut butter cereal I've had thus far, and it's utterly delicious. The crunchy texture of the clusters is only enhanced by the addition of the peanut pieces which have stayed fresh.
Kellogg's are smart to use peanut butter as the binding agent too because it means that every single crumb delivers an impactive punch of flavour. Containing only 12g of sugar per 100g it's nowhere near as sweet or as synthetic as Kellogg's awful American Jif PB&J cereal (which by comparison contains 38.5g of sugar per 100g).
According to Crunchy Nut's facebook page, Peanut Butter Crunchy Nut Clusters are available to purchase from Tesco today, with more stores following suit soon.
I suggest that you buy a box or two as soon as you find it, and then swiftly hide them from everyone else in the house!
10/10
*Thank you to Kellogg's for the samples.
My luck was in for the second time when I spied another one of The Grown Up Chocolate Company's bars in WHSmith's reduced section the other day. It was therefore a given, following the delicious success of the White Chocolate Wonder Bar, that I eagerly snapped up their Fruit and Nut Hunky Dory. I realise that I only moaned about my general disdain towards chopped nuts in chocolate less than a week ago, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to try another one of The Grown Up Chocolate Company's bars.
"A decadent muddle of nuts and fruit on a bed of milk chocolate Gianduja enrobed in luxury milk chocolate."
Embarrassingly, I must admit that I didn't have the foggiest what 'Gianduja' was, so I summoned the help of Google and discovered that it's an Italian delicacy, originating from Turin, comprising of a sweet paste made from hazelnuts and cocoa -and that was me sold.
As per the White Chocolate Wonder Bar, the Fruit and Nut Hunky Dory came in two individual bars. I'd love to be able to say that I ate one and saved the other for later, but I'm afraid that my chocolate resistance skills simply aren't that advanced.
I sliced one bar in two and quickly discovered just how jam packed the filling was. This wasn't a Cadbury job of whacking a few almonds and raisins in (or sultanas now, ooh the controversy). Oh no, that just wouldn't do now! The Grown Up Chocolate Company instead opted to fill their bar with roasted hazelnuts, almonds, citrus peel and cranberries.
All of these components made for a super crunchy, crispy bar with the occasional moistness coming from the cranberries. Unfortunately I found that all of this texture actually detracted from the most incredible flavour from both the Gianduja and Milk chocolate. I remember thinking how superb The Grown Up Chocolate Company's white chocolate was but the milk chocolate was equally (if not even more) sublime. The melt and creaminess of the coating was unquestionably delicious and I'd have more than happily munched an entire bar of it on its own.
Whilst The Grown Up Chocolate Company might not have turned me into an avid chopped-nuts-in-my-chocolate-lover, they certainly have earned an even bigger fan. I'm desperate to try their incredible sounding Christmas bars now, and will be on a desperate hunt for them when I visit my sister in Cardiff at the weekend. Flavours include: Mince pie, spiced ginger biscuit and festive fig & port. Just look at them, oof, YES please!
9/10
A couple of months back* I reviewed one of Tesco's spanking new cereals, Golden Syrup Malt Wheats. I was so impressed with them that I gave them top marks, but I've now decided that it's high time to give their choc-nutty compadre a go. Their price remains at a rather bargain-ous £1.19 for a 500g box which I was more than happy to pay, although I wasn't yet convinced that they would taste all that special.
"We carefully select quality whole grain wheat to make this cereal, then cook it and lightly toast it for a lovely crisp texture and full flavour. To make it even more special, we coat each one with a chocolate flavour coating and ground roast hazelnuts to make sure they taste really nutty."
Well, Tesco, you had me sold on the description. Looks-wise the cereal appeared indifferent to Coco Shreddies (mmm Coco Shreddies) but it didn't have a particularly strong aroma and just emitted the slightest scent -reminiscent of Nutella.
The Choco-Nut Malt Wheats were just as crispy as promised, and passed my milk soaking test with flying colours. I have to admit that I was slightly dubious as to how nutty they would taste, but my preconceptions were unfounded for each square delivered a powerful hazelnut flavour. In fact the nut element was perhaps a smidgen more dominant than the chocolate, but it was yummier for it and the resulting flavour tasted somehow more adult and less sweet. By all accounts the cereal should taste sickly considering that sugar is ranked number 2 on the list of ingredients, and each 40g portion contains 8.3g of the stuff (that's even more than the Golden Syrup version).
I'm impressed with both of the new flavours to Tesco's 'Malt Wheat' line, although the Golden Syrup flavour still reigns as my favourite.
8/10
Nutritionals per 40g serving: 151kcals P3.4/C30.2/F1.0
*I can't believe it was that long ago, where is the time going? Jeez.
My local Del Boy came up trumps this week. Not only was he selling the cappuccino twix bars, but also C么te-d'Or. C么te-d'Or is my all time favourite chocolate brand, and I was taught from an early age that they make the most exquisite chocolate truffles, saved for very special occasions. I'll happily admit that I squealed with delight when I found their Bouchees in Selfridges recently at an extortionate (but worth it) £1 a pop. It's such a shame that C么te-d'Or is so difficult to get hold of in the UK. What makes it's lack of availability all the more puzzling is that it's made by Mondel膿z -who also own Cadbury and seemingly have no qualms with merging the British brand's identity with European chocolate Milka. Still, C么te-d'Or is sheer chocolate perfection, so I'd rather it was left unmeddled with.
Anyway, lo an behold, the market trader was selling these FudgeNuts extremely cheaply -hopefully because they were close to their sell-by date and not because they fell off the back of a lorry- and they sounded right up my street:
"Caramel fudge, a pinch of salt and almonds, covered with milk chocolate."
The FudgeNut wasn't very large (only 30g) but I could forgive it's size if it tasted as good as I hoped. My knife easily sliced the bar in two, baring it's nougat-like interior studded with chunky almond pieces.
As expected, the chocolate was top notch. There wasn't a lot of it, as it merely provided the casing for the fudge. Yum -serious- yum. The fudge was the best I've tasted in a long time (infinitely tastier than Matt & Ben's Espresso Proper Fudge). It was silky, creamy and sweet, with just enough salt to take the edge off and prevent my teeth from aching. The almonds were in generous supply and came in large enough chunks to not only add texture but a beautiful nutty taste too.
To put it blunty, I adored the FudgeNut. C么te-d'Or, you're are cocoa genius'. I really hope Del Boy has more again this week as I'll be stocking up!
10/10
