NEW! Mars Choc Brownie Review

Theres a new Mars bar in town! Well. I say new, but is it really? Mars Choc Brownie certainly sounds new, but it also sounds eerily similar to the Mars Triple Choc and the Xtra Choc. Are they just rehashing the same bar under different guises? Quite possibly. It didn't sound much different...

The press releases for all three bars went as follows:

2011 Triple Choc: 'tasty chocolate nougat and delicious chocolate caramel, covered in thick milk chocolate'.

2015 Xtra Choc: 'extra chocolatey taste from delicious chocolate caramel and tasty chocolate nougat encased in a thick chocolate coat' 

2017 new Choc Brownie: 'thick chocolate nougat with indulgent dark caramel”, covered in Mars chocolate, to create a “new twist on a chocolate classic”.

Ahem. In any case, I miss the discontinued Xtra Choc, so set out on a mission to find the Choc Brownie at the same time as the new McVities banoffee caramel and coffee* caramel digestives! The new Mars bar was  reportedly launched on the 22nd of May (once again, thanks to @productsinstore for the heads up) but I couldn't find it for love nor money. In the end I harassed my poor corner shop so much that they eventally got them in. Hurrah! It's therefore worth checking your corner shops, although I've seen reports that four packs are in Bargain Buys and PoundWorld (just not in Hereford PoundWorld).

Slicing it in half revealed the distinct Mars layers of milk chocolate (35%), nougat (37%) and caramel (28%) in completely different hues to the standard bar. 

The nougat and chocolate was as expected, indifferent to the Xtra Choc bar, but sweet and scrummy nonetheless. Described as dark caramel I'm unsure whether the gooey layer was meant to taste of chocolate seeing as there was already so much chocolate in the bar. To me it had tones reminiscent of black treacle and was unlike that used in the Xtra Choc bar - but perhaps that was my wishful imagination. 

I enjoyed the Mars Choc Brownie and will be sure to buy more once I've made my way through my extensive chocolate collection! Just be warned - it's a bar for those in dire need of a sugar hit. 

My only gripe is that surely the team at Mars could be more creative than rehashing the old limited editions. Given the variety in flavours of nougat style protein bars, surely Mars could bring out something more creative! It wouldn't even have to be as different as the wonderful Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Smart Bar or Banana Carb Killa -although chocolate bar versions of both of those bars would be great! A peanut butter, white chocolate or mocha Mars Bar would suffice!

7/10

* which I still haven't found yet, so please get in touch if you find them!

NEW! Double Peanut Butter Magnum (Tesco)

My peanut butter obsession is getting out of hand. Is there such a thing as pb-addicts anonymous? If not, there damn well should be. I often get stupidly excited by new food products, but I actually squealed with delight during a very dull economics lecture when I sneakily checked my twitter feed (@seeknewtreats if you're on there!) and read some news regarding Unilever's 2016 ice cream range. The new line-up includes a blackcurrant Twister, Feast snack bar (in standard and peanut butter), Magnum Double (caramel and peanut butter flavours) and a Cornetto Choc ‘n’ Caramel Disc.

Of course the two that got me extremely excited were the peanut butter magnum & feast bars; so when I spotted the new nutty magnum in Tesco earlier today -I swear I almost fainted with elation!- I rushed to the till with my new treats (ignoring the hefty £3 price tag) in a light-headed daze of excitement. 

'Peanut butter flavour ice cream with a chocolate flavour coating, peanut butter sauce and milk chocolate.'

I imagine that the ice creams are called double thanks to their inclusion of not one but two peanut butter elements: the ice cream and the peanut butter sauce. Peanut Butter ice cream is no means a new thing (Ben & Jerry's have nailed it in three of their products, and last year Cornetto launched their 'Peanut Butter Love' cones) but Magnum's are renowned for their creamy, indulgent taste that I hope would be evident this new product.

As you may already know, Unilever have recently signed up to the 250cal snack portion limit * which means that they have reduced the size of a number of their ice creams -including Magnums. This means that the new Double Peanut Butter is only 88ml compared to the previous standard 110ml size, and of course it shows -the ice cream was no bigger than my diddy palms (excuse the photo of my horrible hands!). 

The coating was perfectly rich in true Magnum fashion, and I guess it would sit somewhere between a milk and dark chocolate. The peanut sauce was nestled between two layers of chocolate and I'm afraid to say that it was mild, with a flavour that leaned more towards salted caramel than peanut. There wasn't a great deal of it, so it often became lost against its more intense chocolatey neighbours. The peanut ice cream thankfully saved the day; it was soft, creamy, and well flavoured, with a taste that truly resembled roasted peanuts -utterly scrumptious!

All in all, the new Peanut Butter double Magnum is a lovely little new edition to the range. It has a good combination of flavours, which tasted marvellous. My problem however lies with the price -if you're going to reduce the size of your ice creams Unilever, then please reduce the cost of them too.

9/10

*the reason why Mars and Snickers bars shrunk and some of Cadbury's products are set to do the same

New Toffee Apple Cheesecake by Tesco

ASDA aren't the only supermarkets marking the change in season; Tesco have released a whole host of new desserts in their frozen range. They've added three new cheesecakes: Smores, Red Velvet and Toffee Apple, which serve 6 are priced at £2 each. They all sound pretty good to me, and I'm looking forward to making my way through the new varieties over the coming months.

The first one I purchased was the Toffee Apple- it seemed a must as it's almost Bonfire Night! It's also a special treat for me because I can't eat the real deal due to my filling filled teeth and dentist phobia. As a combination of flavours though I really do enjoy it, so the fact that Tesco have turned it into a cheesecake is welcome news.

'Baked cheesecake and Apple filling on a digestive biscuit base, topped with toffee cream mousse and toffee sauce, sprinkled with caramel flavour curls.'

It sliced really well, and once portioned up I could see lovely big hunks of apple that penetrated the cheesecake. The caramel curls are also a nice touch.

The cheesecake was soft and lacked the rubbery gelatinous texture that I was simultaneously expecting and dreading. The apple tasted like stewed crumble filling with a good balance between sweet and tart. The mousse topping provided the toffee element, but I wish Tesco had extended the flavour to the cheesecake too. The base was a lovely crumbly digestive biscuit-y affair.

I'm actually reasonably impressed by this dessert because I often find that frozen cheesecakes tend to be a let down, and whilst this is no comparison to its homemade counterpart, it's certainly a handy emergency dessert to keep in the freezer.

7/10

New Salted Caramel Squares

I'm a bit disgruntled at the release of these Rice Krispies Squares simply because it replaces the Rocky Road variety in our local ASDA. I particularly enjoyed the Rocky Road flavour because:

It was chocolate-y & It had a good combination of flavours and textures including white chocolate chunks, raisins and marshmallows.

I'm not sure if Kellogg's have stopped making the Rocky Road variety as ASDA was the only stockist of the entire range in my area.

I shouldn't complain too much, because as you may have gathered from my earlier posts, I love caramel... So I decided to see how it faired in comparison to the other Rice Krispies Squares.

I love that each Square is individually wrapped- it may not be good for the environment- but it's much better for transportation purposes (and ultimately stops me from becoming tangled in cling-film whilst attempting to wrap it and stow it in a lunchbox!)

The wrappers are a pretty gold colour, and I was surprised when I opened the packet to find that the colour of the Square itself was a similar colour. I'm not sure why I was fazed by this as caramel is  golden, but for some reason I was expecting it to be the same pale colour of the standard Squares.

The Square tasted sickly with a mere hint of the salt that it promised of. I thought the caramel flavour was nice and strong, but without any other flavours to break it up, it simply felt too saccharine. That may sound daft because the additions to the Rocky Road Squares are all sweet; but I think its the monotony of the salted caramel that led to it's demise. Perhaps I was just hankering for a chocolate element to top it off!

Thankfully I only paid the offer price of £1 for 4 but I won't be rushing out to buy them again as they do lots more flavours that are more appealing!

4/10

Nature Valley Cranberry & Yogurt Popcorn Bar

This morning I tried one of the new Nature Valley Popcorn bars, which I bought from Morrisons for £1.50 for a box of 5. There are two flavours: 'Cranberry & Yogurt' or 'Peanut & Sunflower Seeds' but my local Morrisons only had the Cranberry Variety. 

The box describes them as 'Chewy popcorn bar with cranberry pieces and sunflower seeds dipped in a smooth yogurt flavour coating.'

 I expected them to taste like a hybrid between the yogurt Alpen bars and popcorn.. Both of which I really enjoy.

To be fair, they were exactly that! The taste of cranberries and yogurt came through strongly, combined with the familiar chewiness of popcorn. As a hybrid, however, I'm not sure I enjoyed it. I wolfed it down in only a couple of bites but was left pretty empty after. It was almost Like I'd been offered a mouthful of someone else's popcorn and now wanted my own bag. They felt more of an appetiser than a snack, and for that reason I'd stick to either a cereal bar or popcorn but not a combination of the two

Sorry Nature Valley, I think your Oat bars are fab.. But these are nowhere near as good! 

4/10

New ASDA Banana Milkshake Malties

As a lover of anything banana I was excited when I saw these Banana Milkshake Malties as a new addition to ASDA's already well varied own brand cereal. They also do strawberry & chocolate milkshake varieties but I always opt for banana milkshake so these sounded right up my alley.

They're also only £1.38 a box, so pretty good value. 

 However, I was sadly disappointed at the lack of banana flavour in these malties. Compared to Caramel Shreddies -which are packed with flavour- these are pretty lacklustre. They're nowhere near as banana-ey as the banana mini weetabix, which I think is what I was hoping for. 

I might be tempted in future to try the strawberry malties if they are on the 3 for £3 offer with the other ASDA own brand children's cereals - but they're not currently included. 

For the moment I think I'll stick to their 'Jungle bites' which I reviewed earlier this week.

4/10

Tesco Millionaire's Shortbread Spread

At long last, it's here! Tesco have finally released their Millionaire's Shortbread Spread, following an opinion poll of Tesco's Orchard Members last year.

This product is described as a 'Caramel flavoured and chocolate flavoured biscuit swirl spread.' I LOVE the lotus biscuit spreads, and Tesco's custard cream spread is pretty epic too. I recently bought the Tesco cookie spread but I was a smidgen disappointed by that in comparison. As far as biscuits go, Millionaire's Shortbread has to be king.. So although I already have a pretty well stocked Toast topping cupboard, I couldn't resist this newbie on the market!

The serving suggestion is to top warm waffles or brioche but I don't have any, so I decided to top my crumpets with the Millionaire's Shortbread spread. For anyone who has tried Tesco's Custard cream spread, this is a similar consistency. It's solid at room temperature but the moment it's slathered onto anything warm, it melts pretty swiftly. 

This makes crumpets a particularly good vehicle for this product as all the chocolate caramelly naughtiness oozes into the crumpet's pores.

Mmmmmm... Is all I can really say. It's my favourite of Tesco's spreads to date ( I have a very sweet tooth) and its got to be up there with the Lotus spreads.

9/10.

New Coco Pops Multi-Grain Biscuits

Today I tried the new Coco Pops Multi-Grain biscuits, which I purchased from Asda for £1. The bag contains 5 mini bags of multigrain biscuits at 104 cals per bag. 

Each bag contained about 12 multi-grain biscuits, which I guess are meant to be a "healthy" biscuit snack choice. I love coco pops and so was disappointed at the lack of chocolatey flavour. They tasted rather too much like cardboard for my liking, and more like munching on dry cereal than munching on biscuits. 

Sorry Kellogg's, I'll be sticking to my Cadbury mini dinosaurs when reaching for a mini biscuit bag treat in future. 

5/10