Twilight Candy Bar

For the past week I have been out of town, in Florida actually, hence the lack of new entries. But now that I'm home, I have finally decided to review the Go Max Go Twilight candy bar. This is the vegan equivalent of a Milky Way. It is described as caramel and chocolatey nougat with a rice-milk chocolatey coating. Upon opening, there are some obvious physical abnormalities. The chocolate is speckled with a white-ish substance. I'll admit it is kind of freaky and I've never encountered an issue with these bars before. However, it was entirely sealed and therefore hardly inedible.

The caramel is soft and sweet with a sort of buttery flavor. The chocolatey nougat tastes the same as in the Buccaneer though maybe a bit less chewy. The rice-milk chocolate coating is deliciously sweet and melty and the whole combination is really terrific flavor-wise. My only issue, as with the buccaneer bar, is the lack of texture. I wish there were some sort of crunch to these like in the Jokerz.

Ingredients (Vegan): Corn syrup, Beet sugar, Evaporated cane juice, Palm kernel oil, Palm oil, Cocoa powder (natural and alkalized), Rice powder (rice syrup powder, rice starch, rice flour, carrageenan), Soy protein concentrate, Dextrose, Natural flavors, Soybean lecithin, Salt, Malt powder (extract of barley malt and corn), Enzyme modified soy protein, Carrageenan.

Nutrition: A serving is 60 grams or one bar. 250 calories per serving, 80 calories from fat. Total fat 9g, Saturated fat 5g, Sodium 85mg, Total carbohydrate 42g, Dietary fiber 1g, Sugars 29g, Protein 1g.

As I said, my only complaint is the texture thing, but then again this isn't a new candy bar, just a veganized version of something classic. So, overall I find this bar pretty delicious and totally satisfying. I am interested to see if Go Max Go comes out with any other rice-milk chocolate confections. This one is a solid 9 out of 10.

Candy Deferred

Well, I have been putting off the Twilight Candy Bar review for a while now though I'm not sure why. Anyway, today is no exception. In the meantime however, I've created some super sweet indulgences. My sister was home from school to celebrate her birthday, so I decided to spice up some traditional cupcakes. That's right, I decided on tie-dye cupcakes. All I did was color the same batter six different colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) in six different bowls. Then, starting with either the red or purple as the base, I layered my way though the rainbow, filling the cups about 1/2 to 3/4 full.

I left half unfrosted because the colors were so stunning. However, frosting in my opinion, is a vital addition to cupcakes, or any cake for that matter (hence the half frosted).

I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with their prettiness. And of course they were a huge hit with the fam. If you have the time and patience for these, I swear they impress. Just use your favorite yellow or white cake recipe and some food dye (vegan of course).

Buccaneer Candy Bar

As I continue my reviews of veganized candy bars, I decided today was the day for the Buccaneer. This candy bar by Go Max Go Foods is the vegan alternative to a 3 Musketeers. It is described as chocolately nougat with a rice-milk chocolatey coating. The first difference I notice between this and the Jokerz is the shape. The Buccaneer is rounder, more log-shaped whereas the Jokerz is more of a rectangle shape.

The first bite is soft and chewy. It is very sweet with warm cocoa tones, kind of like hot cocoa. It becomes enjoyably grainy as it dissolves. I wouldn't say these are just like a 3 Musketeers because I haven't had one of those in years. I do however remember them having a lighter chocolatey center. The center in this candy bar is more chewy than fluffy. Thats definitely not a bad thing in my book.

Ingredients (Vegan): Beet sugar, Corn syrup, Evaporated cane juice, Palm kernel oil, Cocoa powder (natural and alkalized), Rice powder (rice syrup powder, rice starch, rice flour, carrageenan), Palm oil, Malt powder (extract of barley malt and corn), Enzyme modified soy protein, Salt, Natural flavors, Soybean lecithin.

Nutrition: A serving is 57g (one bar). 230 calories, 60 calories from fat, Total fat 7g, Saturated fat 6g, Sodium 75mg, Total carbohydrate 43g, Dietary fiber 1g, Sugars 33g, Protein 1g.

These have the least calories of all the bars and only 26% of the total calories are from fat (Jokerz is about 46% fat). I really enjoyed this but found it to be lacking in texture. I couldn't finish the whole bar because it was so rich. The flavor is great though. I rate this a 9 out of 10.

Jokerz Candy Bar

Go Max Go Foods is a relatively new company that makes a line of vegan candy bars. These implicitly imitate some of the most popular mainstream chocolate bars of nonvegan candy lovers. The four bars are Jokerz (like a Snickers), Twilight (like a Milky Way), Buccaneer (like a 3 Musketeers), and Mahalo (like an Almond Joy). I received the first three in my stocking at Christmas and was never so inclined to buy a Mahalo as I never actually enjoyed Almond Joys in my pre-vegan days. These can be found at Wegmans for about $2.00 each. They can also be ordered online at veganessentials.com.

The first thing i notice after taking a bite is the fresh roasted peanut taste. After that subsides, the caramel which has a very slight pull and grainy texture (or maybe the grain is from the nougat) comes through. The caramel is sweet, sugary, and kind of buttery (with a nice hint of salt). The rice milk chocolate is delicious, kind of cool on the tongue but has very little cocoa notes (I don't mind). The nougat is delicious too, chewy and sweet. You can only imagine how everything tastes together. It's just how I remember a Snickers bar.. minus all the guilty feelings :) I also for some reason remember Snickers being a bit drier.

Ingredients (Vegan): Corn syrup, Peanuts (dry roasted), Beet sugar, Evaporated cane juice, Palm kernal oil, Cocoa powder (natural), Palm oil, Rice powder (rice syrup powder, rice starch, rice flour, carrageenan), Soy protein concentrate, Dextrose, Natural flavors, Malt powder (extract of barley malt and corn), Soybean lecithin, Salt, Carrageenan, Enzyme modified soy protein.

Nutrition: A serving is 60g (or one bar). 280 calories per serving, 130 calories from fat, Total fat 15g, Saturated fat 6g, Sodium 95mg, Total carbohydrate 33g, Dietary fiber 2g, Sugars 22g, Protein 5g.

So, this is by no means a light treat. It's actually quite fattening. However this is candy so who cares? After all it is vegan, there is no cholesterol (obviously), there is no contribution to animal cruelty, and it is absolutely delicious. I can't wait to review the other two bars. It would be cool if these came in smaller sizes and maybe dark chocolate varieties. Overall though, I have no complaints. I rate this a 10 out of 10.

Butterscotch Discs

These hard candies are Great Value brand, bought at Walmart for $1.00. They are simply those traditional butterscotch flavored disc candies that come in the yellow cellophane wrappers. I am kind of on a hard candy kick lately. Anyway, I though these were a bargain, 1 pound for 1 dollar. Product of Canada.

These are sweet but not overly so and immediately butterscotch-y. They also have a faint hint of salt which I really enjoy. Sweet and salty is one of my favorite combinations. This kind of hard candy is the perfect kind for chomping. Unlike candies such as Jolly Ranchers, these, and candies similar to it, have less resistance to molars. In my opinion this is good as I enjoy crunching on hard candies.

Ingredients: Corn syrup, Sucrose, Salt, Artificial flavor, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40.

Nutrition: A serving is 3 pieces. 60 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, Total carbohydrate 15g, Sugars 11g.

They taste is enjoyable, the texture is good but too many might make your tongue bleed (well thats possible with any "sucking" candy). You probably can't beat the price. Overall a 7 out of 10.

Brach's Soda Poppers

These are small cylindrical hard candies with a chewy, liquid-like center. I got these in my never-ending pick a mix bag from Wegmans. I have never seen them sold any other place. The flavors are popular soda flavors made by Coca-Cola but the candies are Brach's (a brand of Farley and Sathers). I guess there's not much more to say about these other than I thought they looked interesting.

A&W Root Beer- This is dark brown and was broken when I unwrapped it. It has a light root beer flavored outside with a more intense center. It is sweet but with a little interesting spiciness to it. It doesn't necessarily taste like a bottle of rootbeer, but is enjoyable nonetheless.

7up- This tastes like 7up. Maybe a little tangier and definitely more lime than lemon. It is slightly green. The center is chewy and the whole candy is kind of refreshing.

Orange Crush- This tastes kind of like an orange cream soda. The color is surprisingly orange (sarcasm). The center has a bit more of a citrus tang to it but not much. Not my favorite one.

Dr. Pepper- This is dark reddish-maroon in color. I must say, it is not very close to Dr. Pepper. Much more cherry-ish than the soda tastes. Not bad.. just not Dr Pepper.

Ingredients: Corn syrup, Sugar, Citric acid, Natural and artificial flavors, Artificial colors (caramel color, red #40, red #3, blue #1, yellow #6, yellow #5)

Nutrition: One serving is 3 pieces. 70 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, Total carbohydrate 17g, Sugars 12g.

I think these are a nice twist on traditional hard candies, especially root beer barrels. They are good, but not good enough for me to buy again. I rate these a 5 out of 10.

Atomic Fire Ball

Atomic Fire Balls are made by Ferrara Pan, also maker of Lemon-heads (and friends). These are basically spicy cinnamon flavored jawbreakers. By spicy I mean these are hot, almost unbearable. When we were younger, my sister could eat these no problem while I took hours to finish one. I couldn't hold one on my tongue for very long so I am curious as to how I will handle these now.

Well, for the first few seconds it is bland, but almost immediately becomes a "ball of fire." I have to move it around in my mouth a lot to avoid a burning feeling. Maybe I am just a baby but I don't think I am exaggerating the extent of the spiciness. I am determined to keep it in my mouth though. For a while I tuck it into the side of my cheek. When I move it back onto my tongue it is quite sweet. I think these have layers of spicy and then layers of sweet because after about 30 seconds it goes back to that spicy flavor. Steering away from flavor for a second, the texture is very smooth and dissolves very evenly. When the jawbreaker is maybe half of its original size, it tastes purely of sugar. I eventually crush it with my molars.

Ingredients: Sucrose, Corn starch, Artificial flavor, Gum acacia, Carnauba wax, Red 40 lake.

Nutrition: A serving is one piece. 40 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, Total carbs 11g, Sugars 8g.

I really unexpectedly enjoyed this. It woke up my taste buds, almost made me sweat, and rewarded me with a sweet and mellow center. These are fun for kids (or any candy lover) and just one is very satisfying. I rate them an 8 out of 10.

Valentine Dots

Dots are made by Tootsie and are most commonly found in miniature boxes of mixed candy, or movie theatre boxes. This is a movie theatre box and the new valentine flavors (instead of the classic cherry, strawberry, lemon, orange, and lime) are cherry, vanilla, and passion fruit. Passion fruit is new to me, I'm not really sure what it is. Wikipedia says it is a species of passion flower that is native to Brazil and Argentina. It is yellow or dark purple (why are these gumdrops pink?) and has a juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. It can be grown to eat or used for its juice. Interesting. The box is cute with a bunch of red and pink hearts and a display of five gumdrops on the front. These look like the vanilla bottom part should be about 2/3 of the gumdrop, but as you can see from the photos it turns out to be not even 1/2. Maybe 1/3? I got them at the Christmas Tree Shops for $0.95.

The texture of dots is much thicker and stickier than regular gumdrops. If you don't like candy getting stuck to the sides of your teeth, these are not for you.

cherry/vanilla (red/white): At first it tastes exactly like a regular cherry dot. But after some chewing the vanilla becomes evident. I enjoy the flavor of these a lot. Fruity yet mellow. These sort of remind me of cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper.

passion fruit/vanilla (pink/white): These taste kind of floral. Actually, like floral shower gel. I feel like i am eating soap now. Blech. Maybe some people like this flavor. Maybe I could get used to it? For now I will just eat around these ones.

Ingredients: Corn syrup, Sugar, Modified food starch, Artificial and natural flavors, Malic acid, Titanium dioxide, Sodium citrate, Artificial colors (including FD&C red 40, yellow 5).

Nutrition: A serving is 11 dots. 130 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, Sodium 15mg, Total carbohydrates 33g, Sugars 21g.

These are cute for the upcoming holiday, but I'd personally prefer the classic dots. If they sold boxes of just cherry/vanilla I'd definitely buy them, but overall not worth the trouble of possibly mistaking a pink for a red.. I rate these a 5 out of 10.

Smarties

The US version of Ce De smarties differs dramatic-ally from the UK version of Nestle smarties. These are pale little tablets of dextrose (sugar) with a slightly tangy bite whereas UK smarties are candy coated chocolate pieces (very much like m&ms). The smarties website says these are made in the USA but my little roll says made in Canada. I bought these in my pick a mix from Wegmans, but usually they sell a 7oz (?) bag at any dollar or grocery store for $1.00.

These are not new to me but I felt that they deserved a place among this blog. Although they are colored differently, there are no distinct flavor differences (unless you have super taste buds maybe). These are mostly sweet, a little tangy, and a lot chalky. I enjoy them when in need of a quick and light burst of sweetness.

Ingredients: Dextrose, Citric Acid, Calcium Stearate, Artifical Flavors and Colors (Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake)

A serving size is one roll of 15 tablets. 25 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, 6g carbohydrate, 6g sugar.

I find these are great for almost anyone. They are free of common allergens so maybe a good choice for halloween treats or party favors. A reasonable amount of sugar and no fat, enjoyable flavor, inexpensive, easy to find. I personally wouldn't choose these over something like dark chocolate but they are versatile for many occasions. My mom (a teacher) keeps these in her desk at school as a simple reward for students. I rate these a 7 out of 10.

Jordan White Almonds

These candy coated almonds are a typical favor at weddings. The kind I have are generic and bought in bulk from wegmans (one of my favorite stores if you haven't noticed). They are $4.49 a pound, I got .07 pounds which turned out to be $0.31. Quite the deal I thought for a sweet treat of 7 of these babies. These are not a good candy for munchers as it is impossible to chew these unless you have sucked for quite some time. On the other hand, these may be good for those trying to cut back a bit on candy and looking for the nutritional punch of something like almonds all while enjoying something sweet. Just a thought. These are made in the USA.

When I untied the bag I got a nice whiff of artificial vanilla (vanillin) which I actually enjoy. I popped one in my mouth and just out of curiosity, tried to chomp it. No use. So after at least 5 minutes of sucking on pure sugar (with a hint of vanillin), I bit down again. This time the candy and almond crunched into a sweet vanilla/mildly nutty mixture. The almond is soft and all the crunch comes from the sugary coating.

Ingredients: Sugar, Almonds, Gum, Flour, Vanillin, Titanium dioxide, Certified color, Carnuba wax.

Since I bought these in bulk, I had no information on nutrition. I did consult caloriecount.about.com and this is what they have to say: A serving is 13 pieces. 180 calories per serving, 54 calories from fat, Total fat 6g, Saturated fat .5g, Sodium 5mg, Total carbohydrates 32g, Dietary fiber 1g, Sugars 29g, Protein 3g.

These are a pretty simple candy which come in a variety of colors (and maybe even different flavors?). I enjoyed the dissolving and crunching process and the flavor and texture definitely appeal to me. I'll probably never crave these but its nice to try new things. I rate them a 6 out of 10.

Chick-O-Stick

These are a delicious little confection of crispy crunchy peanut butter and coconut. I picked up a bag at the Dollar Tree for $1. They are made by Atkinson's and proudly in the USA. I have seen them in three sizes: the original candy bar sized stick, individual bite sized pieces (what I have), and movie theatre boxes filled with little ball-like bites.

I honestly can't get enough of the flavor/texture combo. They are like what I remember butterfingers tasting like (minus the chocolate of course). Crispy sweet and salty peanutty flavor rolled in toasted coconut. Yum. I am not a big coconut person and I love these. The bright orange color is kind of bizarre.. but the pros outweigh the cons with these perfect craving quenching morsels.

Ingredients: Sugar, Corn syrup, Peanut butter (contains fresh ground dry roasted peanut, salt, BHT to maintain freshness), Toasted coconut (contains sodium metabisulfite- a preservative), Citric acid, Sodium bicarbonate, Titanium dioxide, Natural & artificial flavors, Color includes yellow #5, red #3, red #40, and blue #1, Soy lecithin.

A serving size is 3 pieces. 80 calories per serving, 20 calories from fat, Total fat 2g, Saturated fat .05g, Sodium 30mg, Total carbohydrate 14g, Sugars 9g.

So I'll admit some of those ingredients are a little scary. But, this candy is on Peta's "Accidentally Vegan" list. The rattling off of artificial colors explains the unnaturally vibrant orange. However, these in my opinion, are delicious, relatively easy to find, and inexpensive. A 9 out of 10.

Dark Chocolate Crisps

These are like swoops which I haven't seen on shelves in ages. Basically they are pringle shaped dark chocolates with little rice crispies embedded throughout. They are Trader Joe's brand, guess where I got them. (Trader Joe's duh).

I think these are better to chew than to melt on the tongue because the crispies get loose and wander aimlessly through my mouth which I don't enjoy. However, I have tried eating these both ways and the chocolate has a nice melt but I can't stand having those little crispies just floating around. I like the dark chocolate flavor and when chewed, the crispies add an interesting texture though they are smaller than regular puffed rice crisps typically found in chocolate. The rice crispy bits add very little to the overall flavor, maybe a pinch of saltiness, but not enough to make a huge difference in the flavor of the chocolate.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor, puffed rice (rice flour, sugar, barley malt extract, salt, calcium carbonate, rapeseed oil, soy lecithin.

Nutrition facts: Serving size is 12 pieces, 3 servings per container, 220 calories, 120 calories from fat, Total fat 13g, Saturated fat 8g, Total carbohydrate 22g, Dietary fiber 3g, Sugars 17g, Protein 3g.

These are nice, not my favorite, but I will have no problem eating the whole box. 7 out of 10.

Jelly Gummi Bears

Vegan, organic, and gluten free Let's Do... Organic Jelly Gummi Bears are distributed by Edward and Sons Trading Company Inc. They are a product of Germany but one side is in English, the other in French. The box, which seems a bit jumbled design-wise, contains four bags of gummi bears. The bags contain 8-10 gummi bears which must be randomly packaged because I had to open two bags just to sample all four colors.

Both packages smelled the same when opened despite the fact that one bag contained 6 green bears (out of 8) and the other, 4 red 3 yellow and 3 orange. The scent was apple juice. Not the fresh kind, the kind that comes in a lunch sized box.

These are nothing like what I remember gummi bears being like. First off, they are coated in sugar which reminds me of gumdrops, second, the texture due to lack of gelatin (not a complaint), is more jelly than gummi. The package does say Jelly Gummi Bears.

green: Hm, green apple. Nothing amazing.

yellow: I was expecting lemon but found it to be a sweet, apple-ish but not green apple, more like apple juice taste. No tang, it starts tasting like fake banana but that could be the yellow color playing with my mind as there are no artificial colorings or flavorings.

orange: Overly sweet orange juice from concentrate.

red: Sweet and very slightly tangy. No distinct fruit flavor.

Ingredients: Dehydrated cane juice*, Corn malt syrup*, Juice Concentrates (may contain apple, apricot, aronia, carrot, cranberry, elderberry, lemon, or red beet)*, Spinach powder*, Apple pectin, Citric acid, Natural fruit flavors.

*Organic Ingredients

Nutrition Facts: Serving size is one bag, four servings per container. 80 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, 15mg sodium, 22g carbohydrate, 18g sugar.

I am not impressed with these. I do enjoy the pre-packaged serving size but how can a serving size be one bag if the first bag had 8 bears and the next 10? I like that they are all natural and organic and they are cute, but not my cup of tea. I rate them a 4 out of 10.