Candy Bar Lab

I’ve been telling people for a while that I make candy bars. However, I’m not sure everyone believed me. While I’ve eaten my own creations and frequently shared with my girlfriend and family, I hadn’t shared with many others (namely, my co-workers). So, I decided I was going to make some to bring into the office. The one that seemed to be the biggest hit was the Peanut Butter Caramel Peanut Bar shown below. I know… that’s not a very creative name, but I was just going for something descriptive, not catchy.

Here’s how I made it.

Step 1: Making Peanut Butter Caramel
Start by making a batch of soft caramel. Once you’re done, let it sit for a few minutes to cool down a little. Then, mix in a half cup of creamy, natural peanut butter. Let it melt and stir gently to fully incorporate.

Step 2: Preparing Peanuts
I used three different versions of peanuts - all derived from the same jar of dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts. First, I chopped about 1/4 cup in a nut chopper. Second, I left about 1/4 cup untouched. Third, I baked 1/3 cup at 350 degrees on a baking for about 10 minutes that had been coated in a slurry of water, sugar, and salt. When I was done, I mixed all of these together with the Peanut Butter Caramel and let sit until it was at room temperature.

Step 3: Tempering Chocolate
You must temper chocolate. Otherwise it’ll be soft, grainy, and discolored. I won’t get into the specifics of how to do it here, but there are a ton of resources available on the internet that will help you figure it out. Here’s a good place to start.

Note: I used dark chocolate, but milk chocolate would have worked just as well.

Step 4: Assembly
The center is very soft, so I decided to use a mold to construct this bar. You’ll need something with a big enough cavity to fit the caramel and peanuts. I have one about the size of a regular Snickers bar, so I went with that. Coat each cavity of the mold the tempered chocolate. I’ve seen recommendations to use a pastry brush, but I prefer to use a small spoon and gravity to evenly coat everything. If there’s excess chocolate in a cavity, either let it pour out or coerce it out with the spoon. Once the cavities are lined, let the chocolate sit until it has hardened enough to be filled.

The center at room temperature is almost the consistency of cookie dough, though a little softer. I took out about a tablespoon of filling and rolled it first into a ball and then into a log about the length of the bar. I pressed this down lightly into the mold, so it filled in all of the space. After a couple of bars, you’ll get a sense for how much it takes to fill the mold.

Finally, after you’ve filled all the molds with the peanut butter caramel, top each one with a small spoonful of tempered chocolate. I used an offset spatula to smooth everything down, so it was flush with the mold. Let the bars sit for while until everything sets up and they’re ready to be unmolded.

A couple years ago, I volunteered to make a few hundred little chocolate hearts for my girlfriend’s sister’s wedding. I had just learned to temper chocolate, but I was confident I could pull it off. Well, it was the middle of summer and the air conditioning decided to break in my apartment the weekend I had to make these chocolates. The humidity and 90 degree temperature in my kitchen that Saturday completely thwarted my futile efforts to temper chocolate and I was forced to travel to Burlington, Vermont (the site of the wedding) with nothing to show for my efforts.

We get there and my girlfriend suggests we buy the chocolate hearts from Lake Champlain chocolates, which was nearby. This saved the day. They were absolutely delicious; some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had.

Last week, a co-worker of mine (thanks Clinton) picked up a Lake Champlain candy bar for me and ironically, it had melted and cracked a bit in storage and transit from the store to me. Unlike my chocolate hearts effort however, this chocolate was salvageable. After a couple days of sitting in my kitchen, it was back to full health and ready to be eaten.

Structure

A six-segment, molded bar of milk chocolate with small pieces of raw almonds and sea salt spread throughout.

Texture
The milk chocolate is really smooth. It is amazing how different top-quality milk chocolate is from something like a Hershey’s Bar - they shouldn’t even be considered the same thing. Bad milk chocolate can be grainy - great milk chocolate is just so smooth (I can’t think of a better description). But besides the chocolate, there’s some great crunchiness from the salt and almonds. The sea salt crystals are definitely more noticeable, but the small bits of almond provide some depth of texture.

Taste
The milk chocolate is again the star - it tastes so smooth (I’m not creative today with my adjectives). The flavor lasts really long too - another sign of high-quality chocolate. They weren’t skimpy at all with the salt. If you don’t like heavily salted foods, you might be turned off by this candy bar. On the other hand, if you’re like me, you’ll love the combination.

Verdict
This bar is making me rethink my previous belief that I preferred dark chocolate over milk. Done this well, milk chocolate is amazing. The inclusion of saltiness makes it even better; heightening it’s flavor. Even though this was an expensive bar ($2.60 for 1.25 ounces), it would have been well worth it had I bought it myself (thanks again Clinton).

This is a limited edition bar that, to be honest, is more about the marketing than the actual product. It was made to promote the upcoming release of the new Indiana Jones movie. But to Mars credit, instead of just printing some Indiana Jones graphics on a regular Snickers bar package, they at least tried something new to match the theme of the movie. This change… to add coconut and chai flavoring.

Now, I understand going with coconut, but I was a little confused why they would add chai. In my ignorance, I thought chai meant “tea-flavored”. So I looked it up on Wikipedia and it turns out “chai spices” refers to a mixture of warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, etc. Well that made a little more sense to me, but I was still a little skeptical how that would taste in a Snickers.

Structure
The center is a layer of nougat topped with a layer of caramel and peanuts; all enrobed in milk chocolate.

Texture
Texturally, it’s identical to a standard Snickers, which means it’s really good. There’s chewy nougat and caramel with crunchy peanuts. All of the textures are perfectly balanced.

Taste
When I first bit in, it tasted exactly like a regular Snickers. It took a second or two for the coconut aftertaste to hit. It’s very subtle, but tastes pretty good actually. After a few more bites, I started noticing cinnamon coming through. All the flavors actually went together surprisingly well. Though it’s good they didn’t add too much of these exotic flavors - it would have detracted from the inherent greatness of a Snickers too much.

Verdict
The coconut and cinnamon flavors are an interesting change of pace from a regular Snickers. This is a limited edition bar that while I liked it, I’m glad it’s not a permanent offering. I recommend to go out and pick one up - it’s worth tasting for yourself.

This is a limited edition Snickers bar that has peanut butter. I’ll be honest… even before I try this out, I’m about 99% sure it’s going to be awesome based on that description alone. I know I’m probably biased; but seriously, this sounds like a can’t miss combination of flavors to me.

Before we get to the tasting though, what’s the deal with the name “Nut ‘n butter Crunch”? Why couldn’t they have just chosen “Peanut Butter Crunch”? That sounds like a tasty name to me. What is “Nut ‘n butter” anyway? Whatever, I’ll let it slide if this bar turns out to be as good as I expect it to be.

Structure
The center is peanut butter nougat with peanuts mixed throughout - all enrobed in a milk chocolate shell.

Texture
This is a nice, heavy bar. It’s chewy and satisfying just like the commercials promise. In general, it’s very similar to a regular Snickers bar, though it’s a bit drier.

Taste
There’s something very distinctive about the Snickers taste. Even when they mix up the ingredients, it still comes across as uniquely Snickers. Where this deviates from tradition though is the subtle peanut butter flavor. It’s also a little saltier than usual, which is completely fine by me (I love sweet and salty together). The whole bar is nicely balanced. It doesn’t come across as a primarily peanut butter product like a Reese’s, but the peanut butter is definitely noticeable.

Verdict
Snickers Nut ‘n butter Crunch is a definite winner. I’m only disappointed that it’s a limited edition bar. If you see one in the store, definitely pick it up and give it a try.

This limited edition bar is essentially a plain old Snickers with the addition of some chemicals that are supposed to “charge” you up. These boosters include caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins. Now, I understand the addition of caffeine to generate this effect - it’s a psychoactive stimulant. On the other hand, I’m disappointed they decided to add taurine. Despite being found in a bunch of energy drinks, it actually does nothing to boost energy. It was popularized by Red Bull (they like it because the word is derived from taurus - the Latin word for bull). Mars is using taurine for the marketing angle only.

In the end, if Charged tastes like a regular Snickers, but delivers a kick of caffeine, it’s a success. My concern however, is that caffeine has a notoriously bitter taste.

Structure
The center is a layer of nougat topped with a layer of caramel and peanuts; all enrobed in milk chocolate. Caffeine, taurine and B vitamines are presumably incorporated into the caramel (though I can’t confirm this).

Texture
Texturally, it’s identical to a standard Snickers, which means it’s really good. There’s chewy nougat and caramel with crunchy peanuts. All of the textures are perfectly balanced.

Taste
I was curious to see if my discerning palate would be able to catch a hint of the bitterness from the caffeine. Well, it turns out the bitterness isn’t subtle at all. A couple seconds after my first bite (which tasted great - like a regular Snickers), the aftertaste poked through. It was like the taste of chewing aspirin. I know because I could legally drink before I could swallow pills and so I chewed more than my fair share of pills growing up. Anyway, it’s not a good thing. It’s very bitter and takes about 10 seconds to go away. A real disappointment. Though, I will say that the positives of being a delicious Snickers outweighed the negatives of the aftertaste to the extent that I did finish the whole bar.

Verdict
I don’t know why anyone would choose to eat this over a regular Snickers. The benefit of a minor caffeine jolt isn’t worth the downside of the bad, bitter aftertaste. There are a number of good tasting protein bars (including Snickers brand ones) that are healthier and provide real energy - not just a kick.

I was really excited to try this bar out. The packaging describes it as milk chocolate, peanuts, and caramel. That sounds like an awesome, simple combination that’s different from any of the mainstream candy bar options in the US. The closest I could think of was the limited edition Snickers Xtreme, which I hadn’t tried.

Structure
The center is caramel with chopped peanuts and crispies (not mentioned on the packaging) mixed throughout. The whole bar is enrobed with milk chocolate.

Texture
The milk chocolate is soft and mostly imperceptible. The “caramel” center is dry and chewy. I put caramel in quotes because I’m not sure it was actually caramel. It was dense like a nougat. The peanut bits were soft and scarce. Disappointingly, there were more crispies than peanuts.

Taste
The chocolate was again an afterthought. The caramel center doesn’t have much depth of flavor - just sweetness and vanilla. The whole bar has a weird aftertaste that lingers for a few seconds after each bite. The peanuts don’t deliver any roasted peanut flavor. This is all a detailed way of saying I was disappointed in the flavor.

Verdict
This is a big pass for me. On paper, milk chocolate, caramel, peanuts and crispies should all go together very well, but the Starbar just doesn’t taste very good and the caramel center is too thick and grainy. I’d recommend a Snickers Cruncher if you’re looking for something similar.