Candy Bar Lab

Bounty Bars used to be sold in the U.S. - up until sometime in the 90’s. I guess they were losing the domestic coconut candy bar battle to Mounds, so now you’ll have to look internationally to find one. Someone was nice enough to bring me this particular bar back from Argentina.

The first thing I noticed was the packaging. I love it. It’s very tropical and has kind of a 50’s tiki thing going. Another subtle touch that I appreciated was that the Bounty logo is repeatedly imprinted into the chocolate on the bottom of the bar (sorry, I should have snapped a picture of it). Imprinted logos on molded bars is common, but I’m not sure if that detail can be found on any other enrobed bars.

Structure
Two segments of shredded, raw coconut enrobed in milk chocolate.

Texture
This has a pretty thick chocolate shell and a soft center. Together, I think these two qualities compliment each other well. However, I had a problem with the center. It was rather dry and grainy - not as good as I was hoping for.

Taste
Besides the chocolate and coconut, I noticed a lot of vanilla flavor. It’s a bit disappointing that none of these coconut bars use any toasted coconut. I imagine that it would provide a deeper, more complex flavor to the whole bar. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of Samoas (Girl Scout Cookies), which is one of the great cookies of all time.

Verdict
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this bar that much. I say this is sad because I WANTED to like it more. The packaging is so appealing and they have a cool factor because they’re retro in the U.S. now. All in all, I’d eat another one of these if you handed me one, but I’d reach for a Mounds (or better yet, an Almond Joy) next time instead.

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.