Candy Bar Lab

When my boss Andy first heard about this site, he was concerned there aren’t enough candy bars in the world to dedicate a whole blog to. I assured him that there are thousands of different candy bars and that it would take me years to get through the ones I already know about - let alone the thousands I’ve yet to discover.

At my local Target last night, I was reminded of just how many candy bars there are in the world when my girlfriend spotted one I had never seen before - a Ritter Sport with cornflakes in it. I obviously had to pick it up and even though I have a bucket full of bars at home waiting to be reviewed, I decided to eat this one next.

Structure
This is a square, 16 segment bar of molded milk chocolate with whole and crushed pieces of cornflakes incorporated throughout.

Texture
The cornflakes are surprisingly crunchy - much more so than their puffed rice counterparts. The bar breaks apart pretty easily though because there are so many cornflakes packed in. It’s easier to bite through than a regular piece of ordinary chocolate would be, which is nice because Ritter Sport bars are pretty thick.

Taste
Obviously, milk chocolate is the predominant flavor and it’s very good. You don’t really taste the cornflakes at all… at first. If you try really hard though, after the chocolate has subsided, you get a little bit of genuine cornflake taste. It’s interesting, definitely different from anything I’ve ever had.

Verdict
Cornflakes in chocolate is just unique enough that it caught my attention, but not so crazy that it’s a gimmick. This is a really good candy bar and I’d buy it again.

The whole cereal in chocolate thing got me thinking… what other cereals would work? Lucky Charms in white chocolate? Maybe Cinnamon Toast Crunch in milk chocolate? Cheerios in dark chocolate? Leave me some comments. Let me know if there are any cereals you think would be good to put in a candy bar.

I purchased this German candy bar a few weeks ago and have been anxiously waiting to try it out. The excellent packaging for the Ritter Sport product line is the first thing that caught my eye. It’s distinct, simple, and successfully conveys what’s inside - which is a milk chocolate bar “chock full of whole roasted hazelnuts”. They’re not kidding either. Judging by the packaging, there must be 40+ hazelnuts in this bar.

Structure
A square, molded milk chocolate bar with 16 small square segments - each embossed with the Ritter Sport logo. Whole hazelnuts are liberally distributed throughout.

Texture
It’s really thick (enough to conceal the whole hazelnuts), but easy to bite through. The milk chocolate has a nice feel to it; very smooth and not at all grainy. The hazelnuts are nicely toasted and thus, provide a great crunch. Smooth chocolate and crunchy nuts are a classic, heavenly combination and this bar doesn’t disappoint in delivering that combo to it’s fullest potential.

Taste
This is a straightforward, two tone tasting experience. There’s milk chocolate and there’s hazelnuts. Nothing else thrown in to confuse it. The hazelnuts taste fresh, like they were toasted right before being sealed in. The milk chocolate is good, though I noticed it wasn’t intense. In a way that’s good because it balanced well with the hazelnuts, but the chocolate flavor was fleeting. In the end, I think it all worked.

Verdict
This is a very simple, yet really high quality candy bar. Most importantly, the packaging doesn’t lie. There are a lot of hazelnuts in it, so you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. I’d definitely buy more of the milk chocolate with hazelnut bars, but I’m also going to try to get my hands on the 22 other Ritter Sport varieties.