Candy Bar Lab

A lot of bars have been released under the Snickers brand - Cruncher, Almond, Peanut Butter, Hazelnut, Maximus, Xtreme, and more. You’d think sometime before last year, Mars would have thought to slap some dark chocolate on the world’s best selling bar. Maybe they were waiting for the American palette to come around on dark chocolate.

Whatever the reason for the delay, I could not have been more excited when I started seeing commercials for the Snickers Dark. But for reasons as inexplicable as Mar’s, I personally waited a while before trying out Snickers Dark. Considering classic Snickers has always been my favorite bar and that I prefer dark over milk chocolate, I had high expectations going in.

Strucure
The middle is a nougat layer topped with layer of peanuts and caramel. The core is completely enrobed with dark chocolate.

Texture
Classic Snickers bars are great because they have perfect balance between all of their components textures. Snickers dark is no exception with its chewy nougat, soft caramel, and crunchy peanuts. Interestingly, the dark chocolate is very soft. It doesn’t have the typical snap you may expect from other dark chocolates. This is a long-winded way of saying that Snickers Dark retains the exact same textures as its milk chocolate sibling.

Taste
The bitterness of the dark chocolate definitely alters how you perceive the rest of the ingredients. Most notably, the saltiness of the peanuts is accentuated. I was delighted to discover how long the chocolate flavor lasts, more so than milk chocolate in the regular version.

Verdict
In one of the least surprising conclusions you’ll ever read about on this blog, I’m giving this bar a big thumbs up. I was not able to personally decide if I like dark better than milk chocolate Snickers, but I’m certain that I love them both.

Following up on my earlier review of the Reese’s Crispy Crunchy bar, I’m breaking down another Reese’s product; Whipps. This product bills itself as “lighter than air, but a whole lot tastier”. We’ll see about that.

Structure
The inner core is peanut flavored nougat, which is surrounded first by a thin layer of peanut butter and second by a coating of milk chocolate.

Texture
The soft, thin chocolate coating is barely perceptible upon biting in and the next layer of peanut butter below is a little dry. The inner nougat mass accounts for most of the bar’s texture. The nougat is soft and airy. It becomes chewy for a split second before dissolving. Whipps feel very similar to a 3 Musketeers.

Taste
The favor profile is very straight-forward; peanut butter and vanilla (the chocolate never showed up). The peanut butter flavor is much lighter than other Reese’s products, which isn’t a necessarily bad thing. Ultimately, what makes the bar work for me is that its not too sugary. Even though it delivers only a mild hint of peanut butter, it still manages to come through.

Verdict
This bar is simple in both texture and taste. I will acknowledge that it is a whole lot tastier than air, but I won’t go much further. With that said, I enjoyed Whipps and recommend them if you like 3 Musketeers and peanut butter. I’ve seen some very negative reviews of this bar, so I might be in the minority, but I wanted more when I was done. Ultimately, that’s the only thing that should matter when evaluating candy.