It’s almost time for Halloween again and that means yummy treats for everyone.

The folks at the National Confectioners’ Association were kind enough to send me some treats to try, so I’m sharing them with you. I figured we’d start with the healthier treats, in case any of you want to add something healthy to your Halloween splurge.

First up,the bag of Florida Natural Au’Some Fruit Healthy Treats, which contain a mix of sour strings, nuggets, and stiks. I actually enjoy them all. All three styles come in orange, strawberry, and grape flavors and I like the strawberry the best. Since I love sour stuff, I particularly enjoy the sour strings, although I should warn you that they aren’t terribly sour. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the stiks – they are really tangy and nicely chewy without sticking to your teeth. The nuggets are fun, too, but I thought the orange flavor, in particular, could have a wee bit of vitamin taste to it.

Given that the nuggets and strings are only 50 calories a pack, and the sticks are only 35, these are a guilt-free treat, surprisingly tasty and satisfying. As a bonus, each candy has vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals, so these actually have a health benefit! Since these come in nifty little packets, you can hand them out to your Trick-or-Treaters, or take ‘em to work yourself.

While I was delving into the fruity, chewy goodness, I decided to try Welch’s Island Flavor Fruit Snacks. One serving boasts 100% of your vitamin C DV, and 25% of your A and E. And, at 130 calories per serving, this definitely qualifies for my “healthier Halloween” motif. I’m sorry to say I didn’t enjoy these nearly as much as the Au’some Fruit treats. The flavors were much more bland and had a weird, waxy taste to them. And the texture was odd: not very chewy and kind of powdery. Plus, my sample came in a bag that was too big to share with Trick-or-Treaters, although you could just eat ‘em yourself. If you’re into tropical punch flavors, maybe you’ll dig this, but it wasn’t really my thing.

Last on the list, Candy Coated Sunny Seed Drops by the Sunflower Food & Spice Co, Ltd. Back in June, Nico reviewed the regular Sunny Seed Drops Chocolate Sunflower Seeds, but mine came in Halloween colors with a Halloween-themed tube. Same flavor, but seasonal packaging. How do these stand up to other Halloween treats? Well, I love chocolate and I love sunflower seeds so these made me do the happy dance. The only bad thing I can say about these is that I had a hard time not eating the entire tube. The brightly colored candy shells are incredibly inviting, just begging you to have another handful. These are a little like sunflower M&Ms. I will say the chocolate is quite sweet, but somehow it works with the sunflower seeds. Oh yum! How did I go my whole life so far without having these?

According to the package, sunflower seeds are an excellent source of a number of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber – healthy! There are 130 calories per serving – if you can manage to stop at the serving size, which is 2 tablespoons. Since this came in a good-sized tube, I’m not sure if you’d want to get enough tubes to share with Trick-or-Treaters or not. But I sure do recommend treating yourself because these rocked.

Overall, if you’re looking for a healthier Halloween but don’t want to make your Trick-or-Treaters or yourself feel deprived, I recommend you try either the Au’some Fruits or the Sunny Seed Drops. Yum!

• Au’some Treats Website
• Welch’s Website
• Sunflower Food & Spice Company’s Website

Tung Toos – an interesting concept in the candy world. I remember how popular the temporary tattoos were when I was in junior high. A tattoo for your tongue – a candy tattoo for your tongue? Okay, sounds good! Or so I thought when the makers of Tung Toos offered to send me a sample for review. Unfortunately, I’ve gone down a series of disappointing steps since receiving the package.

First let me point out the positives of Tung Toos. They are visually appealing with bright colors and fun pictures that will draw any kid’s attention. I received three packages – one decidedly meant for girls and two that would be preferred by the boys. The girls’ pack has castles, crowns, magic wands, and the word Princess. The boys’ packs have sports balls – soccer, basketball, baseball, and football – and military vehicles – helicopters, jeeps, tanks, and ships. Since I have three boys and no girls, this was a good mix of Tung Toos for my family.

The idea of having a picture on your tongue – to stick out at all your friends – is, presumably, attractive to the younger set. Personally, I don’t feel the need to stick my tongue out at anyone and don’t want to see other people with their tongues wagging around either. Call me a dud, if you wish….

Now on to my actual experience with Tung Toos. I found the packages themselves extremely hard to get open. Each sheet of Tung Toos is sealed within a plastic envelope – an envelope that has not a single ‘tab’ to facilitate opening. After jerking and pulling at every potential spot, I finally had to cut the pack open. The first set we tried (the sports balls) was actually adhered to the bottom of the envelope. I had to literally rip them free, but this seems to have been a unique mistake in the packaging. The other sheets slid out easily once I cut the envelopes open.

The battle to try the Tung Toos didn’t stop once I freed the sheet of ‘ttoos. The sheet is perforated with two Tung Toos squares per section – each section is sealed in yet another plastic envelope. Oh, the agony! Fortunately, these small envelopes do have a tab that you can rather simply pull to tear open. For some reason, though, the backside of the Tung Toos (where the directions are printed) is actually attached via a light adhesive to the plastic envelope. After more tearing and dropping a very large amount of plastic waste paper onto my carpet, we could at last try the Tung Toos.

Using them isn’t hard at all. You simply lay the ‘ttoo face down on your tongue for a couple seconds and then lift off. The picture left behind is decent and looks reasonably like the picture that was on the paper. If you apply a second Tung Too, however, (and who wouldn’t?) the image is distorted and you end up with a bluish-black blob that looks exactly like you just ate a Charms Blow Pop or a handful of SweeTarts.

Okay, taste. Isn’t that the most important part of candy? Isn’t taste the entire reason we eat candy?

When I laid a Tung Too on my tongue, there was a mild tangy flavor. After I lifted the tattoo paper off and kinda licked around in my mouth, I detected a slightly sweet flavor. Within ten seconds, any hint of flavor was completely gone. Flavor is obviously not the intended drawing point of Tung Toos.

I offered Tung Toos to a 22-year-old friend of mine, who is much more hip & happ’nin’ and up-to-date with fads and being popular than I am. I figured if Tung Toos was appealing in a “youth culture” sort of way (boy, do I feel old talking like this!), he would find the appeal in it. After using one, he said (of the flavor), “That’s just a tease.”

My eight- and five-year-old sons did keep using them (would it make sense to say “eating them”?) for a couple days, but I can’t say they were ever thoroughly enamored. If you were throwing a kid’s birthday party, these would probably make good party favors. But I can’t personally imagine any kid wanting to request them on a regular basis. I figure they’d rather have Fun Dip or Smarties.

• Tung Toos Website

Let’s give a big Candy Addict welcome to Gigi, our first Europe-based writer!

As a Candy Addict, when vying for a sugar fix, gummi bears are fairly low on my list of “candy craving” sweets. On the other hand, if I was asked to buy candy for a large group of people, gummi bears are perfect and probably the safest option, catering to all sugar palates. Gummi bears are tasty, chewy, and a widely popular gummi treat. You know what you’re going to get before you pop one in your mouth.

Recently, while shopping at a market in Munich, Germany, I noticed an interesting spin on the forever palatable gummi bear” Haribo’s Saft Goldbaeren. Naturally, I gave them a whirl. Translated in English, Juice Goldbears are a unique, surprisingly tasty twist on the traditional gummi bear. Claiming 22% fruit juice, Haribo has not only mastered the gummi texture – these bears are soft! – they have made this treat potentially healthy… Seriously?

Haribo, a German candy company founded in 1920 by Hans Riegel Sr., is the largest manufacturer of gummi candy in the world, with its products largely consisting of gummi candies and licorice. 

The bears are larger than traditional gummi bears, making the overall mouth-to-bear ratio enjoyable. Not too small, not too big – just the right size to eat one at a time. (If you’re like me, this is important. If the candy is on the small side, I’ll pop several in my mouth at once creating candy flavor suicide. Not the case here, the bears can be eaten one savory flavor at a time.)

The flavors are refreshing, Himbeer (Raspberry), Apfel (Apple), Limette (Lime), Schwarze Johannisbeere (Blackberry), Birne (Pear), and Pfirsich (Peach). My personal favorite is Blackberry; it has an interesting berry flavor quality – a bit of a kick compared to standard berry flavoring. All Saft Goldbaeren flavors are tasty – uniquely sweet, a little bit tart and overall refreshing; leaving you reaching for more. (I’ve eaten an entire bag while writing this review!)

Compared to the traditional gummi bear, Haribo’s Saft Goldbaeren stand out in a candy crowd. The texture, the flavors, the size, etc. all contribute to making this sweet treat a definite candy “must have.” And, as mentioned before, these candies provide a bit of nourishment: 22% fruit juice in every bag – you can’t go wrong. An unusually nice benefit for us sugar fiends. Thumbs up.

Also of note: Except for the word ‘SAFT’ at the bottom of the bag, the packaging for Saft Goldbaeren and Haribo’s traditional Goldbaeren is the same. Be discerning, or you might miss out on these tasty treats!

• Haribo Website
• Haribo Saft Goldbaeren Promo Site (in German)

While frolicking away inside the candy store, I came across these little boxes of candy. Of course I was drawn in by the pictures of board games on the outside, as Monopoly was and is my favorite board game of all time.

I also noticed there were others as well as Monopoly: Clue, Sorry and Life. So I grabbed these off the shelf and decided to take them home. Doing a little research online about them, I found out they are licensed by Hasbro and are generally sold in a four-pack called Game Night Candy.

Each box of candy shows a picture of the board game it represents and each box is about two inches long, containing a bag of candy inside.

Inside each bag are candy game pieces, specific to each board game. For Clue, there were blue candy wrenches and green candlesticks. Monopoly had pink dogs and green race cars. Life had blue spinners and pink cars, while Sorry had blue and yellow pawns. While some of the pieces looked like obscene adult candies, they could all probably be collectibles someday.

There were about 10-20 pieces of candy in each bag. More than enough to give a proper review, right?

The first thing I noticed was that it was hard candy and it tasted like U.S. Smarties. They had a tart taste to them and the same consistency as Smarties, too. My mom seemed to think they tasted like Pez candy. She didn’t buy me much Pez as a kid, so I can’t say whether I agree or disagree.

Overall, since I love Smarties, I really liked these little candies. Although, I’d probably much rather buy a pack of Smarties instead of searching around for these. Cute idea, though.

Has anyone ever seen or tried this candy? Have you ever used them in place of game pieces you may have lost? How did that work out for you?

Buy Game Night Candy Online:

• at Candy Warehouse

I don’t know what it is with me this spring – first I reviewed Barbie chocolates, and now I’m chowing down with Disney. Courtesy of the All Candy Expo stash, I got to try these whimsical little chocolates before they hit the market.

As it turns out, you get a three-tiered Disney bonanza with these babies.

Flavor: These are surprisingly good milk chocolates. They reminded me of Hershey’s Kisses. The chocolates are a little bit on the sweet side but follow through with a nice solid chocolate flavor with no weird coconut flavor or odd aftertaste. The texture isn’t as creamy as a Kiss; it’s a little more chewy. I was surprised at how satisfying these were – one package was plenty.

Packaging: Leave it to Disney to have decent marketing! These cute babies come in Disney-themed wrappers, with images to appeal to both girls and boys. My wrappers had Disney Princesses on one and a car from Pixar’s Cars on the other. But wait! There’s more! The chocolates themselves were shaped like Disney Princesses and, you guessed it, Cars. I’m so sorry to tell you that I totally fell for it – eating the really cute chocolates somehow makes them more fun.

Calorie Control: For those parents monitoring their kids’ sugar intake, or for those of us monitoring our own sugar intake, these little packs are very convenient.

Overall, I think these will be a hit with big kids and little kids alike. You get plenty of flavor, plenty of whimsy, and a limit on your sugar guilt, all wrapped up with a nice Disney bow.

• Disney Website
• Hershey’s Website

I’m back for Part V of my jelly bean adventure. For some reason Brach’s calls their jelly beans “Classic Jelly Bird Eggs,” but to me they are jelly beans!

When I think of the jelly beans I ate as a kid, the Brach’s jelly beans are what I remember. In terms of flavor, these jelly beans are similar to the Necco jelly beans I reviewed a while back. If you’re looking for super sweet, chewy jelly beans, look no further. Don’t expect any tartness or realistic flavors – these jelly beans are all about the sugar. They’re artificially flavored, sugary goodness in all its glory.

Color: Black, Flavor: Black Licorice – I’ve noticed that they’ve taken the black licorice flavor out of a lot of the modern bags of jelly beans. In fact, of the six bags I’ve reviewed so far for this series, this is the first time I’ve found the flavor. As a kid, the black licorice jelly beans would tend to be ignored by everyone – except me. So I’m delighted to report that black licorice jelly beans still exist and you can find them here in the Brach’s mix. Actually, I found out that Brach’s makes whole bags of just the black licorice flavor – great news for those of us who are black licorice addicts. Expect a really strong black licorice flavor from these jelly beans – yum!

Color: Red, Flavor: Cherry – Did you ever have to take liquid cherry penicillin as a kid? I’m so sorry to tell you that’s what this cherry jelly bean flavor reminded me of. It’s not bitter like the penicillin, but something about the artificial cherry taste sent me right to icky medicine flashbacks. But if you never endured childhood cherry penicillin, the artificial cherry taste should be trauma-free for you.

Color: Yellow, Flavor: Lemon – There’s something a bit wonky with the lemon flavor in this jelly bean. Even with all the sugar, there seemed to be a hint of bitterness to it. Still, if super sugary lemon brightens you day, this is the jelly bean for you.

Color: Pink, Flavor: Strawberry? – Ok, I think the pink jelly beans are supposed to be strawberry but then again maybe they’re cotton candy. The flavor I got was sweet with some kind of faint fruit flavor, so I’m leaning toward strawberry as the flavor. But basically, the sweetness overwhelmed the flavor in the pinks.

Color: Purple, Flavor: Grape – The grape flavor reminded me of grape Kool Aid! Eating the grape jelly beans actually made me smile – it had me harkening back to being a kid in the summer, drinking grape Kool Aid, and eating those sugary grape Popsicles. Needless to say, I really enjoyed these!

Color: Green, Flavor: Lime – Like the lemon, the lime jelly beans have a wee hint of bitterness to them. However, I liked the lime a lot more than the lemon. The flavor had a better balance with the sweetness.

Color: White, Flavor: Pineapple? Coconut? – I’m guessing again, but I think the white flavor is supposed to be pineapple. I remember debating this with my siblings when we were kids and we never really reached a consensus. The white color made me think that maybe it was coconut but there’s a weird tang that makes me think this is supposed to be pineapple. In any event, this is the most unusual flavor in the bag.

Color: Orange, Flavor: Orange – As super sugary orange flavors go, this is pretty good. It didn’t taste as artificial as some of the other flavors and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

So, basically if you want to feed your sugar jones, you might want to check out these jelly beans, er, “jelly bird eggs.” As a bonus, the classic flavors might take you on a nice, nostalgic trip down memory lane.

• Brach’s Website

Buy Brach’s Jelly Bird Eggs Online:

• Amazon.com
• Candy Crate

I come to you today with a Barbie bonanza.

You may notice that our first Barbie is of the non-edible variety. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some Candy Addicts lurking over at Mattel because why else would they come up with a Hershey’s-chocolate-inspired Barbie? The official explanation on Barbie’s box says: “For well over a century, Hershey’s has been the chocolate of choice! Now Barbie doll celebrates the sweet story of Hershey’s excellence.” But I’m sticking to my theory that there are a bunch of chocoholics hanging about at Mattel. Which, by the way, just makes me think that must be a cool place to work even more than I already did.

The Hershey’s Barbie Doll is part of the American Favorites collection. I can see the Hershey’s inspiration in the color and shape of the dress as well as the cute Hershey’s sash – they remind me of a Hershey’s Kiss. For a Barbie collector or a candy memorabilia collector, this doll is a treat!

Now, over in the edible section, we have Dylan’s Candy Bar’s Then & Now Chocolate Square Pack of Barbie milk chocolate squares. The squares feature pictures of different Barbies throughout the years and I gotta tell you some of these Barbies are a hoot. The 1986 Barbie picture had me howling and wincing at the same time. Not that I’m admitting to wearing eye shadow like that – ahem.

Besides being fun to look at, the Dylan’s Barbie chocolates are quite tasty. They’ve got a good chocolate flavor in the same quality ballpark as Cadbury or Dove. However, I found the texture a bit perplexing. It wasn’t bad, it was just a bit weird. The chocolates are kind of chewy and, instead of dissolving quickly in my mouth, they kind of took their time. Since they taste good, it wasn’t a problem for me but I found the slight chewiness a bit disconcerting.

If you like Barbie-themed candies, Dylan’s has an array to choose from – the website gave me the giggles and some great ideas for presents for my niece.

Overall, it’s a good month for Candy Addicts with a Barbie fetish!

• Hershey’s Barbie Website

• Dylan’s Candy Bar Website

One of my favorite meals is a plain old hamburger and fries. So when I saw that the Giant Size Mallow Burger was reviewed, I had to go out and try the Mallow Fries. Because what’s a marshmallow burger without any marshmallow fries, right?

At first look, I like the way they are packaged in a typical fry container. Surprisingly, they even look like fast food french fries – wrinkly ones that have been sitting out for a while that we all seem to have the misfortune of getting in our drive-thru bag.

The fry container holds about ten nice-sized marshmallow fries. It also comes with a packet of sour strawberry candy gel that’s supposed to look like – yep, you guessed it – a packet of ketchup.

As for the Mallow Fries, they have a chewy texture as well as a faint marshmallow taste. They don’t really have that much flavor, which is probably why they included sour strawberry gel. The strawberry gel smelled like sweet candy and was certainly sour. When dipping the Mallow Fries in the gel, it got kind of messy because the gel is sticky and gooey. However, the fries tasted better when eaten with the gel.

The Mallow Fries are fat free, so I guess they are healthier than the real thing. Overall, the Mallow Fries were not that bad. I wasn’t expecting to like them, but I would probably eat them again – if McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Arbys all went out of business.

Buy Mallow Fries Online:

• at Candy Direct
• at Amazon.com

Is there anything to rival the innocent sweetness of a Little Debbie treat? From the extreme simplicity of their classic goodies to their chemist-friendly ingredient lists to the cute little girl whose portrait adorns every box, the brand embodies pure, sugary nostalgia. Ever since the 1960s, when the CEOs of McKee foods decided to name a line of snack cakes after their granddaughter, this line has brightened many a day.

Crossing paths with Debbie at the supermarket or gas station always brings a smile to my face. These chance encounters bring to mind lunchtimes in preschool and kindergarten, during which Debbie and I became acquainted. Those years were simpler for us all, and whether or not we could expect to find something so tasty in the day’s lunchbox seemed an important issue. Too often, the presence or absence of a Swiss Cake Roll would determine my mood for the afternoon.

Yet for whatever reason, my relationship with Little Debbie has become less intimate in recent years. We see each other, sure, but we don’t touch, or (most importantly) taste. I feel at times that the freckled, curly-haired youth and I have grown estranged. So it came as a pleasant surprise one recent evening when my boyfriend arrived carrying an armful of Little Debbie’s beloved Nutty Bars.

Nutty Bars were as beloved in my youth as the previously-mentioned Swiss Rolls. Before I learned to differentiate a trans-fat-and-flavoring combo from chocolate, before I developed a preference for distinctly Reese’s peanut butter and yes, before I’d actually developed much of a candy-palate, the Nutty was my buddy. They may not have been expensive or gourmet, but I didn’t care. The Nutty Bar was sweet, crunchy, and peanut buttery. It left me with enough optimism and energy to see me through until my Mom’s end-of-day arrival – and more to spare.

Warmly anticipating my reunion with Debbie and her Nutty Bar, I opened the familiar box and withdrew a plastic packet containing two bars. Immediately, I became aware of the cynicism I’d accrued over the years. The quadruple-layered peanut butter wafers, enrobed in their barely-there layer of waxen mockolate, now appeared… cheap. Shaking the bars slightly inside their wrapper revealed tracks of “choco”-grease along the plastic. The phenomenon reminded me of dollar-store cinnamon rolls, which made the bars quite a bit less alluring.

But a single bite was all it took to offset the jaded mindset of old age. Once I crunched into those layered wafers, like a perfect Kit Kat/sugar wafer hybrid, I was four again – and happy as could be. Each wafer layer in the Nutty Bar is balanced by a layer of grainy peanut butter paste which I’m sure is more sugar than nut. But you know what? For the purpose of the bar, that particular flavor/texture combo works far more effectively than Reese’s would.

The bar’s mockolate coating tastes slightly waxy, but it doesn’t ruin the bar, considering the coating is approximately 1/100th of a millimeter thick and pretty close to tasteless. This is called a Nutty Bar for a reason – the peanut butter flavor and overall crunch-effect are what matters, not the chocolate. The bar is unsophisticated in both concept and flavor – even a super-taster would be hard-pressed to find subtle secondary notes here. That being said, it tastes darned good no matter your age – particularly if you happen to be a fan of highly-sweetened peanut butter!

As we age, we sometimes tend to eschew the simpler pleasures of youth. This is as true for favorite candies as hobbies. So next time you need a break from the stresses and pressures of modern adult life, break out the finger-paints. Play some vintage video games. Oh, and while you’re at it, call up Debbie and invite her over for a Nutty Bar – you’ll be glad you did.

• Little Debbie Website
• Candy Addict’s Little Debbie 100 Calorie Nutty Bar Review

Buy Little Debbie Snacks Online:

• at Amazon.com

I’m a sucker for traditional Japanese food and art. But when it comes to traditional Japanese entertainments, my reaction is often “I guess this is what happens when people don’t have TV.”

Neri-Ame is clearly a combination of food and amusement. And who doesn’t like to play with their food? So despite my skepticism about what the traditional Japanese apparently found entertaining (Kabuki theater, I am looking at you) I had to know what this was about.

Neri-Ame is a little vial of colored stuff packed with a small pair of wooden chopsticks, and according to our friends at J-list, the deal is that you pour the syrup on the chopsticks and “knead in order to create a fluffy-like texture before you consume.” Your first question is no doubt, how do you get a syrup to stay on a chopstick? This turns out to be not too hard, as this stuff is about as thick as it can get and still be sort of a liquid.

Then there’s the kneading part. I’ve never kneaded anything on the end of a pair of chopsticks. There are picture instructions on the back of the package which are not too helpful, and I can’t read enough of the Japanese, but how much can there be to it? It would obviously defeat the whole purpose of the thing to take out my big electronic dough-mixing appliance. So, no biggie. I smushed and stretched the stuff around for a while.

Eventually, it starts to change color, becoming opaque and a bit thicker and stretchier. I don’t know about fluffy. If you have ever watched taffy being made at the beach I think it’s a bit like that. You can see the contrast in the photo between the thick, opaque lump at the end of the chopsticks and the clear syrup in the vial (and leaking out onto the table, which, by the way, you should try to avoid).

Then there is the part where you get tired of kneading and taste the stuff. Oof. It turns out that the yellow version is banana flavor, and there are few things in the world of candy that I like less than artificial banana flavor. I will say in its favor, though, that despite what you’d probably expect, it’s not overly sweet. This is one of the nice things about Japanese candy – even stuff that looks like a lump of pure sugar is usually way less sweet than is typical of American products.

The pink color was much better. I’m not positive what flavor it was supposed to be, something bubblegummy or fake-strawberry that was perfectly fine and again, not too sweet. It’s such a pleasure to eat something like this that’s just sweet instead of being painfully, overwhelmingly, teeth-achingly sweet.

This was kind of fun, in a simple-minded way. And definitely not as boring as Kabuki theater or those awful songs that geisha sing. Will it tempt your kids away from their electronic devices? Hey, for a few minutes, at a party – or in a power failure – it’s worth a try. And if you decide you’re crazy about the taste the secret is, as far as I can tell, kneading doesn’t change the flavor at all. Just clip the bottle open and pour it in your mouth – and go watch TV.

Buy Neri Ame Online:

• at J-list