I have always been a bake-it-from scratch kind of girl. Until I had three kids, and then I had to get lax on my from-scratch snobbiness and face reality. With three little whirlwinds in the household, scratch-baking just isn’t gonna happen. I don’t want to cheat my kids of the joy of cookie baking (one of my fondest childhood memories), so I picked up a few Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mixes to make with them. There are dozens of ways to hack the mix and make just about any kind of cookie imaginable. Of course, I had to combine my love of candy with the mix to see what happened.

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Did you know that houses with black shutters are 77 percent more likely to hand out Kit Kats than other houses? Yeah, me neither. Weird. If I had a black shutters (or even a house, for that matter), I’d be compelled now to ensure that I didn’t hand out Kit Kats. That’s just how I roll. But that and other rather odd facts can be found in a press release issued by Hershey’s.

They’re also happy to announce that this year will also see a variety of new snack sized candies (including Hershey’s Kisses) for trick-or-treaters. Apparently nobody bothered to read my scientific (ahem) study of smaller sized candies. But I will admit those Reese’s pumpkins are really darn cute.

• Hershey’s Dresses up Halloween with Frightfully Delicious Treats Press Release

To me, one of the most exciting announcements at this year’s All Candy Expo was the addition of three new additions to the Pieces lineup. Never knew there was a Pieces lineup? Well, there is now, with Hershey’s Special Dark, Almond Joy and York Pieces joining the familiar Reese’s. But are these new additions worthy successors to the mantle of everyone’s favorite candy-coated peanut butter treat? (The Hershey’s folks threw in a sample pack of Reese’s Pieces too, so I’m doing a bonus review of those as well.)

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This Easter, a new chocolate rabbit has hit the scene. Packed with milk chocolate and peanut butter goodness, he is no ordinary Easter Bunny. He is, in fact… the Reester Bunny. And though the market is already well-saturated with rabbit-shaped treats, he’s ready to kick butt and take names – all three of him.

That’s right – Reese’s new Easter treat comes in not one, but three sizes: a big heavyweight bruiser, a middleweight sold in packages of four, and these little guys, only a couple of inches long. The design of all three is basically the same – a flat milk chocolate rabbit filled with – you guessed it – peanut butter. Each bunny is individually wrapped in silver foil stamped with the image of the bright orange, overall-wearing Reester Bunny.

The Bunny himself is a little generic, like the Easter Bunny from a random low-budget Easter special. Actually, his orange color and yellow cheeks make him look like a rabbit version of Garfield. He’s smiling, but there’s something vaguely startled or worried-looking about his eyes, as if he’s just realized it’s Monday or he’s out of lasagna.

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One of the hardest things about dieting is denying yourself all the tasty treats that caused you to need to diet in the first place. The candy displays at the checkout line can be the downfall of a dieter who has only the best intentions. The Kit Kats and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups seem to call your name. “Buy me, eat me,” they say. It’s more than even the most dedicated dieter can resist.

The Hershey Company to the rescue! In 2006 and 2007, Hershey rolled out a new line of chocolate bars that have only 100 calories per pack. The slogan is “More Pleasure, Less Guilt.” Each variety in this 100 Calorie line puts a new spin on an old favorite. They come in a box with seven packs per box. Each pack contains two bars, for a total of 14 bars per box at a suggested retail price of $2.99. Each box should last about a week… or, uh, you know… two days….

I recently treated myself by buying four out of the five available varieties and now have on my desk a most scrumptious display of candy: one package each of Hershey’s 100 calorie Pretzel Bars, Crisp Wafer Bars, and York Peppermint Wafer Bars and two empty packages of Reese’s 100 Calorie Peanut Butter Wafer Bars. Yes, dear readers, I love being a Candy Addict!.

While eating several packs in one sitting completely defeats the purpose of buying 100 calorie candy, that is what I am about to do in the interest of sharing important flavor information with the rest of the Candy Addict world.

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