Despite being siblings, my brother and I had differing opinions on everything. He was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan while I preferred the Angels. He liked sci-fi stuff, and I… well, I just didn’t like/understand it.

And even on Thanksgiving, the day of the year where all families sit down together, he and I were contentious. You see, my mom had this tradition where she would let one of her kids pick the dessert to create. He always wanted pumpkin pie while I craved blueberry cheesecake. It was always a tempestuous dinner if your dessert wasn’t picked.

All these years later, I still like my preference over his, but in honor of the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a candy recipe that combines both loves: A blueberry pumpkin cheesecake fudge bar that I call the Harmony Bar.

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Back in 1996, a new candy appeared on the scene here in Canada. They were created by two guys from Winnipeg, Chris Emery and Larry Finnson, who decided to try marketing their Grandma’s candy recipe. They were an overnight sensation, and today they’re found on store shelves everywhere next to the big boys like Werthers’ and Starburst. The name? Clodhoppers.

According to the Phrase Finder website, clod hopper is a very old term for “a rough, unsophisticated countryman” or, more recently, a pair of ploughman’s boots. Clods, of course, refers to clods of dirt. What kind of candy names itself after a lump of dirt? A darn good one, as it turns out.

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Have you ever taken a bite out of a candy bar and thought “This is so wrong!” Do you feel that your love for all things candy is not adequately represented in any product on the market? Is there just a brilliant candy bar buried in your mind that your just waiting to see materialize one day?

If you, like me, answered yes to those questions, then you will understand why I am undergoing a process of creating my own candy bar. All too many times I have been disappointed by hollow promises of candy wrappers beguiling me into purchasing bad candy. No more excuses! I have decided to make my own bar so that way I control the quality of ingredients and make sure there is nothing in it that I don’t want.

Seeking inspiration for this bar, I turned to the month. August. Well… here in Austin, TX, it’s incredibly hot and humid, but that’s summer for you. And what says summer like going out into the woods and camping? And can you really camp anywhere without making s’mores? So in honor of all things woodsy and s’mores-related, I have concocted an inverted s’mores black forest bar that I call Lost in the Woods.

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So nice they named it twice. That’s not the official word from Sweet Sweet Confections, but it should be! I was really eager to see what this company had to offer because they’re located in San Jose, California, just a stone’s throw (well, maybe a stone’s throw plus another stone’s trebuchet pull) from my home. It’s great to see a local company featured on Candy Addict, so I was hoping that Sweet Sweet Confections wouldn’t disappoint.

The Smores Bars are billed on the website as “Our signature graham crackers topped with a delicious marshmallow and hand dipped in luscious milk chocolate.” They don’t spare any expense in creating this treat. All the components are handmade, and it definitely tastes that way.

The graham cracker had this great, fresh-baked quality that I found wonderfully surprising. It’s not crisp like the store-bought ones; it’s fairly chewy, almost cookie-like in consistency. I found this strange at first, but then I realized how well this chewiness melded with the marshmallow. The milk chocolate coating had a nice snap when I bit into it which really complemented the softness of the cracker and the marshmallow.

What really impressed me, however, was the ingredients list on the back of the package. For example, here’s what their marshmallows are made of:

Sugar, water, gelatin, vanilla extract, salt.

That’s it. How can something so simple turn out so wonderful? I guess it goes back to the simple pleasure of a S’more itself: chocolate, graham cracker, marshmallow. Easy to pack, easy to make, extremely easy to eat. Maybe the simple things are the best after all. And I didn’t even miss the melted gooeyness that’s usually one of the highlights of eating S’mores fresh from an open fire.

Smores Bars are a neat gourmet take on a campfire classic, and if you’re a fan of the real thing, you really should give these offerings a try. My only qualm with these is the packaging. Alas, they only come three to a bag, and those three left me wanting so much s’more.

Editor’s note: I received some of these too and they are indeed delicious. My favorite part is that they aren’t too sweet. The chocolate doesn’t overpower the marshmallow or graham cracker and the resulting combination is close to perfect.

• S’mores Bars at Sweet Sweet Confections

chocolate, gourmet, marshmallow, smores

Kennedy Gourmet is a Texas candy company with a wide range of products: from candy-covered spoons and pretzels to various mints and brittles. The packaging on this S’more has just the right degree of cuteness – it’s fun in a retro sort of way. The description reads, “Jumbo Marshmallows and Honey Graham Crackers Drenched in a Creamy Rich Chocolate Coating,” and it’s the ‘coating’ part which initially worries me. Reading the ingredients list on the back doesn’t really make me any happier, as the ‘chocolate coating’ seems to contain very little actual chocolate but a whole lot of additives.

Upon closer inspection, the chocolate coating looks just a little bit too shiny, almost plastic in appearance. Not wanting to judge a S’more by its cover, I was still eagerly looking forward to eating it, as I love all things chocolate and marshmallow. Add to this my desperate need for a childhood reminder (graham crackers are not available here in Australia) and this was going to be one serious trip back to when McDonald’s birthday parties and giant shoulder pads were cool.

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