The words “Texas” and “candy” were not two associations I considered before I moved to the Lone Star state. I mean, what in Texas could possibly scream candy? To my surprise, a lot.

Texas happens to be the home of many candy companies, and what is even more interesting is that they are smitten with flavors particular to the proclivities of the Southwest. Not being a native, I found it refreshing getting a taste of pecans (south), coconut (west), and peanut butter (south again) in many local candies, all flavors I now consider indigenous to the area.

The most storied of these companies is easily Atkinson’s Candy Co., best known for their most popular product, the Chick-o-Stick. While the Chick-o-Stick is stocked in candy aisles across the country, and despite the majority of their other products existing from the 1940s and on, they are regional in their distribution, and I never encountered the company until my move.

When I started asking people what candy I should try out here, one name kept popping up: Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bars. I have nothing against peanut butter, but an entire bar of it? Luckily, it’s more than just peanut butter. Complementing the peanut butter in this candy is a honeycomb center and hard candy jacket. So the next time I was at a gas station, I bought a handful of them from a penny candy jar.

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The Clark Bar has been the Big Foot of my candy life. For years and years I have scoured gas station after convenience store in hopes of spotting this elusive bar. My obsession with it began several years ago when I read glowing reviews of it and its brother Zagnut, a product that was easier to track down.

But my search had always ended in frustration… until now. This past week at Walgreens, in a bag of Old-Fashioned candy packaged by Necco, amidst Banana Splits and Necco Wafers, these Lost Cities of Atlantis appeared as if they were weren’t one of the most difficult candies I’ve ever tried to find.

I had always intended to try the full-sized bar, but this package only sold the miniature version, a small concession for being able to finally sample this product.

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I live in Canada, where it’s a fact of life that many aspects of our culture are borrowed from our neighbors to the South – our TV shows, our chain restaurants, our food brands. And for the most part, we’re cool with that. The only problem is, we don’t get all of those things – just whatever sells well enough in the United States to be worth importing. (Vanilla Coke, Wild Cherry Pepsi, I miss you guys! Come back!)

So, when I got into this whole Internet candy thing a year or two ago, I was surprised to learn that many of my childhood candy staples like Coffee Crisp and Aero are not sold in the United States and, what’s more, they have legions of rabid American fans exchanging the addresses of obscure import grocery stores that carry the elusive candies – candies that are available at any gas station here in Canada. I’m too polite to say “Turnabout is fair play” – I am Canadian, after all – so instead, I’ll get right to today’s candy: the Cadbury Crunchie bar.

The Crunchie bar is technically of British origin, but it’s widely available here in Canada. (In the States, not so much.) Behind its extremely generic name, the Crunchie is actually pretty unique. It’s based on a traditional candy called sponge toffee, honeycomb, or cinder toffee, which is made by adding baking soda to molten sugar, causing the sugar to expand in a froth of bubbles. Once cooled, the foam becomes a light, airy, crunchy treat. It can be eaten plain or, as is the case with the Crunchie, coated in chocolate.

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Honeycomb (also known as Cinder Toffee) is one of those quintessential British candies which has made its mark everywhere but the U.S. Here in Australia, people tend to either love them or hate them, and those in the “love it” camp have their favourite brand. Violet Crumble is perhaps the most well-known of the commercial honeycombs available.

Every time I’ve offered to bring someone a sweet treat from from Down Under, it’s either the Violet Crumble or the Crunchie they beg for. Honeycomb is essentially basic toffee which has baking soda added to it. The baking soda and molten sugar react, creating a volcanic eruption of sugary golden edible styrofoam. You can eat it as is, but dipping the irregular chunks into chocolate is delicious. You can also smash it up and mix it into cookies, top cupcakes with it, stir it through ice cream and sprinkle it on top of a chocolate cake for a whole new eating experience.

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