Candy Review: Sesame Snaps In Chocolate

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - by Laurie

“That’s not candy, is it?” This was the response of my family when I told them that I would be reviewing Sesame Snaps In Chocolate for Candy Addict.

“Sure it is,” I argued. “They’re in the peanut brittle family. And besides, these ones are coated in delicious dark chocolate. Real chocolate too, not that fake stuff.”

But I admit, I also had a little trouble getting my head around the idea of Sesame Snaps as candy. As a kid, they were just a thing my mother would give me in my lunch or to keep me quiet on long car rides. They were kind of like fruit snacks – they couldn’t possibly be candy because, obviously, your parents would never pack candy in your lunch every day. Like, duh! Even the new chocolate coating didn’t help. After all, there are lots of things you can coat in chocolate without making them candy. Sardines, for example, or roofing nails.

“We’ll settle this debate with a review,” said I.

First, a little background. Sesame Snaps, if you’ve never had them, consist of thin plaques made up of sesame seeds suspended in a thin layer of hard candy, like the candy part of peanut brittle. They have a uniquely crisp texture and a pronounced toasted sesame flavor. The brand most people are familiar with is Sezme, which is imported from Poland, and they seem to be sold both with and without the Sezme logo on the package. The regular flavor has been around since I was a kid. Newer to the lineup are Vanilla Sesame Snaps, which have been available in stores here in Canada for about four or five years, and this chocolate-coated variety, known simply as Sesame Snaps In Chocolate.

Upon opening my review package, I discovered that the chocolate had bloomed a bit and was now a little white and chalky. They were also quite broken, pretty much right across the middle of the pack. (See that stack of broken Snaps in the photo? I didn’t have to do a thing to those.)

They have that unique texture I’ve come to associate with Sesame Snaps – the soft crispness of the densely packed sesame seeds combined with the light crunch of the sugar matrix that holds them together in bar form. The dark chocolate layer is pretty thin (some of the sesame seeds actually show through the coating as little white spots), but its mild bitterness helps to mellow out that toasted, almost burnt sesame flavor that some people find so overpowering (I associate it more with Chinese cooking than candy myself). More chocolate would have allowed for a better contrast between the crisp interior and the soft exterior. Still, these are mighty tasty – don’t let the unattractive mustard-and-brown packaging throw you off.

Of course, none of this solves the debate of whether Sesame Snaps are candy. As it turns out, I had the matter resolved for me. When I pulled out my package of Sesame Snaps In Chocolate to review, I noticed something that I had previously overlooked – they say “CANDY” in big red letters across the front of the wrapper. Aww… how anticlimactic.

Buy Sezme Sesame Snaps Online:

• at Candy Direct
• at Amazon.com