Monthly Archives: November 2008

Candy Recipe: Chocolate Covered Pretzels (Crispies and Peanuts)

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Chocolate Covered Pretzel Dipping

In my house, the holidays spell candy in a big way. When I was a kid, we’d start making Christmas candy a week or two before Christmas. Now that I have two children with birthdays in early and mid December, we basically have one big party from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

This year, mainly because of my new Candy Addict status, we decided to begin the candy making before Thanksgiving. I’d like to share a simple recipe with you, and maybe you’d like to start a new family tradition on this Thanksgiving Day. A tradition worthy of a true Candy Addict. Forget football – make candy after dinner!

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Candy Review: Jelly Belly Lollibeans

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Jellybelly Lollipop Suckers

My family members are all big fans of Jelly Belly jellybeans. (Well, the 1-year-old we’re not sure about. But I have a feeling…) And thanks to my older son – who could eat the multi-colored beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner – we’ve become near-daily consumers of Jelly Belly’s sour variety of beans.

As a matter of fact, we’ve even toured the Jelly Belly factory in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Of course, “tour” might be a strong word. What we actually did was ride through a warehouse in a golf cart while wearing goofy paper Jelly Belly hats, kept safely far, far away from any actual manufacturing of the beans. But there was a bonus to the tour: At the end, we were allowed to sample all of the Jelly Belly company’s delicious flavors, one bean at a time. I prefer to eat them by the handful myself, but I will do almost anything for free candy.

So I am always happy to snarf down a new Jelly Belly product. And that’s how I ended up testing out a series of Jelly Belly Lollipops, known on the Jelly Belly Web site, though not on their packaging, as Lollibeans.

These look like a very large jelly bean impaled by a stick. About the size of a skewered Beenie Weenie, this is a rather odd shape for a sucker. The pop is 1.75 inches across and almost 1 inch thick. Yes, it is rather awkward to suck on. In fact, it’s almost impossible to civilly enjoy this treat without making a series of loud slurping and giant sucking sounds. Think of all the money being sucked out of your 401(k) account right now. Eating a Lollibean sounds about like that. Perhaps if they turned the sucker the other way around so you could enjoy it corn-dog style, it would be easier to eat.

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Retro Candy Flashback: Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bars

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Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bars Tub

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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Ode to Trader Joe’s: Clouds, Pretzel Bites, and Darrell Lea Strawberry Licorice

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Trader Joe’s Candy
I did something recently that I swore I’d never do: I moved to a place with no Trader Joe’s. To the TJ uninitiated, this may seem like no big deal. But for those of you who have enjoyed TJ’s amazing food, drink, and CANDY (at even more amazing low prices), you understand my loss and dismay. So please join me in bidding a fond farewell to three of my all time favorite TJ candies.

Trader Joe

Image by Anthemic Tangle

Milk Chocolate Clouds: Behold the chocolate, caramel, pecan glory that is the Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Cloud. Honestly, these are better than any other turtles I’ve ever had. The caramel is buttery and chewy, but doesn’t stick to your teeth. You can fully taste the sweet pecans and somehow they still retain some of their crunch. And, to top it all off: the milk chocolate is sooooo good. Unlike some milk chocolate, it’s not too sweet and is plenty chocolaty. And they don’t skimp on anything: each cloud is jam-packed with chocolate, caramel, nutty gooey goodness. Ah bliss!

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Candy Review: 100 Calorie Bars Part 1 – Reese’s Peanut Butter Wafer Bar

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100 Calorie Header

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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