When it comes to candy, decision-making is not my forte. On a recent visit to Target, I stood in the candy aisle, dazzled with options, and ended up leaving with not just one of their store-brand Choxie truffle bars, but four. Choxie has been around for a while, but I hadn’t tried anything in this line. I chose two milk chocolate bars and two dark chocolate bars: a dark chocolate raspberry lemon biscotti truffle bar, a dark chocolate mint cookie truffle bar, a milk chocolate crème brûlée truffle bar, and a milk chocolate peanut butter pretzel bar. The shiny, colorful packaging and the descriptions of what those packages contained rendered me (and my wallet) utterly helpless. I couldn’t wait to get home and discover how nearly $10 of Target candy products would taste.
I started with the mint bar, which the package describes as “rich, dark chocolate coupled with mint candies to keep its cool & chocolate cookies to keep its crunch.” I hoped this bar would remind of of Thin Mints cookies. I wanted lots of crunch and lots of mint. But both the mint and the crunch, while definitely present, were more mild than I had expected. The mint actually seemed stronger as an aftertaste, and I didn’t notice the crunch unless I took a big bite. The bar is good, though, even if it wasn’t crammed full of cookies and mint like I thought it might be. I wouldn’t have had any trouble finishing it on the spot, were it not for the three other chocolate bars waiting for my attention.
The packaging on the other dark chocolate bar has this description: “Dark chocolate surrounds a sweetly tart raspberry lemon-flavored truffle filling with biscotti bits added for intrigue.” I felt a little skeptical that I’d really be able to taste all those flavors, but to my delight, I found that I could. Just as promised, the filling is sweetly tart, and the biscotti bits were good and crunchy. This is one tasty chocolate bar – the perfect blend of flavors and textures.
When I opened the milk chocolate crème brûlée truffle bar, I could really smell the caramel. The package reads: “White chocolate truffle infused with vanilla, caramel, & a touch of toffee.” Considering that this bar contains both milk and white chocolate, in addition to the caramel (and toffee!), I figured that it had the potential to be achingly sweet — and phew, my prediction was absolutely right. This is a candy bar to be savored in very small nibbles, unless you have an enormous glass of milk beside you to help clear your throat after each bite. I wished for more buttery, salty toffee to balance the pure sugary sweetness of milk and white chocolate.
Instead, I moved on to the last bar: “creamy peanut butter, pretzel twists & roasted peanuts, inside pure milk chocolate.” This filling doesn’t skimp one bit on the pretzels or the peanuts, and the sweet, rich peanut butter filling that holds it all together stole my heart.
Kudos to Choxie for these chocolates. I consider my $10 well-spent.
Makes me want to run right out to Target and buy these!
May 9th, 2012 at 12:21 pmWill def try the peanut butter bar. Disappointed that the mint bar wasn’t great :o(
May 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pmGood to hear Choxie has improved. I tried them when Target first introduced them over 5 years ago and it was some of the worst chocolate I’d ever had much worse than even the Palmer’s mockolate. looks like I’ll need to give them another shot.
June 13th, 2012 at 12:56 am