Have you ever wondered what a Snickers-Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup mash-up would taste like? I imagine that’s what Mars Inc. was going for when the company released Snickers Peanut Butter Squared, a concoction “filled with peanut butter, peanuts, caramel and nougat and covered in milk chocolate,” as the label explains.

As a fan of both Reese’s and Snickers (though Reese’s cups get the slight edge — I promise Hershey’s didn’t pay me to say that), I anticipated this addition of peanut butter to Snickers bars would be divine. So perhaps my expectations were a little too high; when I bit into the Snickers peanut butter square, I wasn’t blown away. That’s not to say it isn’t tasty — it definitely is. It just tasted like a regular Snickers bar to me but with a little more peanut flavoring. Basically, if you like Snickers, I can’t imagine you wouldn’t like this.

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This past week I had the pleasure of having my father visit for the holidays. It was a great time. We explored the city, dined at my favorite eateries, and enjoyed the sweet tooth I genetically inherited from him by popping into various confection stores and leaving very, very full.

When it was time to bid adieu to him, we pulled into a gas station near my house so he could fill the rental car up and avoid the surcharge. Despite this gas station being located down the street from me, I hadn’t set foot in it a long time, but remember finding a slew of great candy during earlier visits.

As he paid the clerk, I browsed the candy aisle and scanned it for something out of the ordinary. Maybe because it was Christmas Day (I can’t really figure it out otherwise), but there amongst all the different flavors of Skittles sat the newest spin-off, Skittles Crazy Cores.

I first learned about the upcoming release of this candy back in the fall, but I hadn’t seen these in any major supermarkets or drugstores, which made my spotting them in an independently owned gas station particularly Christmas miracle-esque.

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I don’t understand why I am hesitant to eat mint-flavored candy. I mean, I do like the taste of it. Hand me a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream and watch me make it disappear in seconds. But probably because of my dislike for gum, I avoid most mint products. It isn’t that there isn’t a non-gum mint candy out there, but not enough of them, and not enough of them done well.

As I strolled down the candy aisle at my local Dollar Tree Store, a pretty red box caught my attention. “Andes Cherry Jubilee Thins” the box proclaimed. Hmm I thought. I never much cared for regular Andes Thins: Crème de Menthe, but we all know that I am a sucker for fruit in chocolate.

Maybe because it was the cherry, maybe it was because I wanted to branch out from my mint horizons, or maybe I will just buy candy because I love it, but whatever the reason, I picked up a box and headed to the register with a dollar clenched in my fist.

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SweeTARTS are the classic, crunchy American candy. Super sweet and charged with super fruit flavors, SweeTARTS have earned their place in the candy hall of fame. Ripping open a pouch never disappoints. Sure, it may always be the last candy left in your Trick-or-Treat bag (does anyone go out and actually buy SweeTARTS?) but it’s always good in a sugar pinch.

So, let’s talk about the Wonka company’s other version of SweeTARTS, its Giant Chewy SweeTARTS. Ok, so they’re SweeTARTS that are big (that’s the “giant” part) and soft (yes, the “chewy” part). From the description, I imagined a candy that had the texture of a soft-baked cookie. Would I like a sugar cookie with bits of SweeTARTS embedded in its chewy soft middle? You bet I would.

With this buildup, I opened the package and came face to face with four tablets vaguely resembling urinal cakes. No cookies here! Each tart is about 2 inches across and hard as a rock. It’s actually recommended on the package that you slam the disc down to crack it into edible pieces, though the Wonka folks don’t use the word “edible.”

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I first learned about Mamba in high school. A friend of mine, who happened to be a vegan, was making her way speedily through a package of candy during English class. I rarely saw her eat candy as few are designed for vegan consumption.

My initial reaction was one of distrust. She had “shared” her vegan candy with me before, and aside from Jelly Bellys, I tended to dislike the products; however, the voracity with which she was consuming them made me think there might be something more to them than meets the eye. I asked for a piece and she reluctantly offered me a lemon fruit chew. From that day on, English class informally became “eat Mamba and try to learn Romantic poetry” class.

Several months ago, Mamba released a spin-off to the classic flavor set with a sour variety. I found them often living in Los Angeles and regularly consumed them there, but was unable to spot them with the same frequency in Texas. This past week, I finally saw them hanging out at a local bookstore. (Seriously, one, what is candy doing in a bookstore, and two, why is Mamba always around literature?)

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