The Atkinson Candy Company is quickly becoming my favorite candy company. My love affair began with Chick-o-Sticks, then Peanut Butter Bars, and moved on to Long Boys. While I can think of many other manufacturers out there who produce great products, none come to mind who consistently create candy I love regardless of what it is.

So with their awesome track record on the line, I purchased a square of Peco Brittle from a local convenience store. I gotta say, Texans love them some brittle! Peanut, cashew, pecan… everywhere I go I see tons of brittle out here. Do I have a problem with that? I honestly don’t know since I can’t remember ever eating any sort of brittle as kid.

Well, if I were ever going to start eating it, Atkinson seemed to be the best place for such a journey to commence from. The name behind this candy reveals the type of brittle it is: Peco is a portmanteau of peanuts and coconut. Now, Atkinson does produce a regular peanut brittle, but I couldn’t find it. Luckily, I didn’t mind so much, as this whole “coconut can go into anything” craze I have discovered in Texas is starting to grow on me.

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As I have mentioned before, I frequently make deliveries to various businesses in downtown Austin for work. One of the interesting things about it this time of year is that the lobbies of these hotels, offices, and skyscrapers are littered with merchants. It’s like a mini-bazaar of people selling jewelry, candles, and clothing as convenient holiday gifts.

None of these things really pique my interest, and I normally just brush right past them. However, on a recent trip to the twenty-second floor of 301 Congress, one little table caught my eye. It was a display of artisan chocolates. I hurried to the elevator to make my delivery so that I could quickly come back down and review the products for sale.

Upon my return, I noticed a stunning collection. There were molded chocolates designed for Christmas and wine bottles matched with wine glasses that were both decorated in a chocolate coating so that you could enjoy a drink and nibble on some Belgian chocolate concurrently. But the highlight of the table by far proved to be a series of molded chocolates that were depictions of paintings.

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Butterfingers are gross. There, I said it. They stick to your teeth, they somehow make even peanut butter taste fake, and those orange shards of brittle blah are covered with cheap chocolate that I wouldn’t feed to a trapped miner.

I mention this candy nemesis of mine because today I’m reviewing Chick-O-Stick, a candy that might remind some people of Butterfingers (since both contain peanuts and sugar, both are partly orange, and both have an unusual texture). But I want you to rest assured that I have nothing against peanutty orange candy per se. Just awful peanutty orange candy.

In contrast, Chick-O-Stick is strangely toothsome. They have a chewy peanut-butter-esque thing going on inside, and a quite pleasing toasted coconut-coated exterior.

But what’s with the name?

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