NEW! Oreo Choc'o Brownie (Tesco)

There's lazy NPD (new product development) and then there's Mondelez. Mondelez are renowned for rehashing Milka bars under the Cadbury name, or combining their products to maximise profits - admittedly I do miss the Cadbury Philadelphia. This time though they've taken the biscuit. Literally. The UK has just been granted a new flavour Oreo, but have we got anything as exciting as the new Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie, Jelly Donut, or soon to be released Cookie Butter Oreos? Certainly not. We've got choco brownie. Yes that's right. A chocolate Oreo filled with chocolate filling. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Chocolate creme Oreos have been out in the UK for years, so what on earth are Mondelez playing at?

Last year, following the launch of the somewhat more exciting mint and strawberry cheesecake filled Oreos, the public were asked to partake in a month long flavour vote for the next flavour. So every day a few of us bloggers reminded each other to log on and vote - ok so we might've even used a couple of email addresses each. The choices were: lemon, coconut, banana and brownie batter. Yes, brownie batter.

Now of those choices, I was certainly team banana, but I would've been happy to try the lemon or coconut too. At least they were different. In fairness to those of you who opted for the brownie batter it did sound a little like a chocolatey cookie dough.. but you should've also realised that Mondelez like to cut corners (yep I'm referring to the peanut butter Oreo Dairy Milk for the umpteenth time). Anyway, apparently 43% of voters chose the brownie flavour -methinks their might've been some rigging for the easiest option at Oreo HQ. 

Anyway, the presumably-cooked-and-therefore-not-batter brownie flavour has now been released. So is it any different to the standard chocolate creme Oreo. No. Not in the slightest. In fact the ingredients are the same and they haven't even bothered to change the description*. They're still like an Oreo version of a Bourbon, but somehow not as good. I mean if I wanted a bourbon, I'd buy a bourbon -ya know? 

Christmas is in the shops already so please tell me this is an even more premature attempt at an April Fools.... 

2/10 (purely for taking the piss, Oreo). 

*Here's a comparison of the two packets, see what I mean?

NEW! Krispy Kreme Reese's Peanut Butter & Jelly Doughnut

Without a shadow of a doubt, the best Krispy Kreme I've ever had was one of their Reese's peanut butter doughnuts. The best doughnut I've ever had? The Tandem Bakery's PB&J. Therefore it should come as no surprise that I was super excited to see that Krispy Kreme have re-released their Reese's Peanut Butter & Jelly doughnuts as part of their new American range, though this time it has a new raspberry gloss. In fact I'd have been tempted to make the 46 mile round trip purely to get my grubby mits on the pb&j Krispy Kreme last Monday (when the range was released) had it not been for the fact that my vehicle is still off the road and that I'd already planned a trip to Birmingham on the Saturday to meet the lovely Sian. 

"Filled with Reese's Peanut Butter & Raspberry filling, hand-dipped in a sparkling raspberry flavoured gloss and topped with peanut butter chips and peanut butter drizzle."

It was even glittery! I've heard that glittery food tastes on average 1467&9x better than non-shimmery food, so I felt it was worth the hefty £2.20 price tag. Feel free to gulp if you like. 

The best thing about the Reese's Krispy Kreme was the ample peanut butter filling. Sweet with a slight salinity, it hit the spot and made me grin from ear to ear (after I'd finished smacking my lips of course). 

FFS. It was only yesterday that I mentioned Krispy Kreme's infamously unreliable filling skills. This had got to be a joke right? Surely I'd just cut into it wonkily*.

Apparently not. There had got to be a maximum of half a teaspoon of peanut butter and half a teaspoon jam in that off centre nugget. I could've cried. It's a huge shame because the single mouthful that contained the filling was delicious. In the end I retrieved my jar of Skippy from the cupboard and made my own Krispy Kreme - something you shouldn't have to resort to when spending £2.20 on a doughnut (the equivalent of 11 supermarket jam doughnuts).

On the plus side, the glittery topping was full of flavour. The raspberry worked really well, but be warned, it's very sticky and therefore only advisable to eat when you're near a sink to wash your hands after. I'd have liked to have seen a few more of the peanut butter chips too. Hell, it would've been nice to have some kind of pb in the doughnut. 

In the aftermath of reeses-pb&j-donut-gate I sent an email to KK, including the above images, who replied and said... 

46 miles for a replacement? You've got to be kidding...

The doughnut I had: 2/10

What I imagine a properly filled pb&j KK would score: 10/10.

Is it worth the gamble though? You decide.


 *new word alert!

NEW! Weetabix Additions: Apple & Raisin Review (ASDA)

Whilst I can't live without my daily dose of porridge in the mornings, my other half struggles to start his day without a bowl of trusty Weetabix. Or at least that was the case until the Golden Syrup flavour disappeared from supermarket shelves towards the latter end of last year. He was so gutted that we couldn't find his favourite cereal anymore that I contacted the company back in November to ask if they were coming back. They said:

"Recent high demand has meant that we have had an increase in orders and we hope are hoping to be back to full capacity in the next few months. Please accept our sincere apologies, we do hope that you will continue to enjoy our products and are assured of our best intentions to get this back on the shelves."

With Bert's hopes intact, we eagerly awaited the return of the Golden Syrup Weetabix and were therefore somewhat surprised to see the two new Weetabix 'additions' lines that launched last month. I guess the company told porkies. Humf.

I tried to see the bright side in all of this and reminded Bert that although he doesn't like coconut (so the coconut and raisin flavour are out of the question) he does like apple and raisin. Maybe this new variety of Weetabix could serve as a valid replacement?

"Delight your senses...
with a nutritious breakfast that's packed with delicious apple, juicy raisins & warming cinnamon ensuring temptingly tasty goodness in every bite."

Whilst I'm not a huge Weetabix fan, I do love apple and raisin and was therefore intrigued to discover how their new flavour fared so purchased the box of 24 biscuits from ASDA for £2.

Whilst their banana and golden syrup (RIP) flavours are strongly scented, I couldn't particularly smell anything other than wheat when popping my biscuits in the bowl before drowning them in cold milk.

Oh. Was that it? Where was the flavour? Cinnamon is a pretty pungent spice -and my favourite one at that- but I couldn't detect it at all amongst the wheaty mush. The apple flavour too was non-existent and I was grateful that I'd had the foresight to top my cereal with cubed apple so that I could at least pretend I was eating flavoured Weetabix.

The only promise that Weetabix delivered on was the inclusion of raisins, but unfortunately I can't say this was a welcome addition. I really love dried fruit, but not like this. Have you ever eaten shrivelled, bullet-hard raisins before? Well that's what is lurking in amongst these biscuits. Rather than the moist, squidgy, flavoursome fruits, these were little dry rascals that stuck between my teeth in a frustrating fashion. Not good.

It wasn't just me either, Bert wasn't a fan either. If we weren't so reluctant to waste food they'd have ended up in the bin by now, but instead I've promised to buy him a couple of boxes of his new favourite cereal (Golden Syrup Wheats) from Sainsbury's when he's got through the Weetabix. You should never have to "get through" food though, should you?

2/10

NEW! Dairy Milk Peanut Butter Oreo (Home Bargains)

My fridge is full of chocolate, like ridiculously so. It's the same with ice cream in my freezer, yet I can't stop myself from buying more whenever as spot something new or at a bargain price. Perhaps I should start up a freakshake cafe from my kitchen, or maybe I should leave my wallet at home more often. Despite my exhaustive supplies, the news that Cadbury was releasing two new Oreo themed bars filled me with excitement, then dread. Why dread? Well firstly because I knew I'd end up on a ridiculous treasure hunt and wouldn't rest until I found them, secondly because I really didn't need any more chocolate,and lastly because I just knew that Cadbury would mess the opportunity up. Yet still the search began...

Home Bargains. B&M. Poundland. ASDA. Morrisons. Sainsbury's. Tesco. 

No luck, but then I was told by the lovely Tiff on Instagram and @eveningtreats that they'd found the bars in Home Bargains. My heart sunk. My local branch seemingly rarely stocks the yummy items that many people find in the discount store. Rather than give up hope I desperately returned to store on Sunday. I might've danced in the aisles when I spotted both the Mint and Peanut Butter flavours, before picking up the latter and kissing it (much to Bert's embarrassment).

If you remember, I mentioned my disinclination towards mint chocolate when I reviewed the new Oreos last year. Whilst I was pleasantly surprised by the biscuits, I still decided to restrain myself and only buy the peanut butter flavour, even though they were both just 99p each.

This isn't the first time I've mentioned the dissatisfaction amongst us peanut butter addicts caused by British Peanut butter Oreos. Whilst our American cousins are treated to cookies stuffed with the real deal, we are given a paltry smattering of fake peanut spread. I mean why on earth would anyone make a peanut butter product that doesn't even contain peanuts? It's not even a rare occurrence either, take Saturdays' review for example. Despite Both Oreo and Cadbury being owned by the same giant corporation, Mondelēz, I prayed that the originally British firm would be more sensible and wouldn't try and palm us all off with some crappy fake stuff.

"Milk chocolate with a peanut butter flavoured filling (35%) with biscuit pieces (12%)."

One look at the ingredients and I knew I'd be disappointed. Not one mention of peanuts, just flavouring. The only hint of any nuttiness was the "may contain nuts"  warning, which appears on just about anything and everything. I wanted it to contain nuts Cadbury, as does everyone else, that's why we're buying  it! Gah.

Snapping the bar revealed a good sized filling. It's perhaps not as prominent as that in the standard size Dairy Milk Oreo bars, but that can't be helped due to the flatter shape of the segments.

The milk chocolate is one of the waxier, cheaper types that Cadbury tend to use in their combination bars these days. It doesn't annoy me as much as it once did, but it's certainly not of the quality the Cadbury were once proud of.

As for the filling, it's creamy by pretty much the same flavour used in the British Oreos. That's to say it's awfully sweet, and infinitely less authentic than the filling of a Reese's cup (which I ate at the same time for comparison purposes 😉). The biscuit pieces were a welcome touch however, and added crunch to the otherwise silken bar.

Humf. Why can't Mondelēz understand that us Brits know and love our peanut butter just as much as the Yanks? Is it a cost issue? If so, I'd gladly pay more for the real deal. I just don't get it.  I certainly won't be buying it again. 

2/10

Mighty Fine Honeycomb Peanut Butter Bar (Whole Foods Market)

Last July I visited the International Star Wars convention with Bert (his obsession) but made full use of the rare opportunity of being in London to make the pilgrimage to a Whole Foods Market. I’d only known about Whole Foods Market due to Instagram, and it seemed to be the veritable mecca for all things delicious and healthy, so someone please explain to me how I only ended up buying chocolate. One of the bars I bought was a Mighty Fine Honeycomb Peanut Butter bar, and I trekked it all the way home before promptly forgetting about it.

The trouble is, over the past few years I’ve developed a gradual distaste towards honeycomb chocolate bars. I think I could just about manage a treat size Crunchie, but just the idea of a normal size bar completely jars my teeth and gives me goosebumps. I keep forgetting my palate change though, especially because I love honeycomb flavoured products! So every few weeks I’d spot this peanut butter honeycomb bar at the back of my cupboard, tell myself I’d try it soon, and then completely forget about it all over again.

That was until a couple of weeks ago, when my procrastination finally came to an end and I eventually decided to open the 50g bar (which was still well in date). It was quite the whopper with a good thick coating of milk chocolate surrounding it.

I had naively assumed that the honeycomb itself was going to be peanut butter flavoured, so I was both surprised and distinctly underwhelmed when I took a bit and tasted only sickly sweet sugar. I then read the packaging and realised that the chocolate was where the peanut butter was supposedly residing. Yes folks, supposedly. The chocolate was tasty enough but the nuttiness was nowhere to be found.

I decided to give it the bar the ultimate peanut butter test: I made Bert try a bite. My other half detests peanut butter so much that he won’t go near any food products that remotely mention its inclusion and even refuses kiss me after I’ve eaten anything containing my favourite spread. Even he, the man who can smell peanut butter from 100 yards away, could happily eat this chocolate and not bat an eyelid.

What the ?!

I’m not sure if I got a duff bar or whether the product is just pants full stop*, so please do leave me a comment if you’ve tried Might Fine Honeycombs’s peanut butter honeycomb bar and let me know about your experiences!

2/10

*I later re-read the packaging and realised that there's no peanut butter listed in the ingredients. I hate it when a company does that! Gahhhhhh.

MyMuscleMug: Peanut Butter, Coffee, Chocolate Coconut & Red Velvet Protein Cakes (Online)

For the past few months now I’ve been following the journey of MyMuscleMug, a new British company specialising in healthy, high protein mug cakes. Emily spent six months painstakingly perfecting each recipe (although I can think of worse jobs!) before setting up the business in July 2016. Remarkably each MyMuscleMug contains more than 25g of protein, whilst being low in carbs and containing less than 200kcal. It sounds far too good to be true! Could a healthy cake with excellent macros taste yummy too? The images I kept seeing on Instagram looked mouth-wateringly delicious, but we all know that photos can be extremely deceiving. I held off ordering, but continued to salivate over the decadent pictures of gooey mug cakes appearing on MyMuscleMug’s Instagram page.

That was until the beginning of January when Emily announced the launch of two new flavours, and asked Instagrammers to guess the flavours for the opportunity to win them, so of course I entered. Luckily my entry of red velvet and chocolate coconut was correct and I was one of 10 lucky winners to receive the new cakes - hurrah. My resistance had subsided though, and I took the opportunity to pay for a sachet of the peanut butter and coffee flavours to be sent at the same time too.

The cakes come in individual 50g sachets, which is a bonus because it means that they fit through the letterbox. All the consumer is required to do is to pop the mix in a mug, add 100ml of milk, mix, add any toppings and microwave for 80 seconds or so. Simples.

Chocolate Coconut

As far as flavours go, chocolate coconut is not one that I would normally opt for (it always makes me think of the bountys left lingering in the Celebrations tub after Christmas). With that in mind I decided to try it first. I love the idea that you can customise your mug cake and so spent an embarrassing amount of time dreaming up concoctions that might complement the various flavours. I remembered that I had some choc shot in the cupboard and raspberries in the freezer so decided to cook the cake and adorn it once cooked.

I decided to make my first MyMuscleMug in a latte glass so that I could see the texture in the middle. Once combined with the milk I found the strongly scented chocolate coconut mix to be drier than expected, especially having made many banoffee beltsander-inspired cakes over the past few months. I licked the fork I used to whisk it with and instantly knew I was in for a real treat.

What I stupidly hadn’t accounted for was how much the cake would rise, and that the glass almost reached the top of the inside of my microwave anyway. After just 60 seconds I ended up with a cake volcano, oops. I ended up removing the latte glass early, despite realising that the cake was still gooey in the middle, but I just couldn’t bear to waste any more of it by popping it back in for the final 20 seconds.

Oof. It tasted so. Damn. Good. Think warm coconut fondant.

How was this healthy? How was this delivering 25g of protein? How did it taste so decadent whilst being so low in fat and sugar? It’s then that I realised that Emily must be a wizard. Must be! The raspberries and choc shot gave the cake some additional texture and elevated it into such a special dessert. Even writing about it is making me drool. Yum.

9/10

Red Velvet

It wasn’t long until the temptation to try another MyMuscleMug became too much to bear and so this time I reached for the other new flavour. I had decided to make this mix up in a shallow dessert bowl instead, kind of brownie style, and top I with fresh strawberries and a MilkyBar bear – after all the cake was healthy so I figured it was necessary to add some naughtiness, right?

As before, I licked the fork after mixing, but this time was met with a coconut flavour (it was then that I realised that all of the MyMuscleMugs contain coconut flour) and a very strong beetroot flavour. Now beetroot is one of only a couple of foods I really can’t stand (the other being liquorice). The mixture was an admirable bright red colour, and I say admirable because red velvets have become somewhat less bright since the disappearance of the e-number packed dyes that were once abundant in supermarket shelves. The big problem was, in order to obtain such a beautiful colour, the mix must’ve contained quite a bit of beetroot powder. I only hoped the flavour would subside once cooked.

Unfortunately for me it didn’t, and I really couldn’t get along with the earthiness of the flavour. For me the coconut and beetroot totally overpowered the chocolate and I was left wondering how the cake could be called red velvet, save for its brightness.

2/10

Peanut Butter

At this point I had really mixed feelings about the cakes. Would the peanut butter flavour taste of coconut, or worse, would it taste like the disgusting peanut flour used in Dr Zak’s peanut butter powder? Was it worth using the last of my Co-Op PB&J ice cream to go alongside it? After some deliberation I decided to take the punt, this time making it in a normal mug and adding a large spoonful of JimJam’s low sugar strawberry jam to the raw mix before cooking.

This time I managed to cook the cake for the full 80 seconds, which was when I saw it starting to peep out of the top. I tipped it out into a bowl, although the bottom was still fondant-like and was a little reluctant to leave the mug, but I loved the chocolate coconut one served that way so refrained from cooking it further.

Hurrah! Emily was back to her usual magic with this mixture. The peanut butter was flavoursome and although there was a hint of coconut in the background I found that it complemented the nuttiness really well -who knew? I felt rather proud of my concoction too; the warm jam-filled cake paired with one of the best ice creams I discovered last year was sheer genius (even if I do say so myself). Serious noms.

9/10

Coffee

Now coffee cake is one of my absolute favourite cake flavours. The only trouble is, more often than not, people like to include walnuts into the mixture. Gah. I just want a smooth cake goddammit! Stop shoving walnuts into my cake please, and my ice cream too whilst you’re at it (yes I’m looking at you Ben & Jerry’s with your Chunky Monkey). Also, whilst I’m moaning, why can you never find coffee muffins? Humf. The nut issue is the main reason that I rarely buy coffee cake, and there’s not much point in making it at home when Bert can’t stand coffee. It’s therefore perhaps needless to explain how much I was looking forward to my final MyMuscleMug, and decided that it needed a suitable ice cream to nestle alongside it. Mud Pie! Mud Pieice cream would work wouldn’t it?

Perhaps the most surprising element of the coffee MyMuscleMug is just how brave the flavour is. It’s not a mild, latte kind of flavour, and instead delivers the kind of caffeine-y kick that could even wake you up on a cold January morning. I was glad that I’d paired it with the sweetness of the ice cream for I can be a bit of a coffee wuss, but the resulting flavour was mind-bogglingly delicious and reminded me of another of my favourite desserts- tiramisu.

10/10

All MyMuscleMugs are available to purchase for £1.99each from mymusclemug.com, and I highly suggest you take advantage of the current 6 for £9.95 mix and match offer. The other flavours sound equally delicious too -I’m now dying to try the chocolate brownie, pumpkin spice and cinnamon swirl!

Mulled Wine Fruit Loaf (M&S)

I was my normal scroogy, scrimpy, student self and bided my time when buying this fruit loaf from M&S. At £2 it seemed a little on the steep side, and if I was going to treat myself to full-priced goods from their bakery section you can bet your bottom dollar that it was going to be their boobie buns (sorry Christmas Pudding Buns). Yesterday afternoon though I popped back into my local branch -second attempt at buying another bottle of Chocolate Opal -this time successful- and detoured via the bakery on the way out where I spotted a single loaf reduced to just 70p. The packaging informed me that it was freezable, so I hastily nabbed the pack and added it to my basket. 

"Spiced fruit loaf with port soaked dried vine fruts, sour cherries, citrus peel and ginger."

The first thing I noticed about the bread was its density. For a fruit loaf it wasn't very risen or fluffy -but then I told myself that perhaps it was meant to be more like a stollen. The pale dusting on top marked a further stollen similarity, and I kept everything crossed that it would be as tasty as Lidl's luxury chocolate version. 

The bread was shockingly tough to slice into, revealing a very compacted interior with a plethora of fruits -the only plus point thus far. The packet suggested toasting the slices, so I popped both of mine in for a minute so that it just begun to tan. I slathered both slices in butter, and got stuck in.

Eurgh. All I could taste was burnt fruit. If you've ever made raisin flapjack or rock buns at home and caught them in a fierce oven then you'll know how awful burnt dried fruit tastes. The thick crust round the edge of the bread made it very chewy too, so much so that I almost gave up eating it. I'm very determined however, and hate wasting food, so I gave the second slice a generous coating of apricot jam -which I hoped would inject some much needed sweetness and counteract the acrid burnt raisin taste.

Nope. The second slice also felt like a punishment, and the rest of the loaf went in the bins -even the poor birds shouldn't suffer this.

I'm really hoping that I got the worst of a bad batch, so I'm extremely eager to know if any of you have tried M&S' Mulled Wine Fruit Loaf this Christmas, and if you're experience was similar or vastly different! Be a dear, and leave me a comment to let me know...

2/10 

KitKat Ice Cream Cones (Tesco)

I've had my eye on these Kit Kat cones for a while now, but every time I think about buying them I spot a better ice cream offer and they end up being demoted down the wish list. 

Tesco have got some cracking deals in their freezer aisles at the moment, including half price Haagen Daaz, Soleros and four packs of Cornetto peanut butter cones for just £1! Amongst the bargains are the Kit Kat cones, half price at £1.49 per box. I couldn't think of a better time to purchase.

"Biscuit cone with chocolate and vanilla flavour ice cream rippled and topped with chocolate sauce and a chocolate coated wafer finger."

I was pleased to find that Nestle had been sensible with their packaging choices; each cone was not only wrapped with cardboard, but topped with a plastic cone to protect the KitKat fingers poking out of the ice creams' peak. The non-ecologically-friendly casing did the trick though, the cones looked impeccable with their swirls of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. 

I'm afraid that once again this was a case of style over substance. The 'vanilla' ice cream really meant 'devoid of flavour', and the chocolate ice cream didn't fare any better. I can't remember ever having tasted a chocolate ice cream so horribly insipid before. As for the chocolate sauce? Well I didn't even know there was meant to be any until I typed out the product description. ALDI's chocolate brownie ice creams would seem like the creme de la creme after these. Yuck.

The situation got worse with the KitKat. Whilst I thought I would pleased to find that it was a full size finger, I really wish it wasn't. The biscuit had gone limp and soggy, tasting rather rancid. Not good at all.The ice cream's only saving grace came from the biscuit cone which -unlike the KiKat- had retained its crispness. 

Put it this way: I certainly wouldn't buy these cones again and I don't even think you could persuade me to eat another one in future, even if it was free.

2/10

Megaload Sweet & Salty Peanut Butter Cups (American Fizz)

You're probably bored of me telling you about just how much I love Reese's peanut butter cups. Admittedly they might not be the best quality chocolate on the market, but there's something deliciously satisfying about the combination of salty- peanut butter encased in waxy super-sweet milk chocolate that I just can't get enough of. Even better if it's white chocolate doing the wrapping. Anyway, despite loving Reese's as much as I do, sometimes its good to have a change. Normally I have M&S' 'The Nutty One' in reserve for such occasions, but I spotted these Megaload peanut butter cups on American Fizz and, at 99p per pack, I decided to give them a go! 

Each peanut butter cup was topped with a different flavour pretzel: peanut butter, milk chocolate and white fudge -sounds good, right?

I was a bit baffled when I sliced each cup in two; where was the bright orange peanut butter centre that I've grown accustomed to? I hoped that Megaload had just opted for the more natural approach...

Unfortunately not. The coating was inferior quality, making Reese's look like the Hotel Chocolat of the American chocolate market. The peanut butter was non-existant -I literally couldn't taste it against the cheap tasting chocolate- and to finish things off the pretzel was stale and had lost its crunch.

So much for my venture into something new. Sometimes the original is just the best, as Nibs also recently found out with these dire butterscotch peanut butter cups. Reese's will you forgive me for deserting you*?

2/10

*albeit briefly! 

Hershey's Zagnut (American Fizz)

A while ago, in my review of Nestle's Butterfinger, I mentioned a comment that I'd received on Twitter about how I couldn't be a true peanut butter addict without trying a Zagnut. The bar has been surprisingly difficult to track down, but American Fizz have recently undertaken a huge restock and so the Zagnut was available to purchase at long last. 

"When you've got a hankering for crunchy peanut butter and delicious toasted coconut, you need a ZAGNUT Bar. The satisfying crunch of peanuts, along with the sweet, toasty goodness of coconut, will bring a smile on even the most challenging of days."

Uh oh. Crunchy peanut butter. That sounds remarkably similar to the Butterfinger. Once it arrived, I manhandled the packet and realised that it felt exactly the same too. Had I made a mistake?  

The Zagnut was extremely brittle, and so it had already split in two during transit. I could smell the nuttiness as soon as it was out of it's wrapper -but my heart sunk when I saw that it was texturally indistinguishable to the Butterfinger. 

I bit into it, and tasted a powerful peanut butter flavour. There was no mistaking that Hershey's had used proper pb in the centre of the bar, packing a huge amount of flavour into every mouthful. As for the coconut? Well I couldn't taste that whatsoever. There was no hiding from the sheer amount of sugar though. I swear my teeth were screaming at me not to eat it. The sweetness combined with the crunchiness resulted in a bar that felt like I was chewing on peanut butter flavoured sugar cubes, an experience that really wasn't enjoyable. 

Half way through  I realised that it was only my reluctance to waste money that was fuelling my Zagnut endurance... With that I threw the other half away and reached for a Hershey's product that I know I love: a white chocolate Reese's heart, ahhh, much better!

2/10

Peanut Butter Ritz Bits (American Fizz)

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm absolutely obsessed with Nutter Butter Bites -so much so that one of my favourite Christmas presents was a huge box containing 40 packs from my peanut butter hating fiance, yes he really loves me!

With my supplies starting to dwindle, I've been dabbling into other peanut butter snacks -trying to find something that is on a par with Nutter Butter Bites. I struck the jackpot with the Mini Reese's Oreos, and I'll be sure to buy a number of packs when I next place an order with American Fizz. 

When I visited Miami four years ago I fell in love with peanut butter filled Austin Crackers, and was left wondering why you couldn't get PB Ritz crackers. Fortunately such a product does exist, but only on the other side of the Atlantic. As luck would have it, American Fizz sell them for a reasonable £1.39 per pack (alongside bacon & cheese, and cheese versions too). 

The 85g 'big bag' contains roughly 36 twenty pence sized crackers, apparently equating to 3 servings. At the time I thought "sod that, I'll polish off the bag in one sitting, thank you very much"!

Well, it turns out that Nabisco had got the serving size correct! The crackers were light yet crunchy with a salty aftertaste -exactly what you'd expect from Ritz. The peanut butter centre was also good, I imagine that it's the same stuff they fill the Nutter Butter Bites with as they're made by the same company. 

The BIG problem was that the proportion was totally off kilter. The crackers dwarfed the filling, and the paltry smattering of peanut butter was completely lost against the dry Ritz. The combination of salty crackers and saline peanut butter also contributed to they dryness, and I was extremely grateful for my huge cup of coffee to wash it all down with. After 12 crackers, I was more than done.

If you're after an authentic American peanut butter snack, you must try Nutter Butter Bites and Reese's Oreos -but perhaps steer clear of the Ritz unless you're a dry cracker kind of person. 

If you want a second opinion please do check out Nibbles 'N' Scribbles thoughts on them here. 

2/10

Bonne Maman Crème Brûlée Au Chocolat (Waitrose)

How can you improve any dessert? Add chocolate of course. Or salted caramel. Or both! That's my viewpoint anyway, so when I spotted Bonne Maman's Crème Brûlée Au Chocolat on offer in Waitrose (£1.52 for two) I was suitably tempted.

Both the chocolate and standard crème brûlée come in Gü dessert style glass ramekins. Please tell me you're kitchen is full of the little glass pots too? I'm sure the saying should be "a moment on the lips, a lifetime in your cupboards", but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it does it? Each dessert is topped with a sachet of brown sugar to complete the 'brûlée' experience..

..Except, I was baffled by the rather ambiguous serving suggestion on the back of the packet:

"Sprinkle the contents of the attached sachet evenly over the surface of the Crème Brûlée. Place the pot in the oven until golden and bubbling. Allow to cool slightly before eating. Alternatively, serve cold."

A cold oven? Obviously not. A temperature? Time? Jeez. These are worse than IKEA instructions! Having partaken in some chef training a number of years ago I realised that the sugar needed a quick blast from a blowtorch. I left my kitchen to ask my (Engineer) other half for said implement but he sniggered and apologised for leaving it at work. Thinking on my feet, I whacked my grill onto full blast and popped the sugar-topped crème brûlées under the heat, hoping for the best.

The sugar didn't really caramelise, but I got a few crispy bits. Underneath the sugary top I was met with a tepid, gelatinous, brown substance. It wasn't  pleasant, and made me think of Granny's rejected blancmange.. I was hoping for a punchy cocoa taste, but instead it was horribly mild and insipid. The colder custard at the bottom of the ramekin was marginally better, but far from tasty. I'm showing my age here but did you ever have school lunch luke-warm chocolate custard?  That's the closest flavour I could liken it to.  Gloopy, warm, and jelly like. Not one for me.

Being nosy I had a quick gander at the ratings on Ocado's and Waitrose's website. They're not good. Bonne Maman's chocolate crème brûlée has a 3 stars on Waitrose, and only 1.4 stars on Ocado. Interestingly, the reviews are good for the original version, so maybe this is one dessert that doesn't benefit from the addition of chocolate...

2/10

Have you had either of the Bonne Maman crème brûlées? What do you think of them?

Rhythym 108 Lemon Cake Dessert Bar (Amazon)

Today marks the second instalment in Rhythm 108 Dessert Bar reviews. As I mentioned last year when reviewing Portlebay's popcorn, I tend to eat my foods in the order of least to most favourite, so I was really looking forward to trying this bar (last week the Apple Pie bar scored a whopping 9/10). 

;-

Lemon Drizzle cake has to be up there with the best of British cakes -a true classic that balances sweet and tartness to perfection. So fond are we of the afternoon treat that it has held the  position of highest rated recipe on BBC Good Food's website for as long as I can remember. The best part of a good lemon drizzle cake for is the delightful crunch of it's sugary topping, and so I wondered how it would translate into a healthy bar (that contains no added sugar). 

As with the Apple Pie version, this bar is rich in calcium, high in fibre & protein, and is suitable for coeliacs thanks to its absence of gluten. I heated it up in the microwave for twenty seconds which helped the bar to release its citussy scent. The texture was perfectly moist, with a good crunch coming from the chunky cashews and almonds. Unfortunately however, the taste was all wrong. Instead of achieving the sweet/tart balance that the drizzle cake is renowned for, all I could taste was the sour pith of the lemon which rendered it rather unpleasant. Now, I know I've got a sweet tooth so perhaps this is one for those who like super sour sweets, but it really wasn't for me. Sorry Rhythm 108!

2/10

NEW! Kellogg's 5 Grain Muesli Bars: Red Apple, Peanut & Pumpkin Seed (Morrisons)

Having enjoyed the new Kellogg's Chocolate & Nuts Muesli Bars, I returned to Morrisons in order to stock up whilst they are half price. I reached the cereal bar section, and pondered over whether to try their 'healthier' cousin -the apple, peanut & pumpkin muesli bars. I do like all of the components, they just hadn't caught my eye due to their lack of cocoa content. At £1.24 for the pack of four, I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

'Oats, wheat, barley, rye and triticale bar with dried apple, peanuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds'

Now I have to admit, that without the chocolate chips, these bars looked far less enticing. The most dominent scent came from the peanuts, although they weren't particularly obvious to the naked eye.

 Texturally, these muesli bars were tough, gritty and slightly sticky. All of the flavours were very mild, and I found the bars utterly bland. It wasn't until I was half way through that it dawned on me just how close it would be to eating rabbit food. The smell of the pumpkin seeds had brought memories of feeding my pet as a child, and it was a realisation I couldn't shake.

I'm afraid that due the lack of chocolate (or any other flavours for that matter) the new Kellogg's Apple & Pumpkin Seeds Muesli Bars won't be a repeat purchase. 

2/10