Lindt Lindor: Peanut butter

Product name: Lindt Lindor: Peanut butter
Purchase details: £0.40 for a 12g truffle (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 73 per truffle

It’s only relatively recently that I discovered that Lindt Lindor: Peanut butter existed. As with most interesting peanut butter products, the variety isn’t generally available in the UK. However, my colleague recently took a trip to Bold Street Sweets and informed me that they were selling them. It didn’t take me long to get down there myself and buy a few to sample and I wasn’t surprised to be told by the lady who served me that they had been ‘flying out’.

The copper wrapper wasn’t dissimilar from the UK’s hazelnut variety that’s found in the Assorted box and there wasn’t really anything to go on in terms of information. However, I was able to find the Peanut butter truffles on Lindt's USA website. This claimed that the favourite ‘flavour combination’ of milk chocolate and peanut butter was being delivered ‘in a single, deliciously gourmet experience’ with the ‘delicate milk chocolate shell’ holding an ‘irresistibly smooth peanut butter and milk chocolate’ centre.

From the outside, you wouldn’t have guessed that this particular Lindor variety held an inner secret. However, on cutting a chocolate ball open, the difference was immediately clear. Instead of being solidified, the centre was thick and molten and, despite being a darker shade of brown than peanut butter, it was clear from the texture that this was incorporated in the mix.

I can’t say the truffles had a specific peanut butter scent but there was a nutty element within the chocolate aroma. The thick outer shell was milky but also provided a cocoa hit that mellowed the stronger inner flavour. This filling was properly liquidy and had a prominent roasted nut aspect along with a salty aftertaste. Whilst I’d love to rave about it, I did find the peanut butter flavour wasn’t as pure as I’d have liked, and it also had an almost alcoholic tint to it too. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable.

The texture may well have been out-of-the-ordinary for Lindor but I think I actually preferred it!  Instead of melting in the mouth and bordering on sickliness, the filling was already molten and literally popped out of the shell when a little pressure was applied, leaving behind the tasty chocolate to savour as a nice change.

These Peanut butter truffles weren’t exactly how I expected but I was quite impressed that they weren’t totally predictable. I think the flavour could do with a little work but the chocolates were still great and I maintain that they should be more widely available!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.5/10

Likkers Suga: Peanut butter

Product name: Likkers Suga: Peanut butter
Purchase details: £0.60 for a 25g lollipop (Bold Street Sweets)
Country of origin: Europe

Oh my goodness – I’ve actually found a peanut butter flavoured product that, not only have I never had before, but it has never even occurred to me that such a thing should exist! Behold the Likkers Suga: Peanut Butter.

According to the Likkers website, all their lollipops are handmade, and they do some even more random flavours such as Bacon & cheese. I was playing things pretty safe, then!

This Peanut butter version came in a whirl shape with yellow, brown and white stripes on the outside, and a plain cream colour on the inside. The product didn’t actually contain any peanut butter and it didn’t smell nutty either. Instead, it smelt like a candle. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly which flavour but it was the kind of warming smell that red and brown scented candles provide – maybe a deep vanilla or a cinnamon (bearing in mind they don’t always smell like the real thing!). Anyway, this was a good thing because it had the delicious smell with the added bonus that it wasn’t made of wax so I could eat it! Interestingly, the inside smelt more like popcorn.

The lollipop itself was pretty standard. It’s slightly sticky texture was much like a stick of rock in that it was crispy to chew and splintered in the mouth, sticking to teeth in the process. Its surface, despite bumpy in shape, was nice and smooth to suck on too.

The taste was a bit less familiar in lollipop terms. My first thought was that there was a definite peanut butter resemblance but, due to not being in pure form, it also had a slightly dirt-like flavour to it. However, as I let the nice, juicy flavours flow, its sugariness was the main aspect and it tasted very much like the types of sticks of rock I enjoy (I’m always gutted when I end up with a mint one!). When chewing on the candy, though, the nuttiness came to the fore once more, although bigger mouthfuls produced a more popcorn-like flavour.

This was certainly an enjoyable lollipop but it wasn’t as revolutionary as I thought. It tasted nice but didn’t reach its full potential in terms of its peanut butter flavour. I’d definitely like to experiment with the other Likkers varieties, though...I think I’ll try the Coconut next.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Gardners Candies S'mores

Product name: Gardners Candies S’mores
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 42g bar (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 186 per bar
Country of origin: USA

Since my review of Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted s'mores, I’ve still not tried the real thing, but I was intrigued by Gardners Candies’ chocolate bar version of the product so I decided to give it a go.

The bar came described as marshmallow and ‘graham cracker covered in our creamy milk chocolate’ and came in quite an unusual wrapper that combined fake with real. The background featured close-ups of real graham crackers, as well as drawings of chocolate, marshmallow, and a fire (the latter to remind of the campfire aspect of real s’mores). I also liked the way the letter ‘O’ of the brand name was made of a chocolate-topped marshmallow.

I was surprised at just how good-looking the S’mores bar was. It wasn’t huge but it was pretty chunky and had a thick chocolate shell – I could see how this was the main ingredient! The drizzled chocolate  was a nice finishing touch too. Inside, the decent-sized biscuit base was topped with another (much thinner) layer of chocolate, and then a slab of smooth, white marshmallow that looked like a creme filling. It was this marshmallow that seemed to provide the sweet and creamy scent that was noticeable on opening the wrapper and was even more evident up-close.

 
The chocolate was very milky, if a little on the sweet side, but I figured this was partially down to its contact with the marshmallow. This soft centre was very chewy and provided a vanilla flavour that blended nicely with the digestive biscuit-like taste that came from the graham cracker. This biscuit was, unusually, more soft than crunchy, and I found the contrast in textures, generally, made the bar slightly difficult to eat as the chocolate and biscuit crumbled as they sunk into the marshmallow on biting.

For textural reasons, marshmallow isn’t one of my favourite foodstuffs, but I was pleased that the thick chocolate shell was the stand-out aspect of this product. It wasn’t the best bar I’ve ever tasted but it was an interesting concept – I had been concerned it would taste like Wagon Wheels (I don’t like those!) but it didn’t so that was a bonus. Despite being served cold, the S’mores bar offered a good combination of flavours, but I imagine a real s’more would be a bit more special! 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Nabisco Oreo: Peanut butter creme

Product name: Nabisco Oreo: Peanut butter creme
Purchase details: £4.00 for a 432g pack (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 70 per biscuit
Country of origin: Canada 

One of these days, I’ll review a Nabisco product that doesn’t contain peanut butter...but you’ll just have to wait a bit longer!

Despite not having reviewed them yet, I’m a massive Oreo fan, and I’ve wanted to try the Peanut butter creme version for a long time but have always been put off by the high import prices. Thankfully, though, I was able to buy these for half the normal cost of £7.99 when Bold Street Sweets had a half price day for their Facebook fans.

These ‘chocolate sandwich cookies’ came in a large, blue resealable pack containing a giant picture of an Oreo (with fake-looking creme!), and a brown and white colour scheme to represent peanut butter and milk (the drink these biscuits are famous for being dunked in). Since I knew it would take me a long time to get through all the biscuits in this pack, I didn’t dare risk relying on the sealing mechanism alone, so I can’t comment on whether or not it does the job. 

The pack also had a recipe on the back for a Peanut Butter Creme Oreo Milkshake – this looked like a nice idea but I have to confess that I haven’t given it a go (partly due to it using American measurements).  

The biscuits were made by Kraft Foods and contained sugar as their main ingredient. A serving was classed as two cookies and, with around 14 servings per pack, I worked out that it should contain 28 biscuits in total (although I didn’t open it right up to double-check!). 

Hopefully your life is fulfilled in that you know what a standard Oreo looks like. These cookies had the same dark, patterned appearance, but the creme was a pale orangey-yellow as opposed to white. As a result, the creme didn’t look as fresh, but it was still nice and thick. 

The peanut butter scent was instantly noticeable on opening the packet but this wasn’t quite as good in quality as an actual jar of peanut butter. However, the creme was actually quite like peanut butter in texture – it even had a slight crunchiness when eaten on its own but I think this was down to stray crumbs! 

The biscuits were really crunchy and chocolatey and provided the usual, rich Oreo taste, along with a slight nuttiness from being in contact with the creme. The latter was more sugary than actual peanut butter and it had a slightly bitter edge to it but it was still very pleasant. The two components went very nicely together, which is what I’d expect from chocolate and peanut butter, and the creme provided a great moisture which prevented the cookies feeling too dry.

To sum up: these were fantastic! 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10