Review: Vegan Go Max Go Chocolate Bars - Jokerz, Mahalo & Twilight

A trio of vegan chocolate bars for review today. I was lucky enough to get a lovely foodie gift basket from my vegan brother for my birthday. He included loads of interesting vegan treats that I've never tried before but he assured me were just as good (or better!) than the real thing. 

These Go Max vegan bars are all made in the US and have simple, yet distinctive, packaging. These are often sold as vegan versions of the popular chocolate bars - Bounty, Snickers and Mars Bar (the Milky Way Bar in the US).

Twilight: The Twilight bar is described as 'layers of chocolatey nougat and caramel in a chocolatey coating'. I've never been a fan of the regular Mars bar but the Twilight bar is a different story. The nougat is soft and delicious whilst the generously thick caramel layer is extremely satisfying. The outer chocolate is impressive for a vegan bar and adds enough cocoa flavour. The overall bar is very sweet but I really enjoyed it.

Jokerz: The Jokerz is described as 'caramel, peanuts and peanut nougat in a chocolatey coating'. I really loved the peanuty nougat in this one, the hint of saltiness from the peanuts really helps to balance out the sweetness of the nougat and chocolate. Maybe I'm greedy, but I would have liked a few more peanuts in the filling but overall it's a great vegan replacement for the classic Snickers bar.

Mahalo: Lastly is my favourite of the bunch! The Mahalo is described as 'coconut and almonds in a chocolatey coating'. This is billed as the vegan Bounty bar but in my opinion it's much superior. Even though I love coconut I don't like Bounty's at all, especially their horrible texture. The Mahalo bar in comparison has a gorgeously fudgey texture alongside the sweet coconut flavour. The combination of almonds too is a lovely addition. I'd take the Mahalo over a Bounty any day! 

Find the Go Max Go range from many online vegan stores. My brother bought them from www.veganstore.co.uk. They're quite pricey at £2.39 each (I assume because they're US imports) but they're also free from artificial ingredients of any kind or hydrogenated oils . Even my husband, who's not usually a fan of vegan chocolate, enjoyed all of these bars - they're definitely a treat but worth a try!

Grocery Gems Review: Go Max Go Chocolate Bars

RATING: 8 out of 10 (with 9 out of 10 for the Mahalo).
Buy them again?: Maybe next birthday - but YES.
Vegan: Yes
Purchased: www.veganstore.co.uk.
Price: £2.39p each.

Review: Toblerone Vs Twin Peaks (Poundland)

After some dispute with the makers of Toblerone, and a few changes to the design and colour scheme, Poundland were finally able to release their Twin Peaks chocolate bar. Instead of taking it's inspiration from Swiss mountains, the Twin Peaks bar is a much more British affair that is 'inspired by the Wrekin & Ercall Hills'. Of course since they are both comprised of milk chocolate with almonds and honey nougat, I thought they deserved a side by side comparative review.

Whatever it's origins, the Twin Peaks bar is definitely good value for money at 180g compared to the Toblerone at 150g. There are bigger Toblerone bars available but this is the nearest in value. Ironically enough I actually bought this Toblerone in a Poundland too.

The Twin Peaks looks solid and chunky next to the longer and slimmer Toblerone. This is my first time seeing the new design of the Toblerone, with it's bigger spaces in between each triangle, and it doesn't look as ridiculous as I had thought it would. The Toblerone's outer packaging of cardboard and inner foil still makes it look more expensive compared to the Twin Peaks single plastic wrapper.

Left: Toblerone   Right: Twin Peaks

The chocolate itself has visible differences. The Twin Peaks chocolate (on the right) is very impressive looking with it's darker colouring and larger chunks of nougat throughout. The Toblerone has a creamier complexion with much smaller bits of nougat. Taste wise it was a close win for the Toblerone amongst my family of taste testers. The creamier and smoother chocolate of the Toblerone gave it a more enjoyable edge. As much as I hate to admit it, the larger spaces between chunks made the Toblerone simpler to eat, with each piece snapping off with ease. The Twin Peaks felt much harder to bite into, and whilst the flavour is satisfying enough, it's slightly sweeter and grittier than the Toblerone.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Toblerone Vs Twin Peaks Poundland

WINNER: Toblerone - but the Twin Peaks is still worth a try.
Buy it again?: Maybe.
Purchased: Poundland.
Price: £1.00p each.

Chocolate Review Megapost: Gnaw Peanut Butter, Deluxe Banana Milk Chocolates & More!

A massive thank you to the wonderful +BringBack Banjo who recently sent me a massive box full of delicious chocolates and treats. Running the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Bar takes a lot of time of effort but somehow BBBC manages to also keep her eye on spotting interesting new products. I always love her selections and this time was no different! 

Inside the parcel I found an awesome banana spread called I'm Bananas from The Wild Peanut, a Gnaw Peanut Butter chocolate, Snyder's Pretzel Pieces in Honey Mustard & Onion, a Twix Cappuccino, Chewits, Oh So Good Chocolate (no added sugar or dairy and with a boost of friendly bacteria), Tago Chocolate Muse (from Poland), Deluxe Banana Coated in Milk Chocolate, and Maui & Sons Dark Chocolate Coconut Chips.

Maui & Sons Dark Chocolate Coated Coconut Chips: Even though I love coconut, this isn't the sort of product I would usually go for. I think I would assume that the flavour would be a bit dry and boring, but I was happy to find that that's not the case!

Each dark chocolate coconut chip has a lovely crunchy texture that gives them an almost caramelised taste. The dark chocolate coating is really sweet but still has a strong chocolate flavour. Of course, the best part is the coconut flavour that comes through with each crunchy mouthful - it's sweet and just delicious. Even my kids couldn't get enough of this snack and they don't usually like coconut. I would definitely buy these in the future. Rating: 9 out of 10.

GNAW Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate: Gnaw is a range of handcrafted chocolates made in Norfolk. I love just how extensive the range is in terms of different flavours. As a fan of peanut butter I was excited to give this particular one a try. 

The Gnaw Peanut Butter is described as a milk chocolate with ground and chopped peanuts. There isn't any peanut butter as such in this bar, just little pieces of peanuts. The milk chocolate itself is very tasty, with a creamy flavour, but the little peanut pieces just provide a salty, peanut flavour rather than a 'peanut butter' one. It's still a tasty enough chocolate bar, especially for any peanut fans. Rating: 7 out of 10.

  

Lidl Deluxe Banana Coated in Milk Chocolate: I've often been tempted by the range of chocolate covered fruits in Lidl (such as the Deluxe Cherries Coated in Dark Chocolate) but I've never tried them before. I don't think I've ever seen this banana version or I would have snapped them up!

I'll be honest, I was quite shocked that these chunky chocolates were so dark inside - I was expecting a yellow coloured centre! Thankfully, the flavour is much tastier than I was expecting from appearances. The centre has a softly chewy texture and the whole thing has a deliciously sweet and ripe banana flavour. I really did enjoy these! They taste quite rich and satisfying, and the chocolate is very sweet, so I only eat one or two at a time, but I'll still be stocking up if I ever see these instore. Rating: 8 out of 10.

If you've tried any of the snacks in this post (or any of the products in the first photo) then I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Look out for the rest of the reviews from this parcel soon.

Another big THANK YOU to the wonderful @BringBack_Banjo 

Don't forget to take a look at the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Facebook Page and please sign the petition here. There seems to be a trend for bring back retro snacks and chocolates so let's make it happen for Banjo Chocolate Bar too!

Review: Aldi Chocolate Bars - Racer, Titan, Dreemy & Wacko

I recently stepped into Aldi to buy a few fruit and veggies and ended up adding at least five different packs of chocolate bars to my basket. In my defense they're all chocolates that are obviously based on popular chocolate bars - it's only fair that I buy them for a comparison review right? The DairyFine Dreemy is basically a Milky Way, the DairyFine Racer is Snickers, the DairyFine Titan is a Mars Bar and the Belmont Caramel Wacko is a bit like Twix (although not really - see below). These all come in multipacks of various sizes and value but they were all fairly cheap.

DairyFine Dreemy: These are described as lightly whipped nougat covered in milk chocolate. The nougat centre has a darker, more caramel type colour compared to a MilkyWay, but the flavour is very similar. It fact the Dreemy even has the same sweet malty aftertaste that Milky Way chocolate bars have. The outer chocolate is quite thick and has a good cocoa flavour to it as well. Overall these compare very favourable to a Milky Way and I would definitely buy them again. 

RATING: 8 out of 10.

INFO: £0.42p for a six pack. 100 calories per 22g bar.

DairyFine Titan: The Titan is described as a milk chocolate with soft nougat and caramel centre. It looks and tastes very similar to a Mars bar. The caramel especially has a good flavour and the chocolate outer is generously portioned with a very thick layer and has a lovely creamy flavour. The only slight negative is that I did find the nougat a little bland and the whole thing is a bit too sweet for me. However, I would probably say the same thing about Mars bars so they're a decent enough replacement!

RATING: 7 out 10.

INFO: £0.59p for a six pack. 172 calories per 38g bar.

DairyFine Racer: This is a soft nougat with roasted peanuts and caramel coated in milk chocolate. I  much prefer a Snickers bar over a Mars bar any day - the slightly salty edge from the peanuts makes all the difference for me. I was happy to find that the Racer really does capture that delicious roasted peanut and caramel flavour of a Snickers. The nougat layer is quite thin here and there seems to be more caramel which I enjoyed. The chocolate is again very thick and creamy. Mr. Grocery Gems is a Snickers fan and he gave the Racer a thumbs up too.

RATING: 9 out of 10.

INFO: £0.59p for a six pack. 185 calories per 38g bar.

Belmont Wacko: I actually meant to include the DairyFine Jive at this point as it's pretty much an exact match for Twix bars from Aldi (just a bit smaller). However, the Jive bars were all eaten before I could take a photo, which should probably tell you just how good they are. Instead, here are the Wacko chocolate biscuit bars with caramel. They're also delicious with a crunchy shortcake biscuit, thick caramel and creamy chocolate. It's obviously not as Twix-y as the Jive bar so I'll have to update this review at some point.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

INFO: £0.89p for 9 biscuit bars. 102 calories per 21g biscuit bar.

Let me know if you've tried any of these bars in the comments below. I'd also love to hear from you if you've tried any of the other copycat Aldi bars such as the DairyFine Romeo (coconut bars that look similar to Bounty).

Review: Aero Mousse Chocolate Bar

The new Aero Mousse bar is described as a bubbly Aero milk chocolate bar with a chocolate mousse layer inside. As exciting as that proposition sounds (which is NOT at all), the reality is even more boring than I expected.

The layer of mousse is very light and whipped in texture, rather than being a thick and creamy mousse. This gives the chocolate filling a light and airy consistency that is similar to another aerated chocolate bar- you know the one, it's called an Aero. The result being that the Aero Mousse tastes identical to a regular Aero chocolate bar. It's still a tasty enough treat, but I'm just not sure what the point of it is. 

Grocery Gems Review: Aero Mousse Chocolate Bar

RATING: 6 out of 10.
Buy them again?: No.
Purchased: Tesco.
Nutrition (per 1/2 bar):  94 calories (as long as you just eat half!).

Review: New Milkybar Milk & Cookies

I reviewed the US Milkybar Milk & Cookies bar in the very early days of my blog in 2012. It's interesting that three years later we're getting the same bar released as a UK edition. The new Milkybar Milk & Cookies is a fairly simple white chocolate and cookie combination. It comes in a large 118g Sharing Block format (which doesn't sound that much bigger than the usual 100g bars, but for some reason it just looks massive).

The cookie pieces are a very dark brown/black (they look more like Oreo cookie pieces rather than the milk chocolate cookie shown on the packaging), giving the white chocolate a greyish appearance. The flavour is exactly as I remember the previous American version, and is also very similar to the Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme bar (the only Hershey's chocolate I enjoy!), with it's sweet white chocolate and crunchy texture. The white chocolate is a little bland but it works well with the chocolatey cookie pieces, Even though this isn't the most exciting tasting chocolate, it's still one I can imagine buying again, as it reminds me of those harder to find American chocolates. 

Grocery Gems Review: Milkybar Milk & Cookies

RATING: 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 105 calories per 3 pieces.
Purchased: Asda.
Price: £0.99p for 118g.

Review: Milka Corn & Choco Forever

The Milka Corn & Choco is a fascinating combination of crunchy, salty corn pieces and chocolate. This one is made in Poland but it looks quite similar to the Milka Crunchy Corn from Germany. I found the Milka Corn & Choco in an international grocery store in East London that sells quite a few different Milka chocolate bars from Poland. 

Even though there's a picture of a nacho on the front of the packaging, the Milka Corn & Choco seems to be filled with whole salted puffed corn, the kind that can often be found as snacks on their own. They give the chocolate an added crunchy and crispy texture, and a surprisingly delicious corn flavour. 

The corn tastes more like those little salty and roasted corn snacks rather than Doritos, but there is a more of a nacho flavour that builds as an aftertaste. Corn and chocolate might sound like a questionable combination but it works incredibly well here, creating a successful blend of sweet chocolate and roasted corn flavours. Even my sceptical family members who looked on this Milka Corn & Choco with extreme caution, all found they really enjoyed it.

Overall, this is a great combination of flavours, and one that's delicious enough to be a tempting chocolate bar and not just a novelty one. 

Grocery Gems Review: Milka Corn & Choco Forever

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes - hoping to find it again.
Purchased: A local grocery store with Polish chocolates.
Price: £0.99p for 100g.