Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs

parent co.: Trader Joe's

net wt.: 3.8 oz.

qty.: 3

country: united states

description: three milk chocolate eggs, each with a natural peanut butter center

another unexpected treat from b.paul: chocolate peanut butter eggs - one of my favorite candy combos (along with chocolate and hazelnut, of course). naturally, one would expect these to be similar to Reese's peanut butter eggs, and they are, to a point. the package makes a point (several times, as a matter of fact) of telling us that these eggs contain natural peanut butter filling, just peanuts and nothing else. that is definitely a good thing in several respects. it has a rich, roasted peanut flavor; a nice smooth yet grainy texture; and an excellent earthy aftertaste (possibly due to the fact that there's no salt added). the slight grit in the filling goes wonderfully with the creaminess of the milk chocolate. here is a situation where i think the milk chocolate is preferable to dark; the bitterness of the dark might clash with the peanut butter. these are pretty hefty eggs, almost 1.5 oz. apiece, but they aren't overly sweet so they're manageable. a nice alternative to Reese's (that isn't Palmer's, because Palmer's sucks). (more photos)

rating: 7

ingredients: milk chocolate (cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, chocolate liquor, nonfat dry milk, butter oil, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], vanilla extract), peanut butter (peanuts), coconut oil

allergen information: contains milk, soy peanuts, coconut. may contain traces of other tree nuts.

Squirrel Nut Zippers

probably my least favorite of the Necco chews. i think they are just a peanut butter-flavored taffy. the same consistency as the Mary Janes, but without the delicious gush from the inside. rather boring, not very much peanut flavor. aside from the chewiness, there really isn't much here.

rating: 3

Trader Joe's PB&J Bar

my hopes for this candy were, perhaps, too high. chocolate, peanut butter and raspberry?! delicious. also, there are potato chips in there. yes, potato chips. i love this concept because anytime i make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, i have to put chips on it. potato chips are a favorite, but corn chips also work nicely. now here is my dilemma: what i expected was a bar of peanut butter filled with delicious swirls of raspberry jam, smothered in chocolate (both milk and dark), then rolled in crunchy potato chips. sounds delectable, does it not? too bad that what i got was a bar of peanut butter with a smidgen of raspberry jam layered on the bottom, not to mention the chips are most certainly not on the outside, they are inside. it still makes for a nice texture, i love having little crunchies in my chocolate. i think that the milk chocolate here is in the center part, with the peanut butter; the whole bar is covered in dark chocolate. the flavor of the bar as a whole is quite good, the dark chocolate is smooth and the inside peanut butter portion isn't too crumbly or chalky. it doesn't have as much of a creaminess to is as i had expected, but then again, i suppose i wasn't sure what to expect. overall i really do like this, i just have a hard time dismissing my preconceived notions of it.

rating: 6

Mary Janes

for some reason i never had a Mary Jane until earlier this year. i guess i just always thought they would be gross. i was finally suckered in by the cute wrapper and tried one. lo and behold, it was not gross. in fact, it was downright tasty. it's a molasses-flavored taffy with a little pocket of peanut butter inside. these are the best when they're room temperature or warmer, when it's cold you don't get the nice little gush of peanut butter when you bite into it. the chewiness here is great, similar to Bit-O-Honey. alas, this is another one of those "feel bad about it" candies, again with the hydrogenated oils and whatnot.

rating: 8

Skybar

i suppose the appeal of this bar is that you get four candies in one: vanilla, fudge, peanut butter and caramel. i like the sound of that. the taste of it is not as exciting. first of all, the chocolate here tastes sort of...chalky. or powdery, like powdered milk. that's kind of gross. then there's the filling. the caramel wasn't bad, it was gooey which i like and the flavor wasn't too sweet. i'm not a huge fan of vanilla creams in general, but this tastes almost like frosting. very, very sweet. the peanut butter was the biggest surprise, it was gooey like the caramel, but with a hint of peanut butter. and i loved it. then the fudge came along and crapped in my mouth. it was stiff and way too sugary sweet. strange how they made two out of four so good. ah well, i guess i'll just have to keep buying all of my candy bars separately. what a pity.

rating: 4

tidbits: Reese's Whipps and Nutrageous

just for clarification, i had never had the Reese's Whipps before, but have had the Nutrageous on several occasions. while it has never been a favorite of mine, i do enjoy the Nutrageous bar quite a bit. it has a great combination of flavors: peanuts, caramel, peanut butter and chocolate. very nice. unfortunately, the Reese's Whipps did not impress me as much. it is simply a bar of peanut butter nougat, topped with a thin layer of peanut butter surrounded by chocolate. the problem for me here is that it is a fluffy nougat. i prefer a more dense nougat such as a Charleston Chew. this reminds me of 3 Musketeers, which i am not extremely fond of (notice, i did not say i dislike it, i'm just not extremely fond of it). although the flavor is pretty good, i probably won't buy it again.

rating: 7/3