Review- The Grown Up Chocolate Company Cups: Hazelnut, Caramel, Spiced Praline and Peanut

Hi, it's me! Did anyone assume I had died a grizzly death?* I wouldn't blame you if you had - One can only be MIA for so long before others evidently conclude another's demise.. Have no fear though, I am back! I don't know how long for and shall make no promises as life has gotten pretty hectic but I am hoping to at least squeeze out a couple of reviews before my next vanishing act!

So, getting back into the swing of things, today we have some goodies from The Grown Up Chocolate Company who ever so kindly, sent me some of their "Handmade in the UK", NEW chocolatey treats to try. 

Cups, cups and nothing but! ..Except a bar.. But more of that later! Priced at £1.99 a pop and sold in sixes, not to mention extremely cute packaging, each variety offers up 75-80g of chocolate, with all being veggie friendly from what I can tell. 

Heavenly Whole Hazelnut Praline Cups

Smooth milk chocolate praline cups with whole hazelnut and crispy rice crunch. 

Well the description was true to its word.. Check out that mahoosive hazelnut! Taking a munch, the flavour of the aforementioned was very much apparent and as one would expect, paired pretty well with the milky cocoa hit of chocolate from the smooth shell. Unfortunately however, I found that with the addition of puff riced, it was all a bit too much of a mouthful and did start to detract from what could have been a superb "plain" nutty/praline chocolate combo. It's a 3.5 out of 5 from me. 

Gorgeously Gooey Caramel Truffle Cups

Milk chocolate toffee cups filled with a runny caramel truffle. 

Apologies for the dark picture - I am putting it down to lack of practice! ..Or perhaps the slightly odd description of these Cups - What on earth of a runny caramel truffle? I was under the impression that a chocolate truffle is anything but runny? Someone explain it to me. Melting in the mouth wonderfully, this little gleaming beauty certainly packed a buttery, toffee punch from the oozing centre with just the right amount of sweetness to compliment the once again, faultless milk chocolate. Deliciously indulgent - A 4.5 out of 5!

Spectacular Speculicious Praline Cups

Milk chocolate cups filled with sumptuous warm spice praline. 

Cutting the Cup in half, the inside dense truffle texture was clear to see and produced an ever so slight whiff of spice. Taste wise, it was far more warming than I expected with a real "Christmassy" inviting flavour that reminded me a lot of a strong Speculoos based Spread. I am not entirely sure what the sprinkling was on top of each of the rich chocolates but I liked it and its crunch! Wintery and warming - A 4 out of 5 from me. 

Perfectly Buttery Peanutty Cups/Superb Salted Caramel Peanut Bar

As some of you may be aware, peanut** and I don't exactly fair well together so I passed both these Cups and the Superb Salted Caramel Peanut Bar, pictured below, onto my darling Brother to review on my behalf with the strict instructions of "not consuming before I have a chance to take internal shots". Did he listen? No. Of course he didn't. Lovely chap is BSW (Winning personality, fabulous beard, etc) but he chooses to have the memory of a dead goldfish. So.. There's that. No pictures, a rating or even description as he also disposed of the boxes but he did say as follows.. 

"The Bar was better than the Cups. 

Strong peanut taste. 

Chocolate, creamy and nice.

Do you have any Reese's?"

Take from that what you will. 

Overall, minus the peanut fiasco which I can't personally judge for certain, these NEW Cups from The Grown Up Chocolate Company aren't too shabby at all.. There is definitely room for improvement with the Heavenly Whole Hazelnut - Maybe doing away with the puffed rice and making it into its own Cup would be nice, but aside from that, the Gooey Caramel Truffle is practically spot on despite still not being overly sure what a liquid truffle is and Speculicious Praline is to be a sure winner for anyone who loves a bit of spice in their life. Be sure to check out everything mentioned on the website and see if anything takes your fancy! 

Aaaaand lastly, a huge thank you to the folk at The Grown Up Chocolate Company for sending me all the deliciousness - Your chocolates are always much appreciated and rarely disappoint! 

*Or care? You lot are so heartless. 

*The nut/legume not the ACTUAL Peanut, NibsnScribs - Go read her review, she's a hoot and far more conscientious than my stupid sibling. 

Review- Krispy Kreme NEW: Chocolate Orange and Tiramisu

Happy Monday! Happy New Year! I have good news. Possibly the best news ever. Krispy Kreme have only gone and released 2 brand spanking NEW Doughnuts today! Could there be any better way to kick of 2017? I think not!

Behold! A Chocolate Orange and a Tiramisu doughy delight! ..You're thinking the same as me, aren't you? Why these weren't the Christmas offerings, I'll never know - It makes zero sense given the festive feel of the duo but never mind I guess, better late than never! Purchased from my local Tesco cabinet as part of a trio box, I assume they were priced at the usual £1.90 individually.. But one can never be too sure when I am forever being charged varying amounts in my store!

Chocolate Orange

Filled with chocolate orange flavour kreme, topped with orange flavour gloss, dark chocolate shavings and decoration. 

Having come to the realisation that it is impossible to guess how much filling is inside all of KK's Doughnuts, I was overjoyed to see a packed centre of smooth kreme despite it's relatively light feel. Smelling exactly that of its namesake, taste wise it reminded me a lot of a cheap "Jaffa" Cake bar with a slightly bitter, medicinally orange flavour combined with generic chocolate - Not the Terry's, I hoped for by any means. The sticky gloss on top, I found to be far more pleasant than the filling adding a different sort of citrus tone.. Although still not quite spot on. As for the doughnut itself, there was not much to complain about with the signature KK flavour and light, fluffy texture, no stodge or uncooked dough. A 2.5 out of 5 from me.  

Tiramisu

Filled with coffee flavour kreme, covered in white chocolate flavour coating - CONTAINS NUTS.

Moving onto the Tiramisu and the sheer panic of reading "Contains nuts" after eating the bloomin' thing! - Since when did Tiramisu feature hazelnuts?! Thank the lord it wasn't peanuts.. That would have been anything but a marvellous start to the year! Cutting into the aerated Doughnut, as seen above, the whipped to perfection kreme proved to be in abundance but didn't really have much of a scent to it at all.. Certainly not that of coffee which immediately didn't bode well in my mind. Taking a bite, thankfully I was proved wrong the a decent enough hit of creamy coffee coming through, albeit once again, a tad on the artificial side. The cracking and crumbling white chocolate added some sweetness to balance but as usual, was hardly of the highest quality and I am not sure, one would know what it was meant to be.. Which essentially summed things up entirely in being nothing like Tiramisu as I know it.. But could pass as Cappuccino/Latte inspired! A 3.5 out of 5. 

Hmm.. I can't help but feel a tad let down by these 2 NEW Doughnuts. The desired flavour is just not there with the Chocolate Orange and the Tiramisu is not really what it claims to be whatsoever.. I did much prefer the latter however as a all round coffee fanatic! A few tweaks and some better quality ingredients and KK might just be onto a winner..

Now, only time will tell what else might come our way this year.. But I beg of you KK, listen up and please let coconut feature! I need it! 

Happy New Year- Tesco Finest Reveal Dessert

Happy New Years Eve, Snack Army! Did we all have a nice Christmas? I know I did and have been thoroughly spoilt on all fronts - Lovely presents, tasty food and a wild drink or 2! It has pretty much been the best.. But one final dessert can only make it better, right?! - It's a potentially shaky yet potentially sensational, Tesco Finest Reveal Dessert, to see out 2016!

And featuring a nice bit of questionable lighting thanks to my kitchen too - Sorry sorry! I picked up the 580g, serves 6, bang on trend pud off the end of one of the stores fresh aisles and was happy to see it had been reduced from £6 to £4.32 - It's yellow sticker heaven in there at the minute so definitely worth a looksee if you're on the hunt for a bargain. Although not stating in black and white whether suitable for vegetarians or not, the box does come with some extensive recycling information - The carton and sleeve are green all the way but you've got to check with your loyal recycling centre about the plastic pot, tray, lid and dome and heaven forbid, whatever you do, don't think about doing anything with the plastic window as it's a no go so just bin it as usual! Got it? You better have taken notes. 

Once again horribly hued but the flying saucer reminiscent dessert looked the part with it's sparkly festive come galactic appearance, ready to have the caramel sauce poured over top, which I followed the instructions of removing the lid and heating in the microwave for just less than the recommended 70 seconds.. 

Well that worked well didn't it. Welcome to the inside of my microwave, folks. Question - If I had zapped it for the full time, would I actually have any sauce left in the tub? I am going to say not. Nice one Tescy. 

A dome of Belgian chocolate encases a decadent chocolate brownie topped with Ecuadorian chocolate mousses, hand drizzled with white chocolate, sprinkled with popping candy and toasted hazelnuts. Pour over the hot caramel sauce.. Then watch and listen.* 

Pouring over the liquid gold caramel, I waited in anticipation..

Oo oo going..

Going..

Aaaaand it's gone! Check out all that ooey-gooey action!

Grabbing a spoon and getting stuck straight in, the sauce was still slightly warm, producing almost melted, but not quite, glossy pools from the chocolate shell. Taking a mouthful, an array of textures presented itself - A decently sized dense, fudgy brownie, whipped ganache like mousse followed by a crunch from the nuts, popping 'n' crackling of the candy and of course, the silky smooth, luscious caramel, chocolate mix. Taste wise, the combination of elements were ridiculous indulgent with nothing but the highest quality, rich cocoa paired with varying creamy sweetnesses from the other chocolate aspects as well as a buttery, toffee hit from the sauce - I can't say the hazelnuts particularly shone nor produce that "Nutella feel" but with so much going on already, I think anything stronger would have ruined it! A chocoholics dream and potentially, a heart attack in a saucer! - Yum! 

Overall and as you can probably tell, this Tesco Finest Reveal Dessert is pretty much a life changer. Yes, it may be the sort of dessert that you need to lay down after consuming and take an antacid or 3 but it's well worth it for the good of something which I am going to say is the best pud, I have had this year. It's top marks from me - 5 out of 5! ..Heck, I might even make it a 6 purely on the basis of the caramel not being salted! I am putting my cards on the table here!

Have a lovely night all, whether you're at home with a quiet cuppa or a crazy kid out on the town.. Be sensible and be safe, please. Here's to 2017! 

*It made no sound. 

Snackmas Day 22- Christmas Spreads: Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread and M&S Clementine & Cranberry Curd

We don't do elaborate Christmas breakfasts in my house, due to the fact we aren't big on brekkie anyway and more importantly, wouldn't dare risk spoiling our impending "all the trimmings" festive lunch. For those of you who do desire something a bit special however, be it for guest or just your Dancer-selves.. A Spread duo today of Chocolate Gingerbread courtesy of Hotel Chocolat and a citrus-y M&S Clementine & Cranberry Curd!

With a fairly stark price difference of £6 for the 150g spicy spread and a far more reasonable £2.50 for the 300g jar, fruity option, both are suitable for vegetarians and recommended to be kept in the fridge and consumed within 4 and 6 weeks respectively.. That's if you can make them last that long, of course!

Hotel Chocolat Christmas Gingerbread Spread

Caramel and milk chocolate praline spread with spices. 

Smelling both chocolate-y and spicy with a very thick and almost dry texture, I was a little taken a back upon first scoop out of the plastic tub.. Although somewhat bizarrely, it spread far more easily  (Even when cold) than one would expect from its appearance - Bit odd! 

Despite the serving suggestion, to be enjoyed on muffins or cupcakes, I went for the traditional croissant breakfast which the spread melted on beautiful once warmed by the toasty pastry. Taking a bite, I soon came to realise that perhaps this wasn't the best option as the buttery aspect was all a bit too overpowering. Tasted alone however, a fairly mild cocoa flavour was noted with hints of nutty praline in the background and an almighty punch to the face of spice! I can't say it was completely that of pure ginger and certainly not having the taste of any actual biscuit-y gingerbread I've experience but the real warmth was unmissable. As for the caramel aspect, there wasn't that much sweetness which should probably not come as a shock given the sheer amount of spice used. A 3 out of 5 from me. 

M&S Clementine & Cranberry Curd

Cranberry and clementine curd. 

No alarming jingle bells this time with the consistency - The curd was gloriously smooth, thick and ploppy, not to mention possessing an aroma most definitely reflecting its namesake! ..And yes, I did eat the above blob straight off the spoon. 

Thankfully this time, my choice of croissant didn't let this spread down with the curd and pastry being a match made in heaven! As velvety in feel as it appeared with a buttery rich, creamy base flavour, the citrus tones were in abundance including lemon which although wasn't in the ingredients, I am still sure I could detect beneath the orange. A potent zing came from the fruity cranberry which struck just the right balance of tart and sweet making for one very delicious, slightly addictive Curd. It's a 4.5 out of 5 from me! 

Overall, I think it is clear to see which one of these Christmas Spreads does it for me.. Clementine & Cranberry Curd, I could eat you all day and M&S, I take my Santa hat off to you! As for the Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread Spread, by no means is it repulsive but I do think one would carefully have to consider what they are having it with and maybe, really relish spice in general to fully appreciate exactly what it delivers.. I personally will probably end up sandwiching it in a chocolate cake come the new year!

Snackmas Day 9- Tesco Finest Chocolate & Hazelnut Stollen

We've covered Italy and the joy that is Panettone with a reboot from last year so it's only fair to do the same for Germany.. Move over Cherry & Almond, it's all about the Chocolate & Hazelnut Stollen! 

Tesco's festive aisle is where I found the serves 8 loaf and believe you me, when I saw it.. I was in a store and I was singing! Priced the same as it's traditional fruit counterpart at £7, the bread-cake cross contains wheat, obviously, alcohol, nuts and also comes with a warning that small children can choke on said nuts.. So best not leave your intoxicated, coeliac 3 year old unattended with the Stollen this Christmas!

Fruit cake filled with Belgium chocolate chips, chocolate hazelnut and almond filling, infused with amaretto syrup and decorated with caramelised hazelnuts. 

Okay, I did complain about the flimsy tray last December but I didn't mean to do away with it completely, Tesco! What am I meant to do with a bagged loaf? What/who is going to catch my nuts?

Now is not the time to be hasty and change a habit of a lifetime so I did what comes naturally and just plonked it on some kitchen towel. Check out the brown log glory!

Smelling amazingly of marzipan, the soft and squidgy Stollen cut into slices a dream to reveal the chocolate layer within, surrounded by big chunks of dried fruit. A moist and fudgy texture was that of dough with oodles of rich cocoa tones from the more than generous amount of chocolate, complimented by the flavour of pure almond/amaretto. Absolutely packed to the brim, the sultanas, cherries and cranberries gave a juicy pop aswell as adding some fruity flavour which prevented things from being sickly. I couldn't taste the hazelnuts on top whatsoever, despite the generous scattering but the addictive light crunch from the nibs was more than enough and nothing felt amiss. Life changing! 

I didn't think the Cherry & Almond Loaf could be beaten.. Yet this Chocolate & Hazelnut Stollen has completely wiped the floor! It's everything as promised - Chocolatey, fruity, full of marzipan flavour and having so much more substance than it's lack lustre appearance! An all round fantastic twist on a German classic - Well done Tesco! Top marks from me, 5 out of 5! 

Review- Lindt Creation: Chocolate Cake

Lindt is up there with everyones favourite chocolate, right? I for one, don't know of anyone who doesn't like it.. Even if the Lindor Balls do leave you feeling a bit woozy after having eaten a dozen! Perhaps the solution is not eating 12 in one sitting.. Or maybe transition to a Creation Milk Bar instead? 

Extra smooth milk chocolate with a fine dark chocolate truffle and a melting heart. 

The eternally wonderful and my little Peanut Poo, NibsnScribs sent me the 150g Chocolate Cake inspired, Swiss treat and I was very excited to try another offering from the range after having received the Refreshing Lemon version at Christmas. This bar which is comprised of 30% cocoa solids also contains hazelnuts and almonds so a no go for any allergy sufferers out there! 

Look at that gooey centre! - Lindt weren't lying with their "melting heart" claim! As expected, this reflected in the texture with the sensational smelling chocolate slowly dissolving on the tongue producing a ridiculously silky smooth feel. Taste wise, the quality of cocoa was second to none - All rich, creamy tones without being overly sweet thanks to a hint of something darker in the background. A ever so faint flavour of hazelnut lingered but certainly not enough to tip the Bar into Nutella territory.. Although I expect that would have worked too! Delicious. 

Overall, this Chocolate Cake Creation is one of the best Chocolate Bars I have ever had - Lindt have managed to achieve that fondant-esque texture whilst not compromising on the flavour to produce something which can only be described as, out of this world good! I will definitely be hunting down another and I suggest you do the same! It's top marks from me, 5 out of 5! Thanks Peanut! 

Review- Krispy Kreme NEW: Lemon Cheesecake and Nutty Chocolatta

As I am sure many of you are aware, Krispy Kreme have released a Nutella Doughnut.. Rather sneakily "leaked" through a "Confidential Internal Memo" marketing stunt which caused uproar all over social media. I wasn't champing at the bit to buy into this NEW Nutty Chocolatta but decided to bite the bullet along with a NEW and improved version of the Lemon Cheesecake. 

Both of the Doughnuts looked pretty darn flawless with a nice circular shape and a decent size - It's a miracle. I bought them as part of a trio box from my local Tesco Cabinet but individually they were priced at the usual £1.90 for the Lemon and £2 for the Nutella - KK know how to take our money! 

Lemon Cheesecake

Hand dipped in cheesecake icing, with a lemon & cheesecake filling topped with crunchy biscuit and lemon sugar finished with a tangy lemon drizzle. 

Fruity first and I wasn't sure what to expect - Aesthetically the doughnut didn't appear all that different apart from a moving in topping placement. Cutting in half, I was naturally disappointed by the amount of filling but held out in hope that more would be hidden inside - Thankfully in the right half, lemon was in abundance! A real zingy kick came from this with a ever so slight tang from the cheesecake goo which surprising did taste of cream cheese.. Well with some imagination, I mean. The dough incasing all this was up to the usual KK standard in being soft, fluffy and generally a delight. Topping wise, I tasted nothing listed in the ingredients, not even lemon - It was just plain sweet! Not bad and marginally better than last year - It's a 4 out of 5 from me. 

Nutty Chocolatta

Filled with pure Nutella hazelnut spread, coated in chocolate and decorated with white chocolate swirls and caramelised hazelnuts. 

Nutella time and it smelt jolly good! Once again, the dough itself proved to be perfect with 0 in terms of stodge and certainly not dense. Amongst the fluffyness was a big old blob of the delicious chocolatey spread which was thick, rich and super nutty - More so than you find in some jars anyways! A generous layer of set chocolate coated the top and although it was pleasant enough, it wasn't exactly anything to get excited about. Contrasting to all the soft were the nibs of hazelnut for that final boast of nutty flavour, to round up things nicely. Decent enough but just Nutella in doughnut.. I didn't faint, dribble or scream - It's a 3.5 out of 5. 

At the risk of sounding like a right Debbie Downer*, these 2 NEW offerings from Krispy Kreme are alright hence the marks.. But really nothing special. By no means is there anything wrong with them.. The Lemon Cheesecake tastes of lemon and the Nutty Chocolatta tastes of Nutella but they are hardly going to change ones life - Heck, any fan of the aforementioned has probably already put the spread with a KK to get their fix! Now, if only I could find the Berry Pavlova.. I really do have high hopes for that one!

*I would just like to formally apologise to my Debbie Downer of a twin, NibsnScribs who I failed to tell I had these Doughnuts. As she is the Peanut Butter Queen, I suggest you all go and pester her for a review of the NEW Reeses PB & Jelly, leave her a nice comment for me and fingers crossed, reap in its glory! 

Review- Cadbury NEW Dairy Milk Big Taste: Triple Choc Sensation, Oreo Crunch and Toffee Whole Nut

Cadbury have gone a bit mad. No, they haven't changed their Dairy Milk recipe again (Or have they? Hmm!) but instead released about 37 NEW Chocolate Bars in the past few weeks. I lie, it's only 5 really but still, that's a pretty big increase! Also, the term NEW should be used very loosely as todays trio of Big Taste Bars as well as the Medley duo* are direct copies of those by Milka who just happen to also be owned by Mondelēz International.. So all in all and as usual, the whole things a sham.. Onto the review! 

I picked up the Dairy Milk Triple Choc Sensation, Oreo Crunch and Toffee Whole Nut in Sainsbury's after having searched high and low for the things. The Bars weigh in at a chunky 300g each and are priced at a hefty £3 a pop which means yes, I did spend £9 on chocolate. This is what my life has become. 

Triple Choc Sensation

Milk chocolate with white chocolate (42%) and dark milk chocolate (25%).

There isn't a lot to say about this bar that isn't already in the description - It's Milk chocolate, White chocolate and what they've called Dark Milk chocolate.. What is Dark Milk chocolate? Is it Dark or is it Milk? I'm confused. Popping a triangular chunk into my mouth, it tasted how I expected.. Chocolatey! The Dairy Milk wasn't particularly stand out with the White being lost completely but the "Dark Milk" definitely added the most flavour in terms of cocoa-y tones, if you can really call them that! A semi decent melt was apparent, resulting in the layers seperating, which was quite enjoyable but it was hardly enough to redeem such a mediocre bar. It's a 2.5 out of 5 from me. 

Oreo Crunch

Milk Chocolate with a vanilla flavour filling (40%) and biscuit (16%).

Moving onto something with a little more action going on - The Oreo Crunch. As suggested in the name, this bar packed a serious munch and was a real, pleasant mouthful given its chunkiness. The signature Oreo flavour also came through which went well with the very sweet set vanilla filling which although wasn't quite that of the kind you find sandwiched in between the actual biscuits, it was fairly tasty! Encasing the lot was of course the chocolate.. It was sweet, generic and as expected, not a patch on the Dairy Milk of years previous. It was also relatively thin in comparison to the filling which left the whole thing borderline, biscuit bar rather than chocolate - I am not sure this would go down well with the chocolate fanatics but I didn't mind personally.. I couldn't take much more of the "DM"! A 3.5 out of 5 from me. 

Toffee Whole Nut

Milk chocolate with toffee flavoured filling (32%), Caramel (10%) and hazelnuts (8%).

Lastly, the Toffee Whole Nut. It smelt pretty delightful with a strong, buttery "warm" Caramel scent that just screamed "Eat me!". I did as ordered and basically fell into heaven. Breaking through the same lack lustre, although perhaps marginally thicker chocolate than above, the muted cocoa flavour was a pretty decent carrier for the pure hit of toffee from the soft filling. The runny puddles of sticky caramel only added to the sweet, deliciousness and was a good contrast in texture to the firmer aforementioned elements - Usually I would say this about the nuts which in this case were fresh and crunchy but the liquid-y caramel really helped things from being to "dry". Amazing - A 4 out of 5 from me. 

Overall and unfortunately, these Cadbury NEW Dairy Milk Big Taste Bars are a bit of a waste of time. The Toffee Whole Nut** is amazing if you like super sweet things, there's no two ways about it and the Oreo Crunch isn't disastrous by any means so I haven't marked them awfully.. (Unlike the Triple Choc Sensation which we shan't even mention) But these are meant to be CHOCOLATE Bars and they fall way short. The quality of Dairy Milk leaves a lot to be desired and quite frankly, it's embarrassing to the point where I am not entirely sure what Cadbury are playing at.. I mean, sales are down thanks to them messing with recipes and possibly doing the worse thing ever (If not selling to Mondelēz International in the first place) in switching the Creme Egg from Dairy Milk to their cheaper recipe and it's leaving a bitter taste in a hell of a lot of peoples mouths. I can't help but feel that one day, it is going to come back and bite them on the bum.. Yes, there may be the loyal customers who continue to buy their products but for how long? Cadbury just isn't what it use to be. And I'd like my £9 back, please. 

*Nibs is the Medley Maiden. 

**Mrs 1T has reviewed the Milka version of this Bar so go have a read and leave a nice comment. 

Snackmas Day 24- Tesco Finest Cookies

One More Sleep, folks - One more sleep until Santa Claus Is Coming to Town! Who's excited? I'm excited! I don't know about you but the build up to the 25th has always been my favourite and there is no happier day of the year than Christmas Eve!

Since we are intent on Keeping the Dream Alive here on R4R.. Cookies for Santa will most definitely be being left out tonight and what better way to spoil him than with 6 of the Finest that Tesco have to offer - Salted Caramel & Chocolate, White Chocolate, Cranberry & Pistachio, Quadruple Chocolate, Fruity Flapjack, Maple Syrup & Pecan and Dark Chocolate Ginger. I realise, you can't put a price on Santa but these do cost £1.59 a pop with 8 Cookies per box. 

Salted Caramel & Choc and White Choc, Cranberry & Pistachio

L-R- All butter cookies with milk chocolate chunks and caramel fudge pieces and All butter cookies with Belgian white chocolate, cranberries and pistachio nuts. 

Salted Caramel & Choc

I appeared to pick a bad Cookie to start with as these really weren't good. Texture wise, it was more like a crunchy Maryland Biscuit than anything else with a flavour that was of caramel but really artificial. I couldn't taste any sort of chocolate but a bland creaminess was most apparent which made them quite sickly. The salted part was redundant as usual, just to twist the knife that little bit further. A 1 out of 5 from me. 

White Choc, Cranberry & Pistachio

Up next a Christmas classic combo! Once again. the texture was more of a biscuit but no where near as crisp as above and much more buttery in flavour. Big fruity chunks of cranberry were present in each Cookie which although were pleasant, I do think would have been better if they were a bit smaller and more evenly, distributed. The pistachios weren't exactly identifiable but a nuttiness did linger but sadly, the white chocolate wasn't anywhere in sight. A 2 out of 5 from me.

Quad Choc and Fruity Flapjack

L-R- All butter quadruple Belgian chocolate chip cookies half coated in milk chocolate and All butter cookies with sultanas, coconut, apricot, hazelnut, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. 

Quad Choc 

At first, I was a little annoyed with this packet.. Quality Control had obviously taken a break when in production as 1 of my cookies looked like it had been half eaten! I made a cup of tea to get over it and got dunking. These were amazing - Very chocolatey and rich in taste with big chunks of milk as well as sweeter white chocolate running throughout. Extremely moreish and almost perfection - 4 out of 5 from me! 

Fruity Flapjack

Anything oaty, I am sold and these certainly didn't disappoint - They tasted homemade, would you believe it? A soft bite with a super chewy texture, the buttery flavour which was slightly salted which paired perfectly with a sweet syrupyness and subtle coconut in the background. The seeds added a nice crunch and almost nutty flavour with the sultanas and dried apricot adding a gummyness. A big 4.5 out of 5 from me! 

Maple Syrup & Pecan

L-R- All butter pieces with pecan nut and maple syrup and Stem ginger cookies fully coated in Belgian dark chocolate. 

Maple Syrup & Pecan

I have no idea how many recipes Tesco has on the go as these Cookies had a completely different texture to both the first "plain" Salted Caramel and White Choc versions - Very Bizarre! I would say these were the hardest of the lot and not just because of the pecans which were few and far between! Taste wise, maple syrup didn't really come to mind but popcorn sure did - It was uncanny to the sort you get at the cinema with a slight nuttiness. Not bad, but not really its namesake - A 3 out of 5.

Dark Chocolate Ginger

Last but by no means least is the spicy Cookies which really weren't all that spicy.. The heat was extremely mild and nothing compared to a Gingernut. These had a nice crisp bite which would dissolve on the tongue with chewy pieces of crystallised ginger throughout. The dark chocolate which coated the entire thing was nice and rich and went well with the not so fiery but still pleasant flavour. Another 3 out of 5 from me!

Well these are a bit of a mixed bag.. We started with rubbish in the form of the Salted Caramel and White Choc, things improved dramatically with the Quad Choc and Fruity Flapjack and then we came back to semi happy medium with the Maple Syrup and Dark Choc Ginger - Tesco is all over the place! I am thinking on that basis, I better leave out the middle duo for Santa to munch on to ensure I get a big present come tomorrow morning.. Tactics and all that. 

Enjoy the rest of your Christmas Eve and I'll be back later, to tuck you in with a Snackmas roundup!

Review- Krispy Kreme Chocolate Hazelnut Kreme

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are my weakness. I avoid the cabinet in my local Tesco like the plague as I know I won't be able to resist! Having said that, I'm so glad Krispy Kreme are now sold in most stores - doughnuts make me happy. 

I knew the Choco Mania Range was out so was excited to find this little beauty - Chocolate Hazelnut Kreme! 

Filled with hazelnut Kreme and topped with chocolate hazelnut topping and caramelised nut sprinkle. 

With a description like that I couldn't wait to get stuck in! I cut it in half to check out the Kreme filled centre. I love how whipped and light it is! 

How good does that look?! 

The doughnut itself was the perfect super soft buttery dough you know and love from Krispy Kreme. The hazelnut flavour of the filling was quite subtle which I'm glad about. I think it could have easily been overpowering! I'm not sure I could taste any hazelnut in the actual chocolate topping but paired with the crunchy nuts, it gave a hazelnutty taste. 

Overall this wasn't quite Nutella perfect but it was mighty tasty! I would eat another tomorrow.. Or now if someone had one to offer me! There's a Chocolate & Honeycomb Kreme in the same range which I'm keen to try if my Tesco gets them in. It's a 4 out of 5 from me!