Monday, April 26, 2010

When Cookies and Chocolate Collide: Stix in the Mud and Twix Triple Chocolate


It was almost a year ago when I found a package of Funley's Stix in the Mud at a little grocery store in Vermont. They were little clusters of "cookie bits" covered in milk and dark chocolate. I had an e-mail exchange with the owner back then, but to be honest, I kind of forgot about them. Then, just a few days ago I received a package in the mail from Funley's, with samples of their original Stix, as well as their peanut butter and caramel varieties.
The clusters come individually wrapped in tent-style boxes. Some might balk at the individual wrapping but I love it. The box says, "Individually wrapped for self control," and you know what? That's exactly right. If these were just dumped in the box, I could probably eat the whole thing in one sitting. But this way, I can have one (or two) a night and be perfectly content.
I've found that I've been gravitating toward the caramel variety the most. Don't get me wrong; the peanut butter is good, but it has that same old problem that all peanut butter candies have: they can't compare to Reese's. But the caramel ones are very complex. If it were up to me, I wouldn't call the insides "cookie pieces," because they're much crispier than you'd think. They almost border on chip-style crispiness. These kind of remind me of something I had when I was a kid ... I think it was a Little Debbie product ... Cosmic something or others?
In any case, not only are these little patties yummy, but they're also all natural, with no trans fats or preservatives. A big hooray for that!
I have to give Funley's credit. These are definitely unique. I'm having a hard time trying to describe them (of course, that could just be because of the cough medicine with codeine that I'm nursing in an effort to get rid of this dang cold). You'll just have to try them for yourself and see what you think.
While I'm talking about cookies and chocolate, I should also mention that I finally tried a Twix Triple Chocolate bar. I had bought it in Maine when we were there for the Baroness' birthday, but we were so sugared out that we didn't have a chance to try this there.
In this Twix version, the cookie is chocolate and so is the caramel. I thought I'd love this, but I found myself just really wanting a good old plain Twix. Maybe there just wasn't enough contrast between the three tastes, or maybe it was that the texture of the cookie was different. Whatever the case, I'll stick with the original. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be feeling a bit better so I can fill you in on the Candy Mystery that has popped up in my life. It's a story just rife with intrigue. You won't want to miss it.

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