Best Candy Bar You're Not Eating

The candy company Just Born is most famously known for Peeps, but here's what I have to say: they make the most underrated candy bar in America today. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Goldenberg's Peanut Chews are one of my all-time favorite candy bars. According to the company's website, they were developed in 1917 and used in World War I as a ration bar. My memories of them go way back to when I was a kid and my mom stashed them in the candy cabinet in the livingroom.

Just Born is rolling out a new campaign, "Chewin' it Old School Since 1917." I hope this attracts a new generation of Peanut Chew lovers, because they are so darn good and there's no other bar to compare them to. Yes, they have peanuts and chocolatey coating like other candy bars, but there's something truly magical about the molassesy chewy center. The traditional chews are dark chocolate, but there's also the newer milk chocolate variety. They can be hard to find, but if you put your zip code into the finder on their website, you can get directions to the nearest Goldenberg's dealer.

Lindt Vanilla White Chocolate Truffles

You don't run across vanilla candy too often. White chocolate, yes, but vanilla, not so much. Lindt, which makes superb milk and dark chocolate, has now entered a whole new territory with its Vanilla White Chocolate Truffles. A few weeks ago, I received a big, purple box with a pretty white bow.  I opened it to reveal lots of the new truffles. I was pretty psyched to try them. The Sugar Baby, however, was even more enamored with the box. "It looks just like a present," he said. Well, yes, I guess it did.

 Like their other truffles, these have a hard outer shell and a decadent, rich, soft inner core. Mr. Goodbar is the vanilla aficionado in the house, and apparently he really enjoyed them, because I watched the box dwindle pretty rapidly. I love the purple wrappers, which would make them really fun for a party or a wedding.

The rumors are true! Nestle Crunch Girl Scout Candy Bars

There's big news in the candy world today. A few months ago, rumors started flying around that Nestle Crunch was going to come out with a Limited Edition bar incorporating Girl Scouts Thin Mints. People went wild, including me. I love Thin Mints, so much so that I can't have them in the house. I can down an entire sleeve in no time flat.
Well people, here's the announcement we've all been waiting for. (I'm giving it to you straight from the press release):

Today Nestle Crunch confirmed it has created the new Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Candy Bars, designated “the world’s most valuable candy bars” by the world’s largest auction house of collectibles, Heritage Auctions. Having officially authenticated the first set of the three limited edition Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Candy Bars, Heritage Auctions has appraised the bars at $500, an amount almost 200 times greater than the bars’ suggested retail price -- making them the most valuable candy bars currently in existence.

The bars will come in three varieties:

·         Thin Mints™ – Dark chocolate cookie wafers and mint chocolate crème, topped with airy crispies and a rich, dark chocolatey coating

·         Caramel & Coconut – Cookie wafers layered with coconut caramel crème and chewy caramel, topped with toasted coconut and drizzled with caramel stripes

·         Peanut Butter Crème – Cookie wafers layered with smooth peanut butter crème, topped with airy crispies and a creamy, chocolatey coating

Beginning tomorrow, May 9, you can log online to purchase the candy bars through a special, limited supply pre-sale program at www.Facebook.com/NestleCrunch while supplies last. After the pre-sale, the Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Candy Bars will be available as limited edition candy bars this summer at participating retail stores nationwide, beginning June 1 through September.

Good friends, good cookies

Say what you want about Facebook. Is it an invasion of privacy? Yes. Is it a stalker's playground? Yes. But it also brings some good into the world. For example, through the magic of social networking, I reconnected with an old friend from my high school and Mr. Goodbar's college. Turns out she was in town a few weeks ago, so after 20 or so years, we actually met up with each other again. It was wonderful to meet her family and to reminisce about old times. It was a great visit. Oh, did I mention she brought cookies?
Berger cookies. Ever heard of them? I hadn't. They're a Baltimore thing. The cookies are vanilla and cakey. Not as spongey as a black-and-white cookie, but definitely soft. Each cookie is dipped in thick fudge. They definitely reminded me of something but I still haven't been able to put my finger on it. My first thought was that the fudge was similar to the chocolate center of a Stella Dora Swiss Fudge Cookie, but I don't think that's it. In any case, the cookies are so sweet and so rich that just one will take care of any sweet craving you might have. (Unless, of course, you're me, in which case two is even better.)
You won't find these cookies in a store near you unless you live in the Baltimore area, but you can order them at www.bergercookies.com.

And just a note. Yes, I realize that I didn't take any pictures of my friend and I together, but I did take two pictures of the cookies. So, so lame.