SunRidge Farms - Mexican Style Chocolate Almonds - July 22, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

SunRidge Farms
Mexican Style Chocolate Almonds
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) (1/4 cup) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package
Calories: 170 calories in 1 serving (1/4 cup)
Cost: $6.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate & Nuts Theme Week.

Today's Mexican Style Chocolate Almonds with Cinnamon, Cayenne & Vanilla were manufactured by SunRidge Farms (Royal Oaks, CA).*

Aroma and flavor notes included: sweet, dark milk chocolate and spices (Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla, cayenne pepper). I admit I prefer Cassia (Saigon) cinnamon from Vietnam rather than Ceylon cinnamon. 

Texture: smooth chocolate coating surrounded crunchy whole almonds.

I liked the textural balance between smooth and crunchy; and the idea of Mexican chocolate. Somehow the combination of spices reminded me of cinnamon toast or apple turnover with some mild heat. That's not a bad thing; but I'm a big fan of the "other" cinnamon--the bolder, (some say more bitter) Cassia cinnamon from Vietnam. Everything else about these almonds seemed just fine.

Ingredients: "Mexican Style Chocolate Coating (cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, milk, cinnamon, soy or sunflower lecithin [an emulsifier], cayenne pepper, vanilla extract), Dry Roasted Almonds, Pure Food Glaze."

Allergen-related information: "Contains Almonds, Milk, Soy. Manufactured on shared equipment with peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and sesame."

*The company gets extra points in my book as their facility uses renewable energy (solar and wind) to run their operations. And that includes "3000+ solar panels."

That's All - Dark Chocolate Knafe Crunch (bar) - July 21, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

That's All
Dark Chocolate Knafe Crunch (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 2.2 oz. (62.2 g.) in total bar
Calories: 341 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $13.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.

Today's handmade Dark Chocolate Knafe Crunch (bar) from That's All (San Jose, CA)

This bar was a tribute to the Dubai chocolate bars popular on social media in recent years that contain pistachios and knafeh/kataifi/kadayif (shredded, thin phyllo dough pastry sheets) -- often with tahini (ground sesame).

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate with appealing sweet, nutty and very faint coconut notes.

Texture: smooth, firm dark chocolate coating surrounded a soft, ground pistachio nuts (salted pistachio butter) filling that was also crunchy and flavorful thanks to popped quinoa, sesame (tahini) and coconut.

Flavor notes included: a pleasing blend of dark chocolate layered with pistachio nut butter and other complementary flavors and complementary creamy and crunchy textures.

I also appreciated the short list of quality ingredients and being able to try a gluten-free version of a "Dubai Chocolate"-inspired filled bar. 

Ingredients: 70% Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Beans, Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Sunflower Lecithin), Salted Pistachio Butter, Popped Quinoa, Tahini (Sesame), Coconut Sugar.

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Pistachio, Sesame & Coconut (sugar)"