The Organic House - Chocolate Easter Egg - Vegan Cookies & Cream - May 12, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

The Organic House
Chocolate Easter Egg - Vegan Cookies & Cream
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total Egg
Calories: 300 calories in 1/2 Egg

Cost: $13.50 (approximately) for 1 Egg (Paid $26.99 for 2 Eggs)
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Bees and Trees Week -- including several chocolates with honey, maple and other tree-related flavors (besides cacao).

Today's Chocolate Easter Egg - Vegan Cookies & Cream was from The Organic House (Burlington, ON, Canada). 

The company offers a variety of gluten free and dairy free chocolates--including some sweetened with Canadian maple sugar. This Easter egg was a version of the company's Cookies & Cream maple oat milk chocolate (Philippines cacao) bar -- with maple flavored white/oat milk chocolate and cacao nibs. 

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate, maple sugar, green, sweet nut and grain and faint floral cacao (nibs).

Texture: smooth (dark and white chocolate melded together, with crunchy (authentic cacao) nibs.

I wasn't sure I could detect a "cookie" flavor; but it became more evident when I tasted the chocolate from start to finish. Today's egg was sweet and satisfying. The nibs helped sell the cookie crunch. And the subtle cashew and oat/oat milk ingredients also helped round out a faint, "cookie-like" taste.

I liked the flavor and texture blend: use of organic and gluten-free ingredients, the rich, sweet (less processed) maple and coconut sugars that added some pleasing, subtle, flavor warmth (think very faint brown sugar, caramel) and depth.

Ingredients: "Organic cacao butter, Organic cacao beans, Ontario maple sugar, Organic cashews, Organic coconut flower nectar, Gf organic oats."

Allergen-related information: "Contains Cashews, Oats. May contain: Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pistachios."

Ticket Chocolate - Easter Egg Hot Chocolate Bomb - Mar. 7, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Ticket Chocolate
Easter Egg Hot Chocolate Bombs

Good ++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (39.5 g.) / 2.8 oz. (79 g.) in total package of 2
Calories: 200 calories (estimate) in 1 serving (1 egg)
Cost: $12.99 for 1 package of 2 eggs
Purchased from: FarmFresh, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Outdoors Theme Week, featuring granolas, trail mixes, tree-shaped chocolates and other outdoor-loving treats. 

Today's Easter Egg Hot Chocolate Bombs were from Ticket Chocolate (Loomis, CA). This egg came nestled in some shiny green "grass"--a great tie-in with the greener-than-green (pre-Easter/Spring) grassy hills right now in northern California.

These were pretty (Belgian) chocolate eggs, decorated with very thin stripes of white chocolate and colored dot sprinkles. 

Aroma notes included: rich hot chocolate (cocoa), marshmallow and vanilla.

When put into a cup of hot water (and gently stirred), this egg "bomb" magically transformed into a cup of hot chocolate--with (voila!) a marshmallow floating on top--in seconds. (The marshmallow was inside the egg. And, when the outer chocolate egg shell melted, the generously-sized marshmallow bobbed up to the top.) 

The texture was smooth and creamy, and the marshmallow was fresh, soft, sweet and light.

Flavor notes included: pleasing, rich, smooth and creamy hot chocolate with marshmallow, and subtle warm vanilla.

I loved the Easter egg/spring holiday themed transformational (egg to hot chocolate) aspect. It was a well-executed, clever concept; and an attractive, sweet, creamy, cocoa winter warmer. (If you want to skip the artificial colors, you can scrape off the festive round candy confetti, before blending the chocolate egg with hot water.)

Ingredients: Milk & white couverture chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor), Vanilla marshmallow (cane sugar, invert sugar, water, brown rice syrup, gelatin, powdered sugar, rice starch and/or tapioca starch, natural vanilla flavor, vanilla extract, marshmallow flavor, salt, vanilla beans), Confetti sprinkles (sugar, rice flour, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, corn starch, cellulose gum, carrageenan, soy lecithin, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, red 3, yellow 6, artificial flavor, blue 1), cocoa mix powder (sugar, whey, nonfat dry milk, cocoa powder [Dutch process], creamer [coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate], natural flavors, guar gum, salt). 

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, coconut (and soy). "Crafted in facilities that also process wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame."

Knipschildt Chocolatier - Chocolate Robin's Eggs - Apr. 21, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Knipschildt Chocolatier
Chocolate Robin's Eggs
Good - Good +
Weight: .6 oz. (17.01 g.) / 5.4 oz. (153.09 g.) in total container of 18 eggs
Calories: 132 calories in 2 eggs
Cost: $28.00 for 1 container of 18 eggs
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome. We interrupt the Chocolate, Plants and Herbs Theme Week to celebrate Easter. Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

Birds and hatchlings are everywhere this week, so it seemed appropriate to celebrate Easter with some chocolate eggs.

Today's Chocolate Robin's Eggs were from Knipschildt Chocolatier (Norwalk, CT).

These speckled and spattered, multi-colored blue and greenish-yellow mini eggs were a blend of white chocolate, filled with dark chocolate ganache (filling).

They had a pleasant cocoa/chocolate aroma and a very smooth, almost creamy melt and mouthfeel.

These chocolates were a bit sweet, but they were fun and better quality than many Easter chocolates sold in stores.

Dick Taylor - Single Origin Chocolate Rabbit 72% Belize - April 1, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Dick Taylor 

Chocolate Rabbit Single Origin 72% Belize Dark Chocolate

Very Good

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total rabbit

Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 rabbit

Cost: $15.00 for 1 rabbit

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Bonus Feature!

This year April Fool's Day and Easter fell on the same Sunday (which also overlapped with Passover). Regardless of where and how you celebrate the return of Spring, today's bonus item would have delighted dark chocolate lovers.

Today's Single Origin 72% Dark Chocolate Chocolate Rabbit was lovely, complex, and made with Belize-grown cacao. This rabbit was not too sweet, and full of exquisitely-crafted and well-balanced flavor depth, including bold fruit, light spice and bittersweet notes.

It was the perfect finish to a great Spring celebration meal, and it was followed by a hike up in the green hills.  

Divine - 70% Dark Chocolate with Mint Crisp; Easter Egg - March 22, 2018

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Divine 

70% Dark Chocolate with Mint Crisp bar

Good+

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) / 3.2 oz. (22.5 g.) in total bar

Calories: 260 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $5.99 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Divine 

Easter Egg Dark Chocolate 70% cocoa

Good+

Weight: .95 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.99 oz. (55 g.) in total package

Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 package

Cost: $1.99 (guess) for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week. Today's two featured 70% dark chocolates were both produced in the UK and distributed by Divine Chocolate Inc. (Washington, D.C.). The first was a Dark Chocolate with Mint Crisp bar and the second was a Dark Chocolate Easter Egg.

These relatively new offerings included new packaging and design elements as well. 

Divine Chocolate is unique in that cocoa farmers own 44% of the company and share in the profits. (Fairtrade cocoa is grown by family farmers in Ghana.)

Divine 70% Mint Crisp Bar

The Divine 70% Dark Chocolate with Mint Crisp bar had a relatively strong, but balanced peppermint aroma. The flavorful, slightly earthy, chocolately base dark chocolate shone through.

A similar (but not identical) Divine mint chocolate bar was previously featured on this site. It was segmented into scored, rectangular pieces and the packaging, adorned with green and gold African-inspired symbols, covered the entire bar.

This new bar, decorated by a fine smattering of small mint crisp bits, was designed as uniform chocolate bar (longer segmented into rectangles), and was viewable through a clear window.

The company name "Divine" was printed in a repeating pattern on the back of the bar. 

Divine 70% Easter Egg

Because Easter is upon us, it seemed appropriate to include a 70% Dark Chocolate Easter Egg, also from Divine. The sunny yellow box design incorporated an attractive array of large gold pattern symbols. 

The hollow egg was carefully broken, and shards of egg were sampled and enjoyed.

The 70% cocoa dark chocolate for this second chocolate, however, tasted very different than the more bold 70% cocoa Mint bar above. The Easter Egg had hints of coconut, milk chocolate toffee. (It contained vanilla; but there was no milk, coconut or toffee in this chocolate.) 

SOMA Chocolatemaker - Easter Carrots - April 17, 2017

Easter Chocolate Item
April 2017

SOMA Chocolatemaker
Easter Carrots
Good
Weight: .918 oz. (26 g.) in 2 carrots
Calories: 138 calories (estimate) in 2 carrots
Cost: $7.00 for 1 carrot
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

This post is a special post-Easter holiday entry.

These diminutive, foil-wrapped "carrots" from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada) were flavored/colored with real carrots and blood orange—giving this Easter confection the advantage of having small amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin A.

The sweet cocoa butter/white chocolate based carrots were cone-shaped and tasted like the real thing. They were even seasoned with a generous pinch of salt...raising an age old question. If this is made out of plants, can I count this as a vegetable?

Probably not, but these little orange beauties were beautiful to look at and fun to taste.

Ghirardelli Chocolate - Milk Chocolate Bunny - Mar. 27, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Milk Chocolate Bunny
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 bunny
Calories: 152 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) of bunny
Cost: $3.50 for 1 bunny
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Happy Easter to all who celebrate this Spring (and big chocolate) holiday.

Today I'm featuring Ghirardelli Chocolate Company's blue-ribbon-wearing, milk chocolate bunny named Noe—who was holding what appeared to be a gold Easter egg.

Poor Noe. I've always felt a little guilty biting into any chocolate animal, especially when it has a cute little smile.

To compound my crime, I ate some small, individually-wrapped caramel versions of Noe yesterday (pictured at right). And today we conducted a science experiment by leaving one bun in the sun to see if it would melt into fondue. (It did.)

This classic, hollow milk chocolate rabbit was shared with family and friends.

Thanks to Megan and Jeff for the mini milk chocolate versions of this bunny.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Ghirardelli - Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunny - Mar. 26, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate
Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunny
Good
Weight: 2 pieces (20 g.) / 4.14 oz. (117.6 g.) in total package/bag
Calories: 80 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Happy Spring to all. And Happy Easter Weekend to those who celebrate this holiday.

Rain has brought green back to the San Francisco Bay Area. Green grassy hills as far as one can see (over all the buildings that is). Cows and horses are grazing on the green grass in pastures, and bees are buzzing around flowers in bloom.

Spring is a great time to celebrate life and being outdoors. And, as always, here at Chocolate Banquet, we celebrate with chocolate.

First, let's start with the quintessential Easter bunny. Recently, my mother spotted a rare bunny on her lawn. The mystery bunny returned several times and was finally captured on my brother's cell phone.

Rabbits are often considered yard pests in more rural settings. However, we live in such a developed area, it's highly unusual to have a visit from a real Easter bunny. (Easter squirrels maybe, but not bunnies.)

Today's Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunny is for you mom. The individually wrapped, Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunnies (package of 12) were from Ghirardelli Chocolate (San Leandro, CA).

Each diminutive Ghirardelli milk chocolate bunny (named Noe*) was filled with a soft caramel filling.

Tomorrow I'll be featuring Noe's bigger, 100% chocolate (caramel-less) sibling.

*Noe the bunny also has a back-story. See Ghirardelli website for more. 

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Bovetti Chocolats - Dark bar with dried fruits - April 20, 2014

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Bovetti Chocolats
Dark Chocolate Bar with Dried Fruits
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) piece
Cost: $9.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Draeger's Market, San Mateo, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Pistachio Theme Week.

Happy Easter Sunday to those who celebrate this spring holiday that speaks of resurrection. Today we celebrated with a great lunch, colorful fruit sorbets, and pieces of this Dark Chocolate (73% cocoa) with Dried Fruits and Nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios) bar from Bovetti Artisan Chocolatier/Bovetti Chocolats (France). It was all good. I felt thankful to be able to sit down with family and enjoy a meal together.

Earlier in the day I also sampled a lovely pastel green-colored pistachio gelato (that likely had a little almond extract in it as well), with some gluten-free pistachio and cranberry biscotti, and pistachio nuts. Perhaps having three Easter Sunday desserts today was excessive, but small portions allowed for more variety.

Lillie Belle Farms - Easter items - April 12, 2014

Chocolate of the Day:

Lillie Belle Farms

1.) Lavender Fleur de Sel Caramels
Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) (estimate) total package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. serving (2 + pieces)
Cost:  $12.00 (estimate) for one 6-piece package/box
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

2.) Lillie Bunny
Before it melted, this was a cute, solid chocolate Easter bunny made of organic dark chocolate. After it melted, it was a smooth and creamy dark fondue.
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) in 1 package/bunny
Calories:  150 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. serving
Cost: $8.00 (estimate) for 1 bunny
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

3.) Truffle Eggs
Before these Easter eggs melted in the sun, they were creamy delicious Burnt Orange white chocolate eggs and flavorful Milk Chocolate Caramel filled eggs. After accidental sun exposure, they were delicious scrambled eggs.
Burnt Orange = Very Good; Milk Caramel = Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.2 oz. (33 g.) serving / 3 oz. (84 g.) total package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. serving
Cost: $12.00 (estimate) for a five-piece box
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Easter is one of the first big chocolate holidays of Spring, falling at a time when there is lovely green grass and wildflowers and copious amounts of sunshine. It's the latter part that often spells disaster for the unwary.

Before I could photograph today's delicious trio of chocolate items from Lillie Belle Farms (Central Point, OR), rays of sun liquified the bunny, deflated the eggs and scorched Lavender Sea Salt Caramels -- all in a manner of minutes.

The only intact bunnies and eggs I saw today were at the local Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. However, this brush with the sun did not stop me from enjoying all three of these items in their altered state. Bunny fondue anyone?

Don't let this Easter tragedy happen to you folks. Store your Easter treasures and chocolate facsimiles (chocsimiles) of rabbits, eggs and lambs in a cool, dark place.

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Flower Theme Week. (I've already eaten the Lillie Belle Farms Lavender Sea Salt Caramels before, but I couldn't resist resurrecting them for this Easter banquet today. They're great if you love floral flavors, and lavender in particular.)

ChocolateBet: April 14, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

1.) Mars, Incorporated
Dark Chocolate MandM's - Bunny Mix
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 12.6 oz. (357.2 g.) total package
Calories: 69.3 calories
Cost: Alas, this information is lost to history
Purchased from: ...this info bit also remains unfound 

Today's chocolates evoke Spring holidays of yesterweek.

First, unearthed just in time from the chocolate vault, were these Easter-leaning dark chocolate, Bunny MandM's from Mars, festively dressed in pastel-colored shells. Some were decorated with tiny sheep, chicks and rabbits using the famous "m" as part of the motif.

Oops, not quite. Easter was last weekend, and these were from last Easter. But, no matter. This "Bunny Mix" was well preserved. A cautionary note: to those wanting to avoid extra helpings of milk sugar, these dark chocolate MandM's do contain lactose, and milkfat.

And now, a word from the cacao ghost of Passover past. In a word: macaroons.

2.) Manischewitz
Chocolate Almond Macaroons
Good +
Weight: .1 oz. (2.8 g.) / 10 oz. (284 g.) total container
Calories: 12 calories (estimate)
Cost: ?
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

For the second chocolate of the day, I indulged in more big M and Ms -- in the form of Manischewitz Macaroons -- Chocolate Almond (unsulfured coconut) macaroons, to be precise. L'Chaim! (To Life!). Yes! However, please note: this batch of macaroons contained gluten (matzo meal), so I was limited to tasting a very tiny bite. I'm assuming the "almond" flavoring may have been added, since there were no visible pieces of almond in these tiny, chocolate-hued treats.

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: April 12, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

2 chocolate chicks
"Belgian Easter Tub" Milk Chocolate Chicks
Good + - Very Good
Weight: ~1.23 oz. (~17 grams)/~5 oz. (136 g.) total pkg. of 8 chicks
Calories: ~185 calories for 2 chicks
Cost: $12.50 for a package of 8 chicks
Purchased from: Sugar Shack, in Menlo Park, CA

Happy Easter. It's only fair to give equal time to chocolate chicks today -- after nibbling on a chocolate bunny face yesterday, and some chocolate spring flowers the day before yesterday.

These chicks were pretty tasty; although I almost lost one when I put it down, unwrapped, just for a few seconds, on my nice, warm computer. Very foolish. I'm now carefully wiping off a little "meltage" spot near my keyboard.

ChocolateBet: March 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 choc cross
Palmer (R.M. Palmer Company)
May His Light Shine Upon You (solid milk chocolate-shaped cross)
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 grams)
Calories: 37 calories (150 calories total)
Cost: $0.99
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

ChocolateBet: March 20, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving
Palmer (R.M. Palmer Co.)
Hear My Prayer Double Crisp
(A pair of chocolate hands folded in prayer)
Very Good
Wt. 1.5 oz. (42.5 grams)
Calories: 220
Cost: $0.99
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

I was thinking good thoughts while munching on the chocolate hands. This was another Easter related chocolate for this week leading up to Easter Sunday.

Chocolate Bunnies in the news...

I read in an article that last year that more than 90 million chocolate rabbits were produced in the U.S. for Easter. This data apparently came from the National Confectioners Association.

"A survey by the association revealed that 76 percent of chocolate bunny eaters bite the ears first, and 42 percent of sweet eaters preferred solid chocolate bunnies. Of those people surveyed, 21 percent said they preferred a hollow chocolate bunny, 10 percent wanted to see a marshmallow bunny in their basket and 9 percent wanted other types of Easter candies."

This information was from a (New Hampshire) "Telegraph" article by Andrea Bushee entitled "Sweet shops make their own chocolate bunnies" that ran yesterday, Wed. March 19, 2008.