Brown and Haley - Peanut Butter Mountain bar - Sept. 18, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Brown and Haley
Peanut Butter Mountain bar
Good
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.79 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Peanut Butter Theme Week.

This chunky Peanut Butter Mountain bar was from Brown and Haley (Tacoma, WA) -- the company most famous for Almond Roca buttercrunch confections.

The mound-shaped bar contained, as advertised, "a mountain of chocolate flavor with crunchy peanuts over a creamy peanut butter center." The layering of flavors and textures was effective and tasty.

I didn't care for the hydrogenated oil, corn syrup, gum, soy lecithin, etc. in this (and most other) traditional candy bars, but sometimes these bars are fun to eat.

To paraphrase theater critic Walter Kerr (circa 1954): Of course, (some of the ingredients were) terrible. But apart from that it's not so bad. I enjoyed this bar that was in one generous bite -- creamy, chocolatey, nutty and crunchy.

Hershey Zagnut, NECCO Clark bars - September 17, 2014

Chocolate of the Day:

The Hershey Company
Zagnut bar
Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (49 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 220 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: Orchard Supply Hardware, Mountain View, CA

New England Confectionery Company, Inc.
Clark bar
Good
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $2.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: Orchard Supply Hardware, Mountain View, CA


Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Peanut Butter Theme Week.

In the mid-1900s, a neurosurgeon named Dr. Wilder Penfield did pioneering work on the brain and memory. He found that when a patient's brain was stimulated, memories of conversations or events could be evoked -- including not only factual information, but also sounds and feelings associated with a conversation or event being recalled.

If my brain were similarly probed for cocoa-related recollections, I'm sure these evocations would be tied to many happy childhood chocolate memories -- days spent in movie theaters, ice cream shops, and local markets, on backyard lawns having picnics, at birthday parties -- all places where there was bound to be chocolate.

In 2006 and 2007, when I started this site, ChocolateBanquet.com, I featured many U.S.-made chocolate bars. However, for some strange reason, I missed several peanut butter-related candy bars.

I'll try to make up for that this week, starting with two red-wrappered candy bars: 1.) the Zagnut bar from The Hershey Company (Hershey, PA) -- originally introduced in 1930 by the D. L. Clark Company, and 2.) the Clark bar from the New England Confectionery Company, Inc. (NECCO) (Revere, MA).

Zagnut bar
I unwrapped the Zagnut bar to find a crunchy peanut butter and coconut "shell" -- think of eating the crunchy, crispy sweet peanut butter center of a Butterfinger bar. The cocoa incorporated into this bar takes a back seat to the other ingredients. Unlike most chocolate-coated candy bars, you can nibble on this without chocolate meltage on your hands. To ensure I met my recommended daily allowance for chocolate, I followed this up with the Clark bar.

Clark bar
The Clark bar had a similar crispy, crunchy peanut butter core, and was coated with a layer of "real" milk chocolate. Like the Zagnut bar, there was also a hint of molasses and coconut. NECCO offers an upbeat stable of mid-century retro confections, including Squirrel Nut Zippers, colorful Candy Dots, NECCO wafers, Mary Janes, and Sweethearts.

Gratify - Milk Chocolate Pretzel Twists - Sept. 16, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

(Distributed by) Osem USA, Inc.
Gratify - Gluten Free Pretzels - Milk Chocolate Covered Twists
Good
Weight: 9 pretzels (31 g.) (estimate) serving / 5.5 oz. (156 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories 1.095 oz. (31 g.) serving
Cost: $1.99 in 1 bag/package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

There are all sorts of sweet and savory ice cream flavors now -- including some with crunchy pretzels and/or salted nuts.

Today I made my own pistachio nut ice cream sundae, by crumbling some Gratify* Gluten Free Pretzels (milk chocolate covered twists) pistachios and mixed salted nuts into some vanilla ice cream, for my own pistachio sundae.

The pretzels in the ice cream stayed crunchy even after sitting in the freezer overnight, and they added a touch of chocolate flavor. They were good by themselves, and with nuts as well.

Today was the last day of Chocolate and Pistachio Theme Week.

*Gratify pretzels were distributed by Osem USA, Inc. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ).

Her Coconess - Apricots with salted caramel, chocolate - Sept. 15, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Her Coconess Confections
Apricots with caramel, chocolate
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) (estimate) in 1 package of 2 pieces
Calories: 220 calories (estimate) for 1 package of 2 pieces
Cost: $7.00 for package of 2 pieces
Purchased from: Her Coconess (herself), Palo Alto Farmers Market, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Pistachio Theme Week.

It made my mouth water to hear Her Coconess (Shelley Seward) describe these plump sweet Blenheim apricots, half-covered in dark chocolate with a layer of homemade caramel. I ran into her at the Palo Alto Farmers Market a few days ago, and picked up a few items from the Her Coconess Confections (Belmont, CA) table/booth.

And these generous apricot confections did not disappoint. Visually attractive, each piece was enveloped in purple foil and yielded tart, fresh apricot flavor. The vanilla salted caramel and bittersweet chocolate balanced the sweet apricot fruit flavor.

A handful of pistachios and salted mixed nuts provided complementary flavor (salt, protein) and crunchy texture. Pistachios (and most nuts) do pair well with fruits and chocolate.

Nirvana - Pistachio, Almond, Walnut bar - Sept. 14, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Nirvana Belgian Chocolates
72% Dark Chocolate with Pistachios, Almonds and Walnuts bar
Good+
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 184 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $5.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Pistachio Theme Week.

Today's Nirvana Belgian Chocolates (Wellesley, MA) bar contained a long title: "72% Dark Chocolate with Pistachios, Almonds and Walnuts," and -- like most chocolates now -- many descriptors and adjectives.

This gluten-free, Non-GMO, organic, fair-trade chocolate bar also had an intriguing sweet nut flavor with a whisper of rice pudding spice (not quite cinnamon and not quite nutmeg, but something similar).

I've been commenting all week that the light, sweet pistachio flavor is all but lost when blended with chocolate. But, somehow this rice pudding flavor note seems to evoke a bit of the sweet nut flavor.

The primary ingredient -- organic cocoa mass -- originated from "fine flavor Trinitario cocoa beans" grown in the Dominican Republic. The cocoa was transported to Belgium to create a smooth, relatively mild but well executed final base chocolate for this bar.

Gelataio - Pistachio, Chocolate Mini Pops - Sept. 13, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gelataio
Pistachio Mini Pop, Chocolate Mini Pop
Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) (estimate) for 2 pieces
Calories: 290 calories (estimate) for 2 pieces
Cost: $5.70 total for 2 Mini Pops
Purchased from: Gelataio, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Pistachio Theme Week.

I'm in awe of entrepreneurs that jump through all the hoops necessary to open a business. So, it's always exciting to visit a new business. Gelataio, in downtown Palo Alto, CA, opened five weeks ago. I walked into a clean, modern, attractive interior and met co-founder Christianne Mares.

I was hoping to order a cup scoop of Pistachio gelato and a scoop of Chocolate gelato. Sadly, there was no freshly made Pistachio gelato on the menu today. Happily, there was one remaining Pistachio Mini Pop, and I sampled this with a Chocolate Mini Pop instead.

Both were slim white chocolate covered rectangles of gelato on a stick. The Pistachio Pop was a vision in white, and adorned with a single green nut. My favorite, was the Chocolate Pop, drizzled with chocolate. The dark chocolate gelato filling was smooth, creamy and flavorful.

Blue Mountain - Cacao Pistachio Brownie - Sept. 12, 2014

Chocolate of the Day:

Blue Mountain Organics
Cacao Pistachio Brownie
Good
Weight: 2.4 oz. (68 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 240 calories in 1 package
Cost: $5.39 for 1 package
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Pistachio Theme Week.

This Cacao Pistachio Brownie from Blue Mountain Organics (Floyd, VA) -- part of the company's line of raw, organic desserts and snacks -- was seriously dark.

The short list of ingredients: dates, agave, cacao, pistachios and golden flax. No funny business. Despite dates and agave being listed first, this was the opposite of birthday cake sweet. Weighing in at only 10 g. of sugars, it was a breakfast brownie built for a seriously busy day. No sugar spike, just raw, sustained energy for the morning.

The lovely green pistachio nut bits in this brownie were a bit overpowered (as in almost all chocolates with pistachio nuts), but the nuts added some crunch and color.

This brownie was non-GMO, kosher and vegan.