Lake Champlain Chocolates - Milk Chocolate Caramel 34% bar - June 1, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lake Champlain Chocolates

Milk Chocolate Caramel 34% cocoa (bar) 

Good

Weight: 1.236 oz. (35 g.) / 3.25 oz. (92 g.) in total bar

Calories: 170 calories in 3 blocks of bar

Cost: $1.50 (sale) for 1 bar

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

Welcome to Day #2 Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week.

Today's Milk Chocolate Caramel 34% Cocoa (bar) was from Lake Champlain Chocolates (Burlington, VT). If you have a sweet tooth to satisfy, you might want to try this "creamy, dessert-style caramel" bar.

As promised—and a bit higher quality chocolate than similar, popular 34% caramel-filled milk chocolate bars—this sweet, smooth milk chocolate bar was filled with soft, golden caramel that politely oozed out every time a bite was taken into each square.

Ashby Confections - Tortoises - Dark Chocolate Pecans and Agave Caramel - May 31, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ashby Confections

Tortoises - Dark Chocolate Pecans and Agave Caramel with Monterey Bay Sea Salt

Good++

Weight: 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) / 3.6 oz. (101.8 g.) in package of 2 

Calories: 270 calories (estimate) in 1 tortoise

Cost: $8.50 for 1 package of 2 tortoises

Purchased from: Buttercream Cakes, Santa Cruz, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week.

Today's Tortoises from Ashby Confections (Scotts Valley, CA) were wonderfully layered. Between a disc-shaped layer of dark chocolate and a layer of pecan halves was a layer of agave caramel. And the Tortoises were seasoned with Monterey Bay sea salt.

Bracing myself for lots of overly sweet and gooey caramel, I was pleasantly surprised. These variations on caramel turtles were well balanced and tasty. The layered flavors worked very nicely. The smooth dark chocolate, roasted pecans and sea salt balanced the soft, sweet agave caramel center layer, so you weren't left with a mouthful of sugar (thank you!).

The caramel did contain cane sugar, agave syrup and organic cream, and behaved like authentic, gooey caramel—creating caramel "fangs" with each bite. But, the combination of high-quality ingredients and the relative lack of sugar in the nuts and dark chocolate elevated this confection to a new level.

These Tortoises were made with fair trade dark chocolate* and were gluten and soy free.

*The company uses Guittard and Askinosie chocolate.

Elaine's Toffee Company - Sea Salt Almond Toffee - May 30, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Elaine's Toffee Company
Sea Salt Almond Toffee
Good
Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) in total package
Calories: 300 calories in 1 package
Cost: $3.20 for 1 package
Purchased from: The Market, Pebble Beach, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.

This Sea Salt Almond Toffee - Covered in Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt was from Elaine's Toffee Company (Durango, CO).

Inside the wrapper was a single, bar-shaped piece of crunchy, sweet thick toffee, covered in chocolate and studded with small crystals of sea salt.

Some bites had no visible almonds, and others revealed a few golden-brown roasted nuts. A bit on the sweet side, and the chocolate took a backseat to the toffee, but that is often what toffees are about.

HarryP fitness - Protein Bar 24.0 - May 29, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

HarryP fitness

Protein Bar 24.0 

Good

Weight: 2.3 oz. (70 g.) in total package

Calories: 280 calories in 1 package

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.

Today's Protein Bar 24.0 from HarryP fitness was a product of Germany, and produced by Seitenbacher America LLC (Odessa/Tampa, FL).

The bar had a sweet protein core, and was covered with "German chocolate." It also contained 3.8 grams of BCAAs,* 24 grams of protein—quite high, even for a protein bar, and almonds.

*Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) include the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine,  and valine, that comprise about a third of the body's muscle protein.

Chocolove - Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups - May 28, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolove

Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) in 1 package of 2 cups

Calories: 190 calories in 1 package of 2 cups

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.

Today's Chocolove Dark Chocolate Almond Cups were made in Boulder, CO using 55% cacao Belgian chocolate.

The chocolate cups were filled with authentic-tasting almond butter. The ground almond filling blended well with the smooth chocolate, resulting in a not too sweet (thank you!), satisfying flavor and texture.

Perfect Bar - Dark Chocolate Almond bar - May 27, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Perfect Bar, LLC
Dark Chocolate Almond Bar
Good +++
Weight: 2.2 oz. (62 g.) / 17.5 oz. (496 g.) in total box of 8 bars
Calories: 310 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $14.99 for 1 box of 8 bars
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Dark Chocolate Almond bar from Perfect Bar, LLC (San Diego, CA) was one of the best, most satisfying protein bars we've tasted in years.

"The original refrigerated protein bar" was developed in Southern California and the company is run by members of the inventor's family.

The bar contained almond butter, organic honey, milk powder, dark chocolate, organic vegetable oils, fruit and vegetable powders, and other ingredients.

This bar was great for breakfast, and/or as a snack or meal replacement if you're on the go. It helped power two hikes this weekend.

KIND - Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond bar - May 26, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

KIND
Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Coffee Theme Week, and Day #3 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond bar was part of KIND bar's "nut and spice" group, part of the company's expanding line of nut and fruit bar flavors.

This gluten-free, mahogany-colored bar had a satisfying almond nut crunch and dark chocolate mocha flavor, as promised.

Ingredients: "Almonds, chicory root fiber, palm kernel oil, sugar, honey, glucose syrup, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder, rice flour, cocoa nibs, coffee powder, soy lecithin, madagascar vanilla, salt, natural flavor, cocoa butter."