A snack review and release history of:
- Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Peppermint Ride Crisp
- M&M’s Holiday Mint
- Nestle Toll House Hot Cocoa & Marshmallow Morsels
- Snickers Peanut Butter
- Snickers Almond
- Reese’s Sugar Cookie Miniature Peanut Butter Cups
- Oreo Holiday Cookie Kit & Artic Cookie Kit Skating Rink
- Pure Protein Sundae Cone
- Pure Protein Brookie
- Benton’s Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Hearts
Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Peppermint Rice Crisp
Score: 7 / 10
These have a light crunch–not as much as a KitKat or your typical crunchy chocolate bar, but its there and just enough. It’s pretty sweet and consists mostly of milk chocolate flavor with a noticable peppermint taste. It sort of reminds me of a Peppermint Patty with a lot less peppermint and less of a dark chooclate flavor.
Released November 2024. Found at Walmart.
M&M’s Holiday Mint
Score: 7 / 10
Bigger than regular M&M’s, these have a light minty taste that’s mostly overshadowed by the milk chocolate flavor. If you’re not the biggest fan of mint, you might still come to enjoy these. However, mint fans might be disappointed!
Likely first released in the 1990s. These generally come back around November. Found at Walmart.
Nestle Toll House Hot Cocoa & Marshmallow Morsels
Score: 4 / 10
Artificial as heck! Not to mention, they all taste almost the same. The white bits are semi-sweet vanilla and the brown ones are light chocolate. These really aren’t that special and are a real let down. Not even the vibe of hot cocoa or marshmallow! Just stick with regular baking bits.
First released fall 2023, they also came back fall 2024. Found at Walmart.
Snickers Peanut Butter
Score: 9 / 10
This might be one of the best candies I’ve had! It’s as if Reese’s and Snickers had a child, and that child surpassed both of them. The flavor of a regular snickers but instead of being semi-hard, it’s substantially softer, nearly melting in your mouth. This all comes from replacing those hard peanuts and adding a thick, soft, gooey layer of sweet peanut butter. Just, amazing.
Released in the 1960s.
Snickers Almond
Score: 6.5 / 10
A lot less sweet than regular snickers. It has a light almondy taste that has replaced the peanut–that’s about it. Compared to regular Snickers, it seems to be missing so much more flavor and nuance!
Not sure when this was released.
Reese’s Sugar Cookie Miniature & Big Cup
Score:
8 / 10 (Cups)
8.5 / 10 (Minis)
The miniatures are more crunchy as they contain substantially more large bits of sugar cookie vs. the Cup. In addition, you can really taste a sugar cookie flavor along side the sweet Reese’s chocolate and peanut butter; it’s a wonderfully tasty and an interesting combo! In fact, I like it more than regular Reese’s Minis!
However, the Big Cup lacks much of the crunch and sugar cookie flavor the Minis do as they don’t have as many embedded bits–it almost tastes like a regular Reese’s Cup, what a letdown!
Released around October 2024. Found at Target.
Oreo Holiday Cookie Kit & Artic Cookie Kit Skating Rink
Score: 7.5 / 10
For both of the kits: The cookie itself is dry and the taste resembles that of the cookie part of an Oreo. The package comes with plenty of them, both regular and mini depending on the kit. The white creme they come with is very smooth and is a much sweeter version of Oreo creme. Notably about these packages, it doesn’t give you nearly enough creme or sprinkles for the decorations! One of them, however, comes with a soft green fondant you can use to style with. Overall, it’s tasty, and very sweet with that frosting!
Not sure when this was released. Found at Target.
Pure Protein Sundae Cone
Score: 7.5 / 10
Sundae? Not really. A light chocolate shell covers a soft-chewy, moderately sweet, vanilla flavored protein bar. It’s good, just kind of plain and isn’t really as advertised.
Both Pure Protein Sundae Cone & Brookie released August 14, 2024.
Pure Protein Brookie
Score: 7.5 / 10
There are two distinct layers. The top is “cookie.” It’s super soft and has a very artificial chocolate cookie protein taste. The other, a bottom layer, is a more hard (but still soft and chewy), slightly dark chocolate. Together, the sweetness is just right and is less sweet than other Pure Protein Bars. Overall, it’s artificial tasting and for the most part, it just tastes like a typical chocolate protein bar.
Both Pure Protein Sundae Cone & Brookie released August 14, 2024.
Benton’s Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Hearts
Score: 7.5 / 10
The flavor is so complex and such a good combination! You can definitely taste the lightly sweet apricot and the dark chocolate, though, I’m not sure if I can’t make out the ginger. Either way, it’s overall pleasantly sweet with light, bold apricot and dark chocolate flavor. The texture is soft while the shell is semi-hard and provides a complimentary crunch. Everything about this feels premium and a cut-above the rest!
May have been first released November 2023. Found November 2024 at Aldi.