Today I have another set of fall themed snacks to share with you, as well as a mini recipe! I had to take a few days away from tasting these snacks after the last taste test, but have found a few new fun flavored things to share.
Brach’s Brunch Favorites Candy Corn: Yes, more candy corn. But I could not pass these up! I love maple, and it is much more difficult to find this fall flavor in things. Maple flavor can easily be overly powerful and too sweet, or under used and weak, so I was interested to see how maple-y these would be.
I will firstly say that all three of these brunch candy corn flavors seemed to have a slightly different texture to them than most candy corns. It just seemed a bit more crumbly and hard, and a little less smooth. The “French Toast & Maple Syrup” (yellow and tan colored) was my first taste, and I really liked this one! At first bite, it simply felt like sweet sugar, but as I chewed, the maple flavor came out. My taste buds pick up a vanilla or buttery flavor, which seems to be the “French Toast” part of the combination. The maple is pleasant though, and the flavors do deliver more than I anticipated. Again, too many pieces is a headache waiting to happen, but I was very pleased with the overall effect.
“Waffles & Strawberry” (white, pink, and tan colored) seemed like it would be pretty good, and overall it was pleasant as well. The pink strawberry part of the candy corn isn’t overly strong, but I do taste it. The strawberry is definitely an artificially-tasting strawberry, but candy corn is always so absurdly sweet that it works quite suitably. The rest of the candy corn tastes like the maple and butter combo the first candy corn had (creating the “waffle” taste). The combo of both is again a surprisingly effective mix of maple and strawberry flavor.
I was most nervous for “Chocolate & Pancakes”, because I thought the chocolate would be icky (I think they should have gone for blueberry or something instead), but it wasn’t too bad. I think the chocolate here worked better than the caramel in the caramel apple candy corn. I think because the chocolate is just a flavoring, it isn’t overly noticeable and doesn’t add too much to the flavor combo. Again, that buttery maple flavoring is there, and works well inside the sweet corn syrup that makes these candies. This was my least favorite of the three brunch candy corns though and the flavor just didn’t quite work out.
In the end, I am glad I tried these. I was happy that I did enjoy them for the most part. I don’t think I would ever really feel the desire to buy them again, especially because the package was pretty large, but I didn’t think it was a waste of money and enjoyed them for what they were.
Kellogg’s Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini Wheats: I tried these last year, after many weeks of seeing them sold out of their row in the cereal aisle. I finally managed to get a box, and was pleased to see they returned this year. These are typical of Frosted Mini Wheats, with the wheat-y cereal square topped with a hard smear of frosting on top. Based on the ingredients, the flavor of the orange frosting on these have a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I’m pretty fond of Mini Wheats in general, but find it so important to put just a bit of milk over, since too much turns the cereal to mush quite quickly. These are probably one of my favorite flavors they have released though, and I really like them because they aren’t too out there, but the subtle warmth of pumpkin spices does show up in each bite.
Archer Farms Apple Cider Granola: I was so excited to see this at Target, since apple cider is such a wonderful fall flavor, that doesn’t really get much attention amongst all the pumpkin spice lattes out there. Within all the oats, this granola has little bits of dried apple, as well as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cardamom. I have been mostly using this to create a parfait, with plain yogurt, a diced apple, a sprinkling of the granola, a drizzle of honey, and a dash of cinnamon. It is quite yummy, and this would be something I would buy all year, because I love apple-flavored things.
Hershey’s Candy Corn Chocolate Bar: I picked up this for some candy to take to movies this season. I have seen this bar in the seasonal sections for a few years now, but was never inclined to try it. It seemed like it would be far too sweet for me, combining both sweet white chocolate and candy corn bits, but I when I was stocking up on new goodies this year, I thought I would finally try it. The white chocolate (or “candy corn cream” as described on the package) is very overly sweet, so a whole bar is probably too much at once. The taste though was better than I expected though, with small bits of candy corn crunch throughout. Overall, I think this is sort of a take on the Hershey’s cookies n cream bars, which is one of my favorite candy bar flavors.
Junior Mints Spooky Edition: I also picked these up for going to the movies. I am always fond of minty things, and when I was a kid, Junior Mints were almost always my choice for a movie candy. I haven’t had too many in recent years, but thought I would try these. These are the regular Junior Mint flavor, but with “spooky” colors. Instead of white cream, the insides are either white or orange. I ate a few to see the different colors, and noticed that the black cream was much thicker than the orange. The orange was more on the runny side. These honestly didn’t taste too different, or special (especially if you eat them in a dark movie theater), and I would much more recommend the “Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints” that are released during the holidays because they have at least a little bit different flavor from regular Junior Mints.
Bonus Item: Archer Farms Roasted Pepitas
In my first Fall Snack Taste Test I reviewed BarkThins Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Snacking Chocolate. I mentioned they could be pretty easily reproduced and home, so I wanted to share how I was able to successfully do re-create it.
First, I found these Archer Farms Roasted Pepitas, which were really delicious and I found it hard to stop eating them so I could actually put them in the chocolate. The salty crunchiness was so good, I could have easily ate the whole bag on its own!
To begin making the snack, I took a cookie sheet and placed some parchment paper on top.
I then combined about a cup and a half of dark chocolate chips (I used Nestle) and about 1/2 tablespoon of butter into a microwavable bowl. I microwaved the mixture for about 45 seconds and stirred as it began to melt. I continued to microwave in 10 second intervals until the mixture was fully melted, being careful not to over heat it.
After the mixture was completely melted and stirred smooth, I poured in the pepitas. I just eyeballed how many I would want in there, but made sure to make sure each bite would have enough.
After the pipits were mixed into the chocolate, I then spooned the mixture onto the cookie sheet, and then spread it out.
With the mixture spread out, I placed the pan into the refrigerator for a few hours. After it was solid again, I broke the chocolate into different pieces and placed into a ziplock bag. It was then ready for snacking! I did keep the bag in the fridge so it would not get soft sitting out.
This dark chocolate pumpkin seed combo is one of my favorite snacks these days, especially with tea! Speaking of tea, my next taste test will have a few fall drinks that I have really been enjoying making at home (plus more cereal!). Until then, enjoy these fall snacks!
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