Little Debbie Nutty Bar
This is the complete antithesis of the Hotel Chocolat collection that Simon reviewed yesterday, but it’s another sample sent to us from the manufacturer - this time, from Tennessee based McKee Foods.
I’ve never heard of McKee or the Little Debbie brand, but looking at their Wikiepedia page, they seem to be something of an American institution.
Having done my research, my hopes weren’t particularly high for this. While there are some fantastic small American chocolatiers, my experience of chocolate from larger manufacturers hasn’t been great so far.
But as it turns out, I quite enjoyed them.
As you can see, Nutty Bars are very simple wafer bars. The layers of wafer are separated by a sweet peanut butter, and the bar is coated in a very thin layer of milk chocolate. In fact, the chocolate is so thin that you can actually melt it just by looking at it. I had to put a few bars in the fridge for half an hour in order to get a decent photo, but even so, the chocolate melted again the moment I picked it up.
But for normal eating purposes (i.e. ones that don’t involve getting decent photos first), this probably won’t be an issue. Each of the 12 bars in a box comes individually wrapped and you can just hold it by the wrapper when eating it.
When you bite into a bar, the first thing you notice is just how light and crispy it is. I’m not surprised each bar only has 100 calories - it’s mostly air! But that’s a good thing, because the result is something that’s tasty and satisfying without being stodgy and filling.
Taste-wise, they’re quite sweet and have a pleasant, nutty taste. The chocolate is so thin that you can barely taste it, but that doesn’t really matter. This is definitely a “less is more” snack.
With all the fantastic chocolates I’ve tasted recently, I really shouldn’t have enjoyed these quite as much as I did. But at $1.59 a box (that works out at about 7p each), I would definitely be buying these for mid-morning snacks. They’re simple, sweet, light and tasty.
Luckily, they sent me three boxes. :)
Posted by Dom | 02-28-2008 | 10:02 AM in Reviews | Leave a comment
February 28, 2008 @ 5:31pm
I just thought I’d let you know that there are other Little Debbie snacks that are even more favored than the Nutty Bars. The most important thing to realize about Little Debbie snacks is that, in my experience, they are mostly consumed by children; they are generally packed into lunches as the dessert. However, I have found many adults enjoy them in a nostalgic way. My favorite Little Debbie snack has always been the Star Crunch (http://www.littledebbie.com/products/StarCrunch.asp). I was never fond of the chewy cookie center, but the combination of caramel, rice crisps, and “fudge” always made up for the cookie. One snack I sometimes get an inexplicable craving for is their Fudge Brownies (http://www.littledebbie.com/products/FudgeBrownies.asp). I don’t like them because of their taste but rather the unusual way they fill my mouth; the brownies are not cakey nor fudgey but a strange combination of both, which results in a sensation that makes me want to fill my entire mouth with the brownie. If you get a chance, I would suggest you try both snacks–not for the taste but more for the experience and sugar rush.
March 1, 2008 @ 9:36pm
Nutty Bars have been with me for many years, and there’s no decline in the effect they have on me, and there never will be. I’ve had boxes of them stacked on my bookshelf, always there for me to munch to my heart’s content. Many times have I eaten a whole box in one sitting. I’ve given away thousands of them, turned many on to them. I’ve pigged out on them. I’ve savored them. I’d get a Little Debbie tatto, seriously. Nutty Bars are in that erotic, sensual class, like Andes mint chocolates.
April 11, 2008 @ 3:10pm
Little Debbie is, as you related in the article, an institution in America. I just tried these singles and I should inform you that you are really missing out on the real original Nutty Bar. The original is a 4 layer wafer while this ’single’ is only 3 layers (they cut out 1 layer to get the bar to 100 calories). You wouldn’t think it would impact it that much, but I think the impact is substantial. Also, the original bar has a slightly thicker dose of chocolate (don’t worry, it still melts onto your fingers; getting it off is half the fun). The Swiss Cake roles are also the “Best in Class” (much better than the Hostess HoHo).