Tastykake Chocolate-Covered Mini Pretzels

About the snack:

Today's review is about Tastykake Chocolate-Covered Mini Pretzels (With Milk Chocolate-Flavored Coating). The addendum on the end is, to a snack master, a bit uninviting and makes me reluctant to try them. That typically means "BEWARE: Artificial flavors live here." (See the p Let me say this straight up...I am not a fan of anything with artificial anything--colors, flavors or otherwise. I tend to eat, drink and use all-natural products. But in the spirit of this blog, I am taking one for the team. I cannot say that I was a fan of this snack. 

Chocolate-covered pretzels were a childhood favorite of mine; I remember getting them around the holidays in gift sets/packages. These do not stand up to my childhood memory. They were extremely bland and the chocolate was unsatisfying. The contrast between the sweetness of the chocolate melded with the savory flavor of the saltiness is what would typically make this snack great; these do not have that taste. The flavor fades after the first bite. The fact that they are "mini" is one nice feature and increases their ease in snackability. (See the size comparison photo below!).  With that said, however, I personally would not recommend these.

Where and how we found it:

I was working at my retail job and sitting on the back table was a bag of these. I mentioned to my coworker that I would like to taste them to write them up in this here blog. He donated the bag! (Thanks Dan!) I believe they were found at Wawa. The price on the bag states $1.49. Whether or not Wawa sticks to that is to be seen. No receipt today folks. Sorry!

Damn you, Snacking News fans!

While this blog is meant to inform the world of the shining stars of snacking, it has worked against me already! Two days in a row I have gone to Trader Joe's to restock my supply of Trader Joe's Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips as reviewed in Jeff's post earlier... and they have been sold out each day.  Drats! Snack on, kids. (But quit taking my pita chips!)

Trader Joe's Pita Chips with Cinnamon and Sugar

This food item is a Grand Slam. Period. I've been eating small squares made out of wheat and rice and covered in cinnamon and sugar called Cinnamon Toast Crunch for years. They taste great. You find the box in the breakfast cereal aisle in a supermarket and you're supposed to cover them in milk and eat them with a spoon for breakfast, but mostly I don't. Many cereals are great plucked right out of the box with your hand, Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular (and you get to lick your fingers which makes them sticky-er which makes more cinnamon and sugar stick to them etc etc). Not that big of a deal to walk to the breakfast aisle to get snack food, but you're still technically adapting the product to your own purposes. This Trader Joe's product removes all pretense of breakfast and makes BIG Cinnamon Toast Crunch in a bag and puts it right in the snack aisle so you know exactly what you're supposed to do with it. And it costs $1.99. At 840 calories a bag, that's roughly 4.2 calories per penny. Not bad.

When I say 'BIG', I mean about 2.5 times the size of Cinnamon Toast Crunch pieces. I did not include a picture of the actual chips (because I ate the entire bag and didn't think to and it's my first blog entry in a long time), but you can just imagine them. (Maybe I'll post a picture later.) They're mostly whole squares, some large partial squares and at the bottom of the bag are many broken pieces, along with lots of extra sugar and cinnamon particles. Upon finishing the first bag, I enjoyed a familiar flashback to polishing off a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in my youth when I shook the nearly empty bag of pita chips and poured the remaining sugar and cinnamon-y rubble straight into my mouth. BAM.

I can maybe see some people being hung up on the word 'pita' in the title of the snack, but if you think about it, it's just the name of the form that the wheat is taking. It doesn't make any substantial difference. Call it Trader Joe's "Big Cereal (TM)* with Cinnamon and Sugar. In fact, I joked about pouring a bag of these into a big mixing bowl and eating them with milk and a giant serving spoon. Or dipping them into peanut butter or yogurt or ice cream. The back of the bag suggests that they are "great as a snack with coffee or tea, or try dipping them in vanilla ice cream as a dessert." Whatever you want.


*Also, if Trader Joe's or any other company wants to market "Big Cereals (TM)", then I will assert that the idea is my intellectual property and will have to be paid as a consultant on the project. I think it would work with most sugar-y cereals. Thank you for not ripping me off!

Uncle Jerry's handmade Pennsylvania Dutch Pretzels: Extra Dark

About the snack:
Behold: Uncle Jerry's handmade Pennsylvania Dutch Pretzels.  These are not just any pretzels, mind you. They are 'extra dark' pretzels. I will give you a fair warning: they are not for everyone. Extra dark means '(slightly) burnt'. If you enjoy the following items, I would suggest picking up a bag: hard pretzels, barbecue, smoked delicacies, dark toast and/or bagels, Starbucks Coffee (okay, that was a cheap shot). You may also enjoy them if you are a fan of friendly looking gentleman named Jerry, whom you can see to the right. The snack is all-natural and made locally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Depending on the pretzel, you can either get an overpowering salty taste in addition to the smokiness of the 'burnt' flavor, or a pleasant compliment of saltiness. Personally, I am content with either as I am a fan of saltiness in most snacks. Do not expect to find many full-sized pretzels. Shipping does not seem to be a friend to this snack; Many a broken pretzel can be found within.






Where and how we found it:
I was introduced to this snack by co-blogger Jeff whilst working a show together last summer. He had picked them up from Old Nelson, a local chain of delicatessens. The snack is readily available at other markets in Philadelphia, including Whole Foods Market (South Street and Callowhill) where I picked up an 8 oz. bag for $2.39. (Jeff and I will attempt to include pictures receipts whenever possible.)

A close-up shot of a pretzel; notice the 'extra dark' portion of the left "hoop".

Ingredients: Unbleached Flour, Sourdough, Well Water, Yeast, Soda and Salt.
FAT FREE: No oil or shortening
No sugar or sweeteners No Preservatives

Serving Size: 1 Pretzel
Calories: 90
Total Fat: 0g

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