While scouring the candy aisle at Walgreen's earlier this week, I happened upon a mysterious box filled with giant candy bars that looked like they were left over from the Reagan administration. The packaging had a decidedly retro '80s feel, and since the box was sitting all alone on the very top shelf -- where only someone at least as tall as I am would even see it -- I was semi-convinced that the box had been hiding there for the last twenty-plus years.
Still, I was intrigued by the giant Nestle Chunky bar, particularly since the label described it as "milk chocolate with peanuts and raisins" -- and I haven't seen a chocolate bar with raisins in it since, well, since never in this country. I'd gotten hooked on the Cadbury Picnic bar (Cadbury chocolate with peanuts and raisins) while in grad school at Oxford University, though, and I had hopes that this might be similar. So despite my fears, I shelled out a whopping $1.99 for it.
First Reactions:
This bar really is Chunky (and, thankfully, not moldy, so it must be fairly fresh). Weighing in at 5 ounces, the giant Chunky is at least the size of two normal candy bars. It is divided into four quadrants that are themselves divided again four times, and each bite is pretty significant, making this big enough for at least two people to share.
Taste:
Liz showed up to help me taste this one, and it turns out that she knew about the Chunky bar -- her mom used to buy them because of the raisins. But seriously, who has seen these on the shelves in the last ten years?
Aubrey: Hmmm. I don't know -- the ratio of peanuts to raisins looks a little off. My beloved Picnic bar always had a higher concentration of nuts and raisins.
Liz: It's pretty good, though. It's like if Goobers and Raisinets had a big, chunky baby.
Aubrey: That's true! I like the raisin and chocolate combo, but I always forget about Raisinets. They never fulfill that craving for me.
Liz: That's probably because they don't seem to have real chocolate. They're so waxy.
Conclusions:
Despite being more like a huge chocolate bar with just a handful of raisins and peanuts thrown in, the Chunky is pretty tasty, and unlike anything else out there.
Aubrey: You could almost pretend it's healthy, since there's dried fruit.
Liz: It is kind of similar to those "Healthy Food" chocolates from Dietrich's with the dark chocolate-covered cherries and blueberries.
Aubrey: Those were good. And they had a better ratio of fruit to chocolate. This won't replace my Picnic bar, but maybe I should just eat more of that healthy chocolate.
Would we finish the bar? Probably eventually, but it is awfully huge.
Would we purchase again? Maybe if we find it in a smaller size. Rating: 4 out of 5
-- Aubrey Shoe
