Kev's Snack Reviews

Today's review is somewhat more healthy than usual, since I've been on a bit of a health kick again recently. I'm a fan of toasted coconut chips to help  stay away from chocolate bars, however my major gripe is usually the price - they almost always cost a lot for a small amount! That was no exception with this new variety from M&S, which costs £1.20 for a little pot. Still I thought I'd give it a try to see how it compares to the likes of Ape Coconut Curls and Urban Fruit Coconut Chips . Unlike most toasted coconut chips these ones still have some of the shell on them, which may be a good thing or not depending on you. I suppose if you're looking for extra fibre it's a plus, but it certainly doesn't make them tastier. They were a bit tasteless to be honest. They were very fresh, I'll give them that, but there was no real toasty flavour. It's almost like they were too scared to toast them too much so they ended up somewhere in between regu...

A big thankyou to Tiana Fairtrade Organics for today's post, who kindly offered me some of their new CocoTop "Organic Coconut Snacks" to review, an offer I couldn't refuse! There's two varieties in the range, which is available from Amazon in 50g pots. You can buy both varities together  or the Savoury and Sweet versions by themselves. Both contain only natural ingredients, are suitable for vegans, organic and gluten-free. They're lightly toasted to reduce fat content. Tiana CocoTop Savoury: I tried the Savoury variety first, which are coconut chips "lightly salted with unrefined sea salt". I do like the little tubs these come in, they're super handy, and unlike other coconut chips on the market you can re-seal them and save some for later. No messy bits falling out into your bag! The coconut chips are nicely toasted and taste very fresh and good quality. They would certainly make for a nice salty cinema snack in place of popcorn,...

Coconut chips seem to be one of the new snacking trends this year, and I for one am very pleased about that. I've had mixed success with some brands I've tried so I was hoping these dark chocolate coconut chips from Maui and Sons would be a win. They're available in Poundland and discount stores like Bargain Buys and are gluten free and vegan friendly.  It's fairly obvious the coating isn't "real" chocolate but rather a blend of vegetable fat, sugar and cocoa, but that doesn't matter because they are pretty tasty! The cocoa flavours compliment the crunchy tropical coconut perfectly, making for a moreish snack. I soon polished off the whole bag. Overall, if you're one of the coconutters out there like myself (you know who you are!) then these are a must try! For £1 they're a great bargain compared to other brands. 8.5 out of 10.

As well as the new Ape Crunchy Coconut Bites , I decided to try these new Ape Salted Chocolate Crispy Coconut Curls whilst in Holland & Barrett this week. They sounded potentially quite exciting for a coconut snack! I've tried Nudie Snacks Chocolate Coconut Chips before, which were delicious, so I had high hopes for these. The ingredients are simply coconut, coconut nectar, cocoa and sea salt. They're gluten free, vegan, high fibre and 96 calories per bag. Pouring the bag onto a plate, I was a bit disappointed in the amount - just 20g of coconut chips for £1.49 (although no doubt this is down to Holland and Barrett's pricing rather than Ape Snacks themselves). They tasted okay, although not quite as chocolatey as I would have liked. The salt muddles up the flavour a little bit and masks the small amount of cocoa there is. They're simply just not chocolatey enough. Overall, I have to say for a chocolate variation of coconut chips these are a bit of a ...

Recently I was contacted by Nudie Snacks, makers of a range of Premium Toasted Coconut Chips, and offered to review some of their range. Being a lover of all things coconut and a regular snacker on coconut chips I could hardly refuse. Nudie Snacks sent me three varieties; Chocolate, Sweet Thai Chilli and Original. The original variety has won a Great Taste 2014 Award, and after trying them I can see why! Nudie Snacks Premium Toasted Coconut Chips Chocolate: I thought I'd start with the most exciting flavour first...what better combination could there be than chocolate and coconut?! These are vegan, gluten and dairy free, and contain only toasted coconut chips, sugar, cocoa powder and sea salt. And they tasted AH-MA-ZING! I've tried a few varieties of Coconut Chips now, from Holland and Barrett's, to Itsu and Urban Fruit . But these are hands down the nicest of the lot! The chips are perfectly toasted whilst the cocoa gives it that extra indulgent chocolatey hit...

Recently I was offered some samples of the new range of "Triple Toasted" Coconut Chips from Urban Fruit to review, and as a lover of all things coconut I really couldn't say no! These come in two flavours: Sriracha Chilli and Straight Up (aka plain). The Straight Up variety simply contains toasted coconut, coconut nectar & sea salt whilst the Sriracha Chilli contains chilli seasoning, coconut nectar and sea salt. They're vegan and vegetarian friendly, gluten free and contain less than 130 calories a bag. I started off with trying the sriracha chilli, which has a strong flavoursome chilli kick. The chips were very moreish and crunchy; you can certainly tell they're triple baked. For a small amount they certainly packed a nice flavour punch. I really enjoyed these! I was lucky enough to get an extra large piece of coconut in one of the bags...see above! The Straight Up version was nice although I didn't enjoy it as much as the Sriracha ...

I'm a huge fan of anything coconutty, from chocolate to ice cream to coconut milk...but one new trend I'm a little unsure of is coconut "savoury" snacks. I've previously reviewed Ape Coconut Curls which were flavoured with salt and pepper, and although they were ok they were indeed a little odd as a savoury snack. So how does this Itsu version compare?  For £1.10 at Waitrose I got a box containing 17g of lightly salted coconut chips, which really isn't very good value for money. I was hoping they'd be very tasty and good quality for paying so much for so little.  Thankfully they were indeed very tasty. There's 0.5% sea salt which is just enough to give them a nice savoury edge, and they were very crunchy and moreish, but I have to be honest it did feel weird eating something that's supposed to be sweet as a savoury snack. I still think the Crisp Coconut chips from Holland and Barrett are the best around, they're excellent...

A few years ago Salted Caramel was the latest foodie trend, but this year it seems that it's all things raw/vegan/vegetable and...coconut. Ahh, the humble coconut, how I love thee so! (Though not as much as my coconutter pal Reaching For Refreshment does!) Whilst in Morrisons recently a new coconutty treat caught my eye in the Free From section...these "Slightly Peppered Crispy Coconut Curls" made by Ape Snacks. They're a company that "aim to be awesome and make snacking better", and to that end these coconut curls contain only coconut, pepper, salt, cardamom and cumin powder. They're gluten free, sugar free, vegan, high in fiber, 107 calories and also part of your 5 a day - hurrah!.......right?! These cost me £1 for a mere 20g, which is a bit of a ripoff if you ask me. They were pretty tasty though for a "healthy" snack. They had a nice crunchy texture and the spices made them taste savory rather than sweet, which was the odd thing ...