Kev's Snack Reviews

Recently I spotted Meridian Cocoa & Hazelnut Butter spreads reduced to £2.20 at Morrisons; I've had my eye on them for a while but the price always put me off...until today! It's a shame hazelnuts are such an expensive nut because it really is one of the tastiest around - it's no surprise that Nutella is so popular! In fact Nutella was at the forefront of my mind when trying this - it almost seems like a healthier and more natural take on Nutella (which as we all know has a lot of sugar and palm oil, despite how tasty it is). By contrast, this is made with 75% roasted hazelnuts, 10% honey, 7% cocoa powder, 5% coconut and sunflower oil. So it's more of a nut butter than a sweet spread, but still! I suppose a better comparison would be the innards of a Ferrero Rocher - it certainly has a similar crunchy texture. I opened the lid and things didn't look good - some of the oil had separated and there was a layer on top of the spread. Eek! I attempted to mix i...

It's time for another Spotted In Shops, since we're gradually heading towards that time of year when Christmas and Halloween products start appearing on shelves - yep it certainly #getsearliereveryyear!  First up are the New Limited Edition Quality Street Gingerbread Matchmakers pictured above, an early product for the festive season. They're only available at Tesco for £2 so far, and presumably replace the Salted Caramel variety from last year. Nestle have also added a new Orange Flavour to their Kitkat Bites range, which is currently only exclusive to Morrisons. Luckily, if you have no Morrisons nearby you can get Orange Kitkat Chunky multipacks from Poundland as well as Home Bargains. Poundland are also selling their own take on White Maltesers - White Chocolate Mat Balls. Of course they probably won't be half as good as the glorious White Maltesers were ( sign the petition if you'd like them brought back), but I guess we'll have to mak...

A big thanks to The Skinny Food Co for sending me a variety of products to try recently; if you've never heard of them before they produce a wide range of low sugar/sugar free sauces, syrups and spreads that are suitable for various allergies as well as low in fat and calories. Today's review is for their Chocaholic Skinny Spread, which is a low-sugar take on Nutella made with sweeteners like maltitol and stevia. Eek - the dreaded maltitiol! This is definitely not a product to eat in excess! ;) As well as sweeteners this contains 10% hazelnut paste, vegetable oils, whey and milk powder and cocoa. It's recommended to enjoy it in porridge, smoothies, pancakes, fruit and baking. Opening the lid, I was immediately hit with the strong aroma of Nutella...it smelled just like the real thing, perhaps even better! The spread had clumped to one side due to being sent through the post and refrigerated, so after taking pics I let it settle at room temperature for a bit. This all...

Today's review is the second time I've reviewed a sugar free chocolate spread made with sweeteners. The last time I suffered the all too familiar "unintended side effects", which scared me enough this time...why did I take this task on? The things I do for snacks research! This spread contains 97% less sugar than standard chocolate spreads on the market, and is also palm oil free. In comparison, palm oil is the first ingredient in the leading brand Nutella. It's sweetened with a mixture of erythritol, maltitiol, stevia and maltodextrin. It also contains whey powder so unfortunately isn't suitable for vegans or those with dairy allergies. The promise of a sugar free hazelnut spread made with sweeteners had me cautiously excited, because while I'm trying to reduce my sugar intake I don't enjoy being on the toilet all night! Eventually I faced my fears and tucked in with a spoon. The spread is very lovely; rich, nutty and creamy and despite be...

I've been eating a lot of chocolate spread recently, which is unusual for me, but I guess I got sucked in by the craze started with the newly launched Cadbury Caramel & Crunchie Chocolate Spreads . After posting about the Cadbury spreads I was contacted by Jim Jams, a company producing spreads with no added sugars, and was asked if I'd like to review their No Added Sugar Chocolate Hazelnut Spread. I'm notoriously moaning about quitting or reducing sugar, so I couldn't refuse to give it a try! Rather than sugar this is instead sweetened with maltitol, which is a type of sugar alcohol that can have "unintended effects" if consumed in excess (and those who've tried it know what I mean!) This may be a blessing in disguise, as it's a further reason not to over-indulge. As well as maltitol, the spread contains 13% hazelnuts, cocoa, milk powder, whey powder and a mixture of palm and rapeseed oil. It's gluten free and contains 494 calories per 100g...

Recently, Grocery Gems did a review of this Vego Vegan Hazelnut chocolate bar, and after reading her review I immediately wanted to track this down. She described it as being like Nutella which sounded like the best thing ever to me! I found it in a local charity shop (of all places) that sells vegan products, and decided to go for the "mini" version for £1.69 (there's also a larger bar). The bar comes in two large, substantial blocks which are very thick and chunky. Splitting them apart revealed some whole hazelnuts embedded in the chocolate: With it being a vegan bar of course it didn't contain any dairy, but you'd never guess! It tasted so rich and creamy and hazelnutty I was in heaven...Grocery Gems description of Nutella was spot on! The whole hazelnuts further added to the luxury, reminding me a little of Ferraro Rocher. This is a very rich and indulgent bar indeed and I certainly didn't miss the dairy! Overall, I have to say this is a f...