Kev's Snack Reviews

If you're into dairy free or vegan ice cream, good news, there's a new plant based alternative on the block: Coconuts Organic! Formerly called Coconuts Naturally they have rebranded and are now available in selected Tesco stores - do check out their website to see if they're available near you. You can find them in the Free From frozen food section for £5 a tub. This Choc Orange Swirl variety is described as "Organic, non-dairy chocolate orange ice cream, made with coconut cream, unrefined coconut sugar and laced with an indulgent chocolate sauce swirl". It contains no dairy, nuts or gluten and is free from major allergens. It's soil association certified organic and also approved by the vegan society. I couldn't wait to get this home to eat so cheekily ate some whilst in a Costa store right after buying it. There's a lovely orangey chocolate aroma on removing the lid. And the consistency is creamy, not too solid and was just beginning to get me...

I was very happy this week to see a new dairy free ice cream brand launched in Tesco. They were formerly called Coconuts Naturally, and I reviewed their Rum and Raisin ice cream some time ago, but now they're called Coconuts Organic and have two flavours listed in selected Tesco stores - Double Caramel and Chocolate Orange. The tubs are vegan, refined sugar free (they contain coconut sugar instead), nut free and gluten free. They cost £5 a tub which may seem a lot, but trust me these bad boys are worth it! (especially when compared to Halo Top Dairy Free which is the same price). I bought a tub of both the Chocolate Orange and Caramel, and will review the Orange at a later date. This Double Caramel flavour is described as "Organic non-dairy caramel ice cream, made with coconut cream, unrefined coconut sugar and a caranel swirl" and contains 40% coconut cream, coconut sugar, plus a few natural stabilisers like pectin etc. And it tastes delicious! When I got the tub h...

When I heard about these new Watermelon Fruit Crisps on Instagram recently I knew they were something I had to try. One because I love melon - it may be my favourite fruit - and two because, they’re crisps! Now I’ve tried Nim’s Fruit Crisps before and wasn’t so keen on the pear ones, however other varieties I’ve tried since have been more to my taste. So I was optimistic these might be in the latter category. Like all of Nim’s range they’re gluten free and vegan, with no added sugar and these ones are air dried with no oil or flavourings added. They’re just pure air dried watermelon! I found them in Tesco for £1, near the fruit & veg aisle, and there’s 64 calories and 0g fat per bag if that sort of thing matters to you. Opening the bag, they looked like...well, dried watermelon! There’s even some little seeds in there! Since I love watermelon I was maybe more excited to try these than I should have been. But after trekking around Tesco I really needed a sweet little...

Last week I reviewed the Orange and Mint bars from Pana Cacao, but wait...there's more! A big thankyou to the UK importers for sending me samples of the range recently - there's flavours such as Cherry, Strawberry & Pistachio as well as today's review: Fig & Wild Orange and Raw Cacao. Pana Cacao is an Australian company producing raw, organic and handmade chocolates using minimal ingredients and sustainable materials. They're suitable for vegans, dairy free, soy free and use coconut nectar and agarve syrup instead of white sugar. You can find them in the UK in various health food stores, as well as Pana's UK webstore: https://panachocolate.com/uk/shop/ The bars each comes in boxes containing 45g in paper wrappers. Each has an individual design, which I think is a nice touch and makes it feel more special (see above). Starting with the Fig & Wild Orange variety, this contains 14% figs as well as wild orange essential oil, plus spices like car...

It's been ages now since Nakd brought out their Fruit & Nut Nibbles range, and one product from it that I haven't been able to find anywhere was the Mint Humbug variety. Until now! I managed to find a bag of these in a small health food store in Leeds recently. They're the same as all the other fruit and nut Nakd nibbles; raw, vegan, gluten free and cold pressed, containing a mixture of dates and cashew nuts and raisins, as well as natural mint flavouring. Unlike the Cocoa Mint bar these aren't chocolatey flavoured, and all the better for it really...they really are reminiscent of mint humbug sweets, but y'know...natural and healthy and without all the sugar! They're a great sweet and filling snack, very moreish but won't leave you hungry afterwards. Overall, these are some tasty nibbles from Nakd, it's just a shame they're not as easy to find as the other varieties. Highly recommended if you can find them. Nutrition Information (per 40...

The hot weather continues, and with it my ice cream reviews for Perfect World's sugar free treats. So far we've had Caramel and Pecan , Raspberry Ripple , Sweet Espresso and Pistachio , all of them tasty in their own right, but today's is for a more simple, classic flavour that is always a favourite during the Summer months - Mint Choc Chip! Unlike your regular dairy and sugar filled versions, this one contains only 4.2g natural sugars and 396 calories per tub. It's made with a blend of coconut milk, cashew nuts and almonds, and the sweeteners xylitol, erythritol and stevia. Opening the lid things looked promising right away, it has the classic minty green colour plus there were some cheeky dark choc chips poking their way through. I scooped some into a bowl and allowed it to soften a little. Like the other flavours the texture is perfectly creamy; it's light and melts nicely without feeling too heavy. The taste is spot on! There's the subtle, gentle...

My first post-Christmas review...hurrah! And in typical fashion it's for something healthy, which is just what the doctor ordered after all the rich food and sweets over the festive season. This new Blueberry Muffin flavour Nakd bar caught my eye in a local Sainsbury's Express only a few days after Christmas, and being a huge fan of their other varieties it went straight into my basket. How would it compare to previous editions like Lemon Drizzle and Carrot Cake ? The bar cost 85p and consists of a mixture of dates, cashews, raisins, almonds, blueberries and a hint of natural flavouring. Opening the wrapper it had a super strong blueberry aroma - wow it smelled like a blueberry muffin alright! Taking a bite, it tasted even more of blueberry muffin than I'd expected. I mean yeah I expected blueberry, but the cashews and almonds actually gave it a muffin-like taste and texture. This was a real treat indeed, and better than some of the previous limited editions, in my ...

Tesco are taking on Nakd Posh Bits with their own range of healthier snacks made with dried fruit, oats, nuts etc but at a lower price point. How do they compare? There's a few varieties in the range; Almond Bites, Cranberry, Coconut and Strawberry  Bites and these Cocoa & Orange bites. The best thing about these is that they're nut free, so unlike Nakd Posh Bits are suitable for those with nut allergies - hurrah! Unfortunately though they're not suitable for vegans as they contain honey. Described as "A tasty blend of dates, blossom honey and cocoa nibs" and costing £1.50 for 110g, these come in cube shapes and felt a bit more substantial than Nakd Posh Bits . They have a slightly pale appearance thanks to a dusting of rice flour which isn't such a bad thing; it prevents them sticking together too much. They tasted nice, very chocolatey and the cocoa nibs certainly give them a lot of crunch. They're a very filling snack indeed, but do become ...

Recently, I was sent a batch of snacks to review including some of the new Nakd bars with a "New Recipe", so I thought I'd start with some of the more interesting flavours from the selection: Apple Danish and Banana Bread! The Apple Danish replaces the previous Apple Pie Nakd bar and I wasn't sure what the difference was so I looked it up...seems that this Apple Danish contains cashews rather than peanuts and almonds, and it also contains "fruit extract and concentrate" which consists of apple and carob. Nakd Apple Danish: This one tasted lovely with a subtle apple flavour and nice chewy texture. The natural spices are gentle and comforting and give it that authentic Apple Danish flavour. Although you could still pretend it's Apple Pie too! I really enjoyed this.  8 out of 10. Nakd Banana Bread: The Banana Bread one was perhaps even more exciting, replicating the classic banana cakey treat in bar form. It contains real bananas as well as walnuts...

I do love Nakd bars, especially the various limited editions they've been doing in recent years from the likes of Carrot Cake to Lemon Drizzle , plus the Nakd Nibbles range. They always bring some interesting and tasty flavours to the healthy snacks market, stopping it from getting too boring and "health food-y". This year, not only have they launched the new limited edition Lemon Drizzle they've also brought a new flavour to their main range - Cocoa Coconut. I'm surprised they haven't done a coconut variety before to be honest...well, they did do some Nakd Nibbles Coconut in small bags (which are still available) but they're hard to find. Luckily Nakd saved me the bother of scouring multiple Asda stores for this new bar, and sent me some to review - thanks Nakd! The ingredients consist of dates, coconut, raisins, cashew nuts. It's nice to see coconut so prominently on the list. The bars are suitable for vegans, vegetarians, gluten free and da...

I've always got my eye out for healthier versions of snacks, and one that caught my attention recently was this new Sweet Freedom Choc Pot Spread. I've been waiting for something healthier in the spreads department, considering how unhealthy our beloved spreads like Nutella can be (and don't get me wrong, I do love Nutella!) Where this spread differs is its lower calorie and fat content, whilst being vegan, gluten free and dairy free, and containing only natural fruit sugars. It's also GMO, palm oil and preservative free. I found a pot for £3 in the Free From section of Asda, and have to say I love the cute bunny face on the label! Let's be honest though, who doesn't love a cute bunny face?! The spread looked nice and gloopy when I opened the lid. So much so I ended up getting it all over THE Hand. But I won't be showing you that... It was very runny indeed, perhaps moreso than Nutella. It was almost like caramel sauce in consistency. The t...

A few months back, Nakd launched several new editions in their bar range: Carrot Cake , Peanut Delight and these; Apricot Crunch. They've proven rather difficult for me to find, in fact I've only seen them once and that was in Waitrose! Like all Nakd products, they are of course raw, vegan, dairy free, vegetarian, GM free and gluten free. As well as apricots, dates and cashews, these contain soya protein "crunchies"...something I've never tried before! Opening the wrapper, the bar certainly had a very strong apricot aroma... But the taste was...weird. Now I like apricots but this bar just tasted odd to me, it tasted almost like it had artificial flavouring which is weird since Nakd only use natural ingredients. The protein crunchies provided some nice texture but I can't say they tasted that nice, in fact they tasted somewhat stale - why didn't they use rice crispies instead? Overall, I really wasn't a fan of this at all, it just tasted ...

Chocologic are back with some new products...yay! This time with No Added Sugar Giant Milk Chocolate Buttons, which is good news for anyone avoiding sugar or on a low carb diet. The sugar has been replaced with "alimentary fibres"; dextrin, inulin and oligofructose, as well as the sweeteners erythritol and stevia. As well as these, the buttons of course contain milk. These cost £1.20 for a bag in Tesco which is pretty reasaonable since you get a decent amount (75g) and the buttons are nice and chunky. In fact they reminded me of Yorkie Giant Buttons. Thankfully, they tasted a lot better! When I tried the Chocologic Milk Chocolate Bar last year I felt it had a slight Calender Chocolate taste...well somehow that doesn't seem to be the case here. I don't know if they've changed the recipe, but these buttons were rather creamy and tasty, I certainly scoffed more than a handful! They're a lot less sweet than regular milk chocolate buttons, and a...

When One Treat posted a review of the new Delicious Ella Energy Balls recently I had to seek them out...I'm becoming a big fan of "clean" snacks like this, what with Nakd bringing out Posh Bits and even Whitworths bringing out a "Full of Super" snacks range (a review of their Cacao Maca-Roons to come later...) But this Ella is a lady I've heard a lot about since she launched her cookbook - she's been very successful indeed. That success has translated into her own new product range, which doesn't necessarily mean anything since even Gillian McKeith (remember her? Amazingly, she's still alive *insert hand over mouth emoji*) had her own snacks range back in the day. So the burning question is...are Ella's treats any good? Ingredients: 3 dates, 8 cashews, 1tsp oats, 1/4 tsp ground ginger. Well, let's remember they're aimed at a specific market: the super health conscious, where clean ingredients rule and refined sugar is th...