You may have noticed that we here at Candy Addict go a little nuts over the Hershey’s Limited Edition Kisses. Well, a good friend of mine recently went to Hawaii, and she brought back a bag of the Hershey’s Kisses with Macadamia Nuts. I haven’t quite figured out if these are limited edition or simply limited to sales in Hawaii.

These Kisses feature Mauna Loa macadamia nuts (Hershey’s acquired Mauna Loa in 2004) and were first introduced in Hawaii in 2006. There’s a milk chocolate and dark chocolate version. Happily, I got the milk chocolate version!

Okay, here’s where I fess up that I am not a huge lover of macadamia nuts. Given a choice, I would generally select a non-nut version of a candy, but if I have no choice? Bring on the macadamia nuts! Now, in my favor, these Hershey’s Kisses with Macadamia Nuts don’t boast a strong nutty taste. You might think these Kisses would have a whole nut in the center, but then you would be wrong! These milk chocolate Kisses have teeny little chunks of macadamia nut in them. They are so minuscule, in fact, that they are practically negligible. I do think, however, that there’s a hint of macadamia nut in there that lends a subtle, nutty flavor to the creamy milk chocolate.

So, these might not knock your socks off if you’re a big fan of macadamia nuts, but they are still tasty and will appeal to a large audience.

• Hershey’s Kisses website

Buy Hershey’s Kisses online:

• at Candy Direct
• at Old Time Candy
• at Amazon.com

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My friends often wonder how I can consume so many sweets and not weigh a million pounds. Well, I run. But here’s something they might not know - I eat candy when I run! Back when I trained with some ultrarunners, I learned to eat while running. Typical endurance foods such as PowerBars just didn’t taste that great to a Candy Addict like me, so I started taking more appealing yet equally energy-boosting treats, such as Snickers bars, red licorice, M&Ms, gummi bears, and ooh, Jelly Belly jellybeans!

Well, manufacturers of energy foods have gotten smarter, and they’ve started producing endurance treats that actually taste good (that means they taste like candy). Clif, the makers of Clif Bar, have developed a carbohydrate and electrolyte replacement product called Shot Bloks that are rather like gummi candies. Offered in a number of flavors, including strawberry, cola, orange, lemon lime, and cran razz, these little cubes are designed to give the athlete a boost of energy. Some of them contain caffeine, but all boast organic brown rice syrup and are sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice.

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I am always on the hunt for new and interesting candies, which means waiting in line at the supermarket isn’t all that painful for me, since there are plenty of candies to study. Most of the candies by the checkout tend to be mints, gums, or otherwise intriguingly packaged candies, and for some odd reason, most of the candies I snag there end up in the car. It’s car candy, which means I don’t eat that candy anywhere else but in the car, and frankly, it doesn’t really taste right if I don’t eat it in the car.

The car candy category for me is comprised of some gum (usually in a nice container) and minty-ish or fruity candies. I am particularly partial to Ice Breakers in the fruit sours varieties or the Life Savers Fruit Tarts.

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I’m an easy target for the impulse buys at the grocery store checkout counters. I think it’s a good time to scan the candies and see if there’s anything new, and then of course if something catches my eye, I have to try it. Take, for example, these Ice Breakers in Iced Tea Lemon flavor. I have long been a fan of Ice Breakers candies, and I usually have a container of the Ice Breakers sours in my car. I am also a fan of black tea, so these Ice Breakers sure seemed like a winning combination!

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“Yummy, yummy, yummy, I’ve got gummi in my tummy” is going to be my new mantra! I recently had the privilege of tasting the new liquid-filled gummies, Starburst GummiBursts. I’m a big fan of Starburst products, and it’s always nice to see new candies from them, since they are pretty consistently tasty.

The GummiBursts have a very satisfying texture - nice and chewy and gummi. The liquid center is just a teeny viscous dollop and not overpowering or even very noticeable, which could be considered a negative by some. The packaging claims that these GummiBursts contain real fruit juice, but the ingredients reveal the only real fruit juice is apple juice from concentrate. The GummiBursts come in four flavors: strawberry, cherry, orange, and lemon. Let’s examine those in more detail!

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One of my favorite things besides candy is coffee, so I couldn’t believe my luck when I received a huge, beautifully packaged box of Starbucks Chocolate to review! Yes, folks, Starbucks Coffee Company is now in the chocolate business. Starbucks has partnered with Hershey’s, whose subsidiary Artisan Confections Company, itself comprised of Joseph Schmidt Confections, Scharffen Berger, and Dagoba Chocolate, manufactures the Starbucks Chocolate. Did you get all that? Basically, Starbucks Chocolate is being made by people who know their chocolate.

I have to confess that while I was wowed by the attractive packaging, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the chocolate. Starbucks coffee is not quite full-bodied or flavorful enough for my taste, so I figured the chocolate would be geared toward a similar palate. I am happy to say that I was wrong. Starbucks chocolate, with just a few exceptions, is rich, full flavored, and thoroughly enjoyable.

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There is a special place in my heart (and digestive system) for marshmallows. I have always loved marshmallows and was the one kid out of 100 who actually liked Marshmallow Peeps. I even like to make my own marshmallows on occasion. So, I was thrilled to receive some gourmet, handmade marshmallows from Plush Puffs to review. Even better, Plush Puffs was kind enough to send me their newest flavor: Simply S’mores.

Plush Puffs come beautifully packaged, as you can see, and the individual marshmallows are in perfect bite-sized cubes. The Simply S’mores marshmallows start with Plush Puffs’ basic vanilla bean marshmallow, then are coated in cocoa powder and topped with some little chocolate nibs. Oh, and there are little bits of graham cracker inside the marshmallows! I have to say that while these don’t really taste like actual s’mores, they are a delicious standalone puff.

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Photo courtesy of Baking Bites

I was reading through my roster of food blogs the other day when I came upon a recipe for Cadbury Creme Egg Muffins at Baking Bites. These are muffins with mini Cadbury Creme Eggs baked in the centers! I have to say it is totally ingenious to use a muffin recipe. After all, Cadbury Creme Eggs are about as sweet and sugary as you can get, so the pairing of the sweet candy eggs with a nice vanilla muffin is ideal. If you want to make something extra special this Easter, I bet this would be an awesome treat!

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I know, I know, more jellybeans (I just reviewed the Starburst Sour Jellybeans), but can you blame me? When you find the right jellybean, it’s the perfect combination of crunch and chew and sugary goodness! So, when Candy Addict’s very own Brian professed that Nerds Bumpy Jellybeans are his favorite Easter candy this year, I knew I had to try them. First, if Brian says they are good, then the probability that this is true is extremely high. Second, I am a fan of Nerds, especially of Nerds rope, because you get that crunchy and chewy dual bang with the rope. Do you see where I am headed?

I won’t keep you in suspense - these Nerds Bumpy Jellybeans are keepers. They are kooky and bizarre and incredibly tasty! There are five flavors. The flavors aren’t listed on the packaging, but you can guess that they are the usual suspects: red (strawberry), yellow (lemon), orange (you guessed it, orange), green (watermelon), and purple (grape). As indicated by the descriptive title, these beans sport bumpy exteriors, which makes them a little odd looking and even a tad ugly, but who cares! They rock! The hard candy shell is crunchy but won’t break your teeth. The interior is chewy but smooth, and there’s a perfect balance between crunch and chew.

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there is a plethora of jellybean offerings on the Easter candy shelves this year. I say the more, the merrier, but not all jellybeans are created equal. I like sour candies, so I tried to determine which package of jellybeans might be the most sour. I decided upon the Starburst Sour Jellybeans because a) it clearly states SOUR on the package, and b) Starburst reliably delivers what I consider to be some tasty candies.

I was not disappointed! There are six fruity flavors in Starburst Sour Jellybeans: green apple, lemon, watermelon, tangerine, cherry, and blue raspberry (why is this flavor everywhere? I for one have never seen a blue raspberry, but maybe I am sheltered). The beans are a nice, compact size, and each is bursting with ample flavor. The exterior has a satisfying crunch, and the inner jellybean is dense and chewy. You also get a lot of jellybeans in a package, so they are a good value.

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