Mars Cookie Dough Flavour (B&M) By @SpectreUK

As well as Hot Honey, Cookie Dough seems to be another flavour of the year for snack foods. We spotted this Mars Cookie Dough Flavour bar in a local store. The bar is soft cookie dough flavoured nougat, with creamy caramel on top covered in milk chocolate.

 

On opening the wrapper there was a milk chocolate and cookie dough aroma from the regular looking Mars Bar inside. On cutting into the bar to see the insides, it didn't look much different from the original Mars Bar.

On taste this Mars Cookie Dough Flavour did taste different than original Mars Bar. There was a cookie dough taste instead of the regular nougat, mixed with the regular sweet caramel, and milk chocolate flavours.

Overall this Mars Cookie Dough Flavour bar was a lot sweeter than the original. So, it depends if you have a sweet tooth and a desire to mix it up a little.

Mars Milkshake (Iceland) by @Cinabar

The flavour of the nougat in a UK Mars bar is hard to describe. It’s distinctive, I know it well and can almost taste it just by thinking about it. Yet, it’s difficult to categorise precisely; I would say, however, that it’s definitely not malt.

This new drink, a Mars Milkshake in a can, comes sweetened with artificial sweeteners, which I know might deter some people. Personally, I don’t mind sweeteners, as they help keep the calories down, though I realise some would rather have real sugar. The can suggests giving it a gentle shake, so I did just that before taking my first sip.

The flavour is pleasant, with chocolate and caramel notes that aren’t too sweet, and a hint of malt. Chocolate and malt complement each other nicely, so the overall taste was enjoyable. However, I didn’t feel it truly captured the iconic Mars bar flavour. It was close and certainly tasty, but for me, it wasn’t quite a perfect match. Still, it makes for a nice, lower-calorie treat.

Mars Croissants (Iceland) By @Cinabar

As far as crossover products go, I have to admit this is a bit of a strange one. I would never have considered merging a Mars bar with a croissant, but here we are. Inside the heavily branded pack of Mars Croissants are four individually packed croissants, again very much branded to Mars. I like the fact that the others remain sealed, so they don't need eating right away, but I also don't like all the plastic, so there isn't an easy compromise. 

 

I opened one up and found a slightly smaller than expected croissant; isn’t that always the way? The pastry didn’t seem to be as flaky as a regular croissant. I normally split a croissant in half and add butter; this strikes me as the kind of treat you just eat. I gave it a bite, and on my first taste, there wasn’t much filling. A second bite in, and I found the filling; it was nice but not especially like a Mars bar. The chocolate and caramel were there, but it was lacking that nougat layer and the distinctive taste. The croissant didn’t have enough crispy layers either; it was so dense that it was almost like a sponge. The end result isn’t bad; it was a nice, sweet treat. I just felt they spent a lot of time branding this as a Mars Croissant, and the result didn’t really meet my expectations. 

Mars Secret Centre Biscuits (Home Bargains) By @SpectreUK

I must admit I'm a bit confused by the title of these Mars Secret Centre Biscuits. Unless their secret centre is something bizarre like bacon, lettuce and tomato, I'm not sure there's much of a secret. I figure the secret is already out, and they taste like Mars bar with a biscuit. Believe me, that's no bad thing. I love Mars bars, I just don't get what the secret is.

 

On opening the packet there were eight well rounded chocolate biscuits. The secret centre was actually a crunchy biscuit with a caramel flavoured fondant all coated in thick milk chocolate. I was quite surprised by the centre, so their secret centre did work. Sorry if the secret is out now, but these Mars Secret Centre Biscuits did taste gorgeous. No runny gooey caramel here though, just no mess eating soft caramel flavoured chocolate fondant with a decently crunchy biscuit and a luscious milk chocolate coating. I'd really recommend them.

Information on the packet; The 132g packet contained 8 biscuits at 88 calories per biscuit, with 5g of fat, 5.3G of sugar, and 0.05g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Mars Honeycomb Flavoured With Salted Caramel (Candy Mail) By @cinabar

This bar's flavour is almost too long to fit on the wrapper. Was there an argument between the next limited edition being salted caramel and someone else wanting to do honeycomb and a fight starting? I imagine some middlemen suggesting a compromise, and lo and behold, the Mars Honeycomb Flavored With Salted Caramel bar was born. Why have one flavour when you can have two?

This bar was imported from one of my favourite shops in the UK, but it originated in Australia. The wrapper is quite smart and striped to stand out; inside, the nougat layer was a lovely golden colour but apart from that, it had the usual look of Mars with a good dose of caramel. Although the flavour is very similar to Mars, there is a gorgeous golden burnt toffee taste running through it.It is a subtle change from the normal flavour but it worked very well. I could only detect a faint hint of salted caramel; there was a tiny hint of salt but nothing strong or noticeable; this was all about the cinder toffee flavor.

If there was a fight between the two flavour the honeycomb was the clear winner and a complete delight too. 

Mars Triple Treat (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I don’t get it. I’m sorry, I just don’t know what they were thinking when they came up with this Triple Treat range. Of all the new bars the Mars one is the most bizarre. If you like nuts, get a Snickers. If you don’t get a Mars, that is the simple system. So why have they added peanuts to the new Mars Triple Treat? Why is it almost identical to the Snicker Triple Treat? They have one formula and have made small changes that are released to different chocolate bars. The snickers bar had: dates, raisins, peanuts and milk chocolate. The Mars version has: date, raisin, peanut, milk chocolate and fudge.

 

This bar, like the Snickers, did have a health shop bar taste. The squished date is a large factor in the flavour. The fudge pieces did give it a slightly sweeter flavour than the Snickers version, but yeah, not enough. I still am not overly impressed with it. I would still rather buy the ‘treat size' bars and calorie count than pick these up again. Sorry, not for me.

Mars Raspberry Smash Flavour (GB Gifts) By @SpectreUK

I've always liked Mars bars. One of my favourite chocolate bars is the Mars Caramel. I don't mind fruity chocolate bars now and then, and I'm pretty partial to the soft fruity centres in some chocolate boxes. This limited edition Mars Raspberry Smash flavour sounds like quite a treat. It's a raspberry flavoured nougat covered with caramel, and then coated with milk chocolate.

 

As you can see from the photograph the Mars Raspberry Smash flavoured chocolate bar looked the same as a regular Mars bar on unwrapping. The squidgy pink raspberry nougat inside the bar tastes like raspberry ripple, with added runny sweet caramel and all coated in milk chocolate. Gosh this is a tasty flavoursome Mars bar. I'd definitely have one of these Mars Raspberry Smash flavour chocolate bars again. It's a must for fruity soft centre chocolate lovers anywhere.

Information on the wrapper; The 47g bar contains 885 kilojoules which is just over 211 calories, with 7.7g of fat, 27.2g of sugar, and 55mg of sodium. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Mars 95 Cal (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

In case anyone is braving New Year's Resolutions this year, Mars has brought out a single stick to give you the authentic taste of Mars, but in a much slimmer version. This 21g bar is 95 calories, hence the name Mars 95 Cal. This could be perfect for chocolate lovers who just want a quick taste without shouldering the full calories of a traditional Mars Bar. It's slightly reminiscent of the size of a regular stick or finger of Twix.

On peeling back the wrapper and biting in, this Mars 95 Cal was gone in two mouthfuls. I was pretty much humouring it, as I'd usually dump a biscuit or chocolate bar or cake of that size straight in my gob without biting, but I wanted to try to savour it. Alas it was all over so quick that I didn't manage to savour the experience - I know, I know... "Name of your sex tape!"

I have to say though that the little Mars 95 Cal does taste of a regular Mars bar. I'd worked out in my kitchen gym an extreme amount earlier that day and my metabolism was roaring like an open furnace, so I downed the two Mars 95 Cals Cinabar had bought me to blog about, amongst a boat load of mixed chocolates from a grab tin we had over Christmas. My excuse is that I'd had a truck load of protein during the day and I needed plenty of calories to help fix my tired achy muscles overnight. Plus, I am rather partial to quite a bit of chocolate!

Milky Way Delights (Available at B&M) By @Cinabar

This is new product from Mars is a multi use product known as Milky Way Delights. It is a powder that tastes of Milky Way chocolate and can be used to make mousse, ice cream, milkshake or a dessert sauce. The recipes are on the back of the bag, and the difference seems to be around the amount of powder you add to milk. We decided to try out the mousse element of this packet first, as we thought it would make a nice dessert. I got the whisk, the bowls, and the milk out.

My first confession is that it suggestions using 55g grams of product for 200ml of milk, and although I measured the milk I guessed on the powder. There is 165g in the bag so I used about a third, which seemed sensible.

It also meant I have enough powder to make some of the other options, so I think milkshakes will be up next. The mousse was whisked for 3 minutes, and then put into bowls to set.

It recommends chilling for at least an hour, but less than 24 hours before eating. We gave it around 2 hours in the fridge and I was really pleased that the bowls had set well, and the dessert looked lovely and bubbly. The flavour is sweet and chocolatey, but it isn’t too strong a flavour. There is a sweetness reminiscent of the chocolate bar and I thought it made a quick tasty dessert. I also like the nostalgia of my childhood when my mum would make instant whip when I was a kid.

I’m looking forward to trying out some of the other options that come with Milky Way Delights and I was pleased that there was enough left in the bag to make a few more goodies. This is something it is worth having in the cupboard for a quick dessert or treat.

Mars Choc Brownie Edition (WH Smith) By @cinabar

I found out about this new edition Mars chocolate bar by chance browsing the WH Smiths next to the train station I commute from. Sometimes new edition chocolate bars come with press releases and anticipation, other times they are quite low key, like this one which just appeared. They were on offer as they were new so I took a gamble and picked up a handful.
The bar looks like a regular Mars under the wrapped, but once cut in half I could see the change of colour of the lower filling. It looked darker, and yes a bit more Brownie like. Not quite spongey though.
With the taste test it became apparent that the overall flavour was remarkably similar to that of a regular Mars bar, albeit a little more chocolatey. There was a hint of darker cocoa tastes, and that baked chocolate flavour. However their was still the chocolate coating, caramel and a hint of the usual nougat that made the whole thing scream Mars bar. This was a tasty chocolate bar and that was because I like regular Mars Bars. The Choc Brownie part was quite a simple edition, and the base lacked the sticky sponge texture, but did have the flavour. Part of me thinks you could buy one of these without noticing the Choc Brownie reference on the packet or the mild change in flavour. I shall enjoy mine though, and working through my stash.

New Mars Protein Chocolate Bar (Amazon UK) [By @Cinabar]

There is a new Mars Bar available, one specifically designed to be healthier, with added protein (19g) and a calorie count of just 200kcal. It's a difficult bar to find though, and at the minute seems only to be stocked by Amazon (UK).
The bar seems a little flatter than a regular Mars and more rectangular. There are no ripples of thick chocolate on the top of this one, it looks very different.

I bit into the bar and the texture caught me off guard. Firstly the chocolate is very thin, just enough to give a hint of the Mars flavour, but not enough to feel soothing. It was the same with the caramel, a token layer for a bit of a sweeter taste. The “nougat” bit is the new soya protein infused section and has a chewy texture. It feels heavy and clay like, and was almost powdery in the mouth. It feels like it is good for you, and it is doing its bit if you are off to the gym to build those muscles. Truth be told I only go to the gym for a gentle swim, and muscle growth isn’t high on my agenda so I guess I’m not its target market.
In conclusion this might not be the best bar if you are just looking for a light low fat Mars, but this is perfect if you are looking for protein bar and want one with a Mars flavour.

By Cinabar

Mars Chocolate Drink (Hot or Cold) [By @Cinabar]

Following on from the rather lovely Magic Stars hot chocolate that I wrote about the other week, there are other new drinks in the range too that I’m now able to try out. Unusually this one, based of the ever loved Mars bar, can be made hot or cold.
I decided to give it a try hot to start with as I am still going through a bit of a hot chocolate phase. I added 4 teaspoons to my mug and poured on cold milk, ready to be microwaved. I did notice that the granules looked a little bigger than I’d expected, not huge or anything, but not the usual fine powder. When I stirred it before its zapping, it dissolved easily, which makes sense as this could be used as a milkshake and drunk straight at this point.
I continued on and heated it, and it did make a lovely soothing drink. The flavour was quite creamy, and not quite as sweet as the Magic Stars version, but still chocolatey and pleasant. There was a subtle hint of malt in the flavour which I think gave it the distinctive Mars taste, recreating that soft nougat filling.
Obviously I also tried it out as a milkshake, which I think will be more ideal when the spring sunshine finally kicks in. It mixed well together, and the taste was the same as it was when it was hot. The only thing I noticed was that although it had appeared to mix in easily, when I left the drink for just 10minutes or so the bottom of the glass had a bit more of a build up of darkened milk and Mars granules and needed to be re-stirred.
Although I’d have the cold version of this drink when the weather is better, as I’m in my hot chocolate phase this is definitely a hot drink option for me. It's going on the shelf as my soothing drink of choice, and after the week I’ve had it has come in rather handy!

By Cinabar

New - Mars Mix (WH Smiths) [By @Cinabar]

Writing this blog ‘new’ is a trigger word for me. I scout round supermarkets looking for the word ‘new’ so that I can find interesting new goodies to write about here. The idea being that if it’s new it has some interesting quality that makes it worth reporting on. To me new means novel, original, different, fresh. New does not mean taking a bag of Mars Planets (chocolates already available), limiting the choice in that bag by taking out the chocolate wafers and then calling the result ‘New Mars Mix’. To be honest it’s a bit disappointing. I realise that there will be people out there that don’t like the wafers and for them these will be a revelation, but I quite liked the crunchy bits. I suppose it’s the same as making a bag of Revels without the coffee ones. Some people would be pleased, others would be complaining.
I do like the chocolate coated caramels, and I do like the chocolate coated soft nougat, and I did enjoy munching my way through the bag, but I was missing those chocolate wafers. I suppose it is a purer Mars experience, as Mars bars don’t have wafers so why have wafers in the grab bag edition. Luckily Mars still makes Mars Planets, both varieties were available in my nearest branch of WH Smiths, and while that’s true it’s the Planets that will be getting my purchase.

By Cinabar

Mars Refuel Caramel [By @SpectreUK]

This 350ml bottle of Mars Refuel Caramel was produced by Mars, in Ireland. It was reported to be a good source of protein, calcium, phosphorous, and vitamin B2. Per 100ml there were 76 calories, with 2.1g of fat and 12.8g of sugar. It was made with 74% UHT milk for a longer life, with other ingredients including whey powder, cocoa powder, barley malt extract, salt, carrageenan, guar gum, and cane molasses. On opening the bottle there was a scrumptious Mars caramel aroma. There was a lot more caramel flavour than the regular Mars Refuel in this drink, making it a sweeter treat, but certainly not overpoweringly sweet. After I’d downed the whole bottle I was amused to read on the label that the bottle contained two portions. The label also mentioned that you should consume the drink within three days after opening, which confused me a little, but I’m sure there must be at least one less greedy person out there than me who may prefer to savour this drink over a number of days. I’m positive this drink would be a very tasty treat after a meal for a lighter pudding or a “refuel” after a good workout. I found it refreshing after a hot bath just before bed, and will certainly have a bottle of this Mars Refuel Caramel in the fridge as often as possible from now on.

By Spectre

[Limited Edition] Mars Caramel (Boots) [By @Cinabar]

So you are probably thinking that Mars bars already have caramel in them, so why would they make a limited edition caramel version? Before I answer that, I need to tell you about the American bar Milkyway Caramel.

In the USA, Mars and Milkyway are the opposite way round, so what we call a Mars they call a Milkyway. Their Milkyway Caramel has no nougat, but does have double the amount of caramel, hence the name. I know this bar well as it is Spectre’s favourite chocolate bar and if I tell him I’m going to the import store, this is what he asks for. Double thick caramel coated in chocolate, a proper treat.

Obviously then, when I heard about the new UK Limited Edition Mars Caramel, I thought I knew what was coming. So to answer my original question, I thought they were making a ‘caramel version’ because it would have double the caramel and no nougat. As it turns out I was wrong. This bar is just the thin topping of caramel, with a chocolate coat. There is no extra caramel, it’s just a slim looking disappointing bar. I guess they either named it Limited Edition Mars Caramel or they called it Limited Edition Mars No Nougat, and the first option sounded more catchy!

Oh well, onto the more positive side, the Mars chocolate and caramel are indeed very tasty. The caramel consistency is thick and gooey, and it oozes flavour. It’s sticky in the mouth but delivers a flavour with hints of toffee and Demerara sugar. The Mars chocolate is the same that you would expect in the normal bar, even to the point that it is thicker on the top. It adds a nice chocolate goodness to the overall bar, with lots of nice sweet creamy cocoa flavour. I honestly can’t say I didn’t enjoy the bar, but I did feel a bit short changed. This bar was selling for the same price as the normal Mars in my branch of Boots. For the money all I could think was; seriously, where is the rest of my bar?

By Cinabar

Mars Dessert (Tesco) [By @Cinabar]

My sweet tooth tends to kick in at the end of a meal, and I always fancy something ideally chocolaty to finish on. As a fan of Mars bars when I saw these new desserts in Tesco it was pretty much given that pick them up.
I’ve seen quite a few of the chocolate bar themed desserts recently, so I am obviously not in a minority. They do then to be part of the Cadbury branding, so it is nice to Mars branching out in to this market too.
This is a split pot dessert, one section containing teeny chunks of Mars nougat coated in milk chocolate. The other section is the liquid section, which is chocolate and caramel flavour. The chocolate pieces are small, but there are plenty of them in the pot, certainly enough for each mouthful. Despite the size, the nougat texture shines through, but the flavour is a little hidden by all the chocolate goodness. I couldn’t pick up on much caramel either, again this was disguised within the sauce section.
The fact that the dessert provided a chocolate overload is by no means a bad thing!! I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it did mean that it didn’t fully recreate the whole Mars bar concept as well as it could.
By Cinabar

Mars Extra Choc Refuel [By Spectre] (The 99p Store)

I do like a good chocolate milkshake. They can make a nice sweet pudding when you don't want to eat anything else after a big meal or they can be refreshing when watching a late night film before bed. I'd had a huge bowl of Tai Tom Yum Soup (it was supposed to feed four people) whilst watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and didn't fancy eating anything else. I do like to have a carton of Mars Refuel in the fridge for moments like this, but we'd picked this Extra Choc one up a few days before and it seemed like the best opportunity to give it a go. As opposed to the Mars Refuel's red and black packaging, the Extra Choc has brown and black packaging. So I was expecting an extra cocoa punch from this milkshake. On the packaging it proudly states 2% fat, which sounded fairly healthy. It also mentioned on the 310ml plastic bottle that "Once open refrigerate and consume within 3 days". "Pah!" I thought, "If it's anything like Mars red and black it won't last five minutes!" Now I'm going to take a quick digressive rant on plastic bottles at this point. Okay, so in most places we recycle plastic these days, but wouldn't it be nice just to forsake plastic drinks bottles that are more likely to end up littering some far off beach somewhere tropical or breaking down and getting stuck in some seabird's stomach? What happened to good old dependable glass? We have a never ending supply of sand to make it! Anyway, the wrapper also states that cyclists can do 50% more on a regular workout than after drinking specialist sports drinks and 40% more exercise than when drinking isotonic sports drinks. Well, I was watching a film that is 40% longer than most other films and besides, I'm sure my electrolytes and carbohydrates weren't going to complain from an extra dose. After unscrewing and peeling back the foil top on the bottle I took a big swig and washed the brown liquid around my mouth. I must admit, I didn't particularly receive an extra cocoa hit from drinking this. In fact quiet the opposite. Do you remember those naff old yoghurts that claimed to be chocolate flavoured way back when? People used to eat them in some vain hope that they'd taste of actual chocolate. It's a disastrous milky plastic taste that never truly leaves your palate. The Mars Extra Refuel is bordering on that taste. It almost abandons chocolate flavour altogether as you drink more and more and is a betrayal to chocolate milkshake fans. Okay, so that's a bit strong, but I'm not allowed to swear on this blog! At least I received some extra energy to go and do the washing up...

By Spectre

Mars Dark (WH Smiths) & Mistletoe Kisses & Fiendish Fancies

Back in July I wrote about Mars Midnight, which was a Polish Mars bar imported by Pound World. I really liked the dark chocolate bar, with my favourite thing being that the white nougat was really soft and light and made it sort of melt in the mouth.
When I saw Mars Dark I was convinced that this was the UK release of the same bar, but it just wasn’t at all. Don’t get me wrong, it is incredibly similar, but the white nougat is lacking that fluffy texture and so I found it just a bit disappointing. The texture in this bar has the same consistency as a regular Mars, but with a hint more vanilla in the flavour. Mars Dark is not a bad bar by any means, but personally I will be sticking to buying Mars Midnight from the pound shops!

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I also just wanted to let you all know that there have been a couple of re-releases and links to older reviews:

Galaxy has re-launched Galaxy Mistletoe Kisses for the Christmas season.

Mr Kipling’s have brought back Fiendish Fancies for Halloween.

Mars Treets (Sainsbury’s)

This is a product re-launch of some choccies that used to be available up until 1988. Mars are reviving an old brand in the hope that it will stir up reminiscence sales, much like for the recent Wispa bars. But this product confuses me for a couple of reasons. Firstly I do not remember the originals, which makes no sense as they include both chocolate and peanut and I usually have a good memory for such confectionary! Secondly my initial thought is - aren’t these just one colour peanut M&Ms, a product that is already available and also manufactured by Mars? The image in this link does give the impression that Treets somewhere along the way became M&Ms? http://jetube.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/mms_treets.jpg
All of that aside time to tuck into the product. I do like the fact that they are in a sharing bag, I suspect in their original form they weren’t in an easy re-sealable pack. I was surprised by just how much I liked these chocolates too. Compared to a peanut M&M, there is definitely more chocolate around the peanut, and it tastes stronger too, I even thought that it was almost a dark chocolate in taste. The shell has a good crisp crunch and sugary flavour and I actually found myself rating these over M&Ms. From a bit of research, I’ve found that they also used to make chocolate and toffee varieties too, I wonder if Mars will be releasing those? As these are such a tasty product, I do hope the other options will follow soon!

Mars Midnight [Limited Edition] (Pound World)

This is a Polish bar which has been imported and found in a UK pound superstore. The bars were fantastic value in the shop too, as they were four for a pound! This bar is similar to a regular Mars except that the chocolate coating is made with rich dark chocolate instead of the milk. The nougat inside the bar is white in colour and creamier in taste and softer in texture than that of a regular Mars. The caramel flavour seems more pronounced too, I’m not sure if the layer is thicker or whether it is simply tastes sweeter, but it is good!
The whole bar is lovely, the dark chocolate and creamier nougat go together really well, offset by the caramel. As it is such a soft bar it kind of melts in the mouth, and is very quick and easy to eat. In fact the second you finish you immediately want another one... did I mention they were just four for a pound? ;-)