Barratt Fruity Coconut Mushrooms (Poundland)

You can't beat coconut mushrooms. They're one of those classic Pick & Mix sweets that many of us know and love, and now Barratt have only gone and made a Fruity variety. Happy days! I was expecting these to taste of just regular coconut mushrooms when I saw them in Poundland recently, but to my surprise they actually turned out to have different individual fruit flavours.

How pretty do they look? A lot nicer than regular coconut mushrooms that's for sure!

There's classic fruit flavours like strawberry, lime, lemon, orange and er...blackcurrant? They contain no artificial colours or flavours, which is always a plus, but unfortunately aren't suitable for vegetarians as they contain gelatin.

They're super tasty and moreish, with the coconut giving them that unmistakable tropical edge and the fruit flavours enhancing them even more. These were a lot nicer and more interesting than regular coconut mushrooms, and it's very easy to scoff most of the bag!

Overall, I reckon Baratt are geniuses for making these, they're a simple twist on a classic but they work so, so well! If you happen to be in Poundland and spot these pop some in your basket - you won't regret it! They'd be particularly good for snacking on at the cinema.

9 out of 10.

Poundland Twin Peaks Milk Chocolate Bar (like Toblerone!)

A while back, Poundland announced they would be launching their own honey and nougat chocolate bar similar to Toblerone called Twin Peaks, "inspired by the Wrekin and Ercall hills". Yeah right Poundland! It's obviously "inspired" by Toblerone and apparently Poundland ended up in trouble with Mondelez over the bar, hence why it's taken so long to appear on shelves. But they've settled their differences and the bar is now in Poundland for a limited period - featuring a turquoise wrapper to make sure no one confuses it with Toblerone, looking similar to Poundland's store logo.

The bar weighs 180g - 20% more than a small Toblerone which is 150g, and more than Toblerone used to weigh before they bizarrely changed the block design last year. It's described as "Milk chocolate with almond and honey nougat (10%)" and is suitable for vegetarians.

The main difference of course is the shape - "inspired by the Wrekin and Ercall hills" - it has a little dip in the centre of each piece. Thankfully there is no huge gap in between the chunks like in Toblerone bars.

But how does it taste? Does it recreate the classic honey and almond nougat bars flavour?

Sadly it doesn't. Its not a bad bar of chocolate at all, and is very satisfying to bite into, with some nice honey nougat crunchiness to chew on. But the chocolate doesn't have that distinctive rich "Swiss" flavour Toblerone does, it is clearly a cheaper version. However as far as knockoff chocolate bars go it's really not too bad and is good enough to justify buying instead of Toblerone, considering you're getting more for your £1 and the blocks aren't annoyingly spaced!

Overall, this bar is pretty decent and great value if you're on a  budget and want more chocolate for your money. I can imagine it selling well, that's if it sticks around - word has it these are only available in limited batches for a short time. Stock up while you can!

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, almonds 2.8%, glucose syrup, honey 1.4%, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin, egg albumen, potato starch, natural vanilla flavouring, maize starch. Chocolate contains 30% cocoa solids minimum.

Nutrition per 100g: 537 Calories, 29.3g Fat, 61.8g Carbohydrates, 60.7g Sugars, 5.6g Protein.

7.5 out of 10. 

Daim Limited Edition Orange (Poundland)

It was only a year ago now that I reviewed the Limited Edition Orange Daim Minis, and those were only in Poundstretcher for a limited time. Now Daim Orange is available again as a limited edition in regular sized bars in three packs, from Poundland. Hurrah! I don't know if these are an official UK launch or imports, but they do list the UK Cadbury website on the pack so I'm guessing they must be official.

Described as "Orange flavoured milk chocolate with a crunchy almond caramel centre", there's 3 x 28g bars per pack.

They had the same chocolate orange aroma as the Daim Minis did, and I couldn't wait to get stuck in!

They tasted glorious! Lovely creamy orangey milk chocolate, with the crunchy almond caramel centre making them super duper moreish. As much as I enjoyed the Daim Minis last year, I think this bar form is much better - it's more satisfying and feels like just the right amount in one go. Not that it didn't stop me from reaching for another bar...of course I did!

Overall, these are some excellent chocolate bars and definitely ones for the chocolate orange fans out there. Do keep an eye out for them in Poundland, they're perfect for the festive season!

Ingredients: sugar, palm oil, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, blanched almonds 3%, whey powder, skimmed milk powder, milk fat, whey permeate powder, sweetened condensed skimmed milk, salt, emulsifier soya lecithin, orange oil, flavourings.

Nutrition (per bar): 148 calories, 8.6g fat, 17g carbohydrates, 16g sugars, 0.8g protein.

9 out of 10.