I have eaten more candy bars in the past month than I've probably eaten in the last five years. I like candy, and certainly eat sweets every day, but I haven't eaten candy bars, specifically, at this clip since I was a child.And, since I'm not a child anymore, this means I had to up my fitness game so as not to become a tub-o-lub. In case you think what follows was at all pleasurable (it was), I would just like you all to know that I did suffer in the name of research. I took up half-ass jogging. That's what a person who has never run as a form of exercise does. It means I run until my heart feels like it's going to explode and my shins are going to crack in two, then I walk until I feel really lame, then run some more. It's been fun this past month (not), but I don't know how you masochistic runners do it.
Below are the never-before-eaten-by-me candy bars that I ordered after reading Candyfreak and being inspired to search out regional candy bars. There are many sites out there to order from, including straight from the source, but some sites make you order by the box, and I certainly wasn't looking for 24-count boxes of each bar.
All of these bars were ordered from Hometown Favorites where you can order bars singly. There is a $20 minimum, though. Their site is a little clunky, and lost my order a couple of times in the middle of filling my shopping basket, but shipping was ultra fast. Of course, not all regional candy bars are on their site (no Goo Goo Cluster!), but they have a heck of a lot.
My assessments of the bars are brief, and meant to show you what you're missing (or not) if you stick to the big guys like Hershey and Nestle. This is not a candy blog, just me binging on a whim. If you want more in depth analysis of candy, hit up Candy Blog, an excellent blog that takes the candy reviews quite seriously.
Hopefully, this will convince you to pick up that unknown candy bar when you're on vacation, or even order a whole bag like I did. It's fun, and certainly sweet. Well, not the jogging.
Many of the smaller candy companies that make these bars have been acquired by other small candy companies, so ownership and places of manufacture often have changed. If you're interested in the full history, be sure to click on the links (and click some more) to take you further down the rabbit hole; this post is too long already.
Haviland Wintergreen Patty - (Massachusetts) Like a Peppermint Patty, but pink inside and with wintergreen flavor. Breath actually fresh afterward.
Mountain - (Washington State) Chocolate flavor not so good, and peanut bits so small they might as well have skipped it. Essentially a mound of chocolate flavor over a vanilla cream center. Meh. Also comes in cherry and peanut butter.
Idaho Spud - (Idaho) "The Candy Bar that makes Idaho famous." Cocoa flavored marshmallow center covered in chocolate and coconut flakes. The moist marshmallow center's texture is like a cross between marshmallow and bread pudding. Strange, but strangely compelling, as I'm a marshmallow and bread pudding lover.
Vanilla Bun - (Minneapolis) Milk chocolate and peanuts covering a vanilla cream center. First thought out of the package was, "It looks like a Goo Goo Cluster." Very good, but caramel center would be better, and guess what?
Caramel Bun - (Minneapolis) They make a caramel Bun! And I do like it better with it's caramel center covered in peanuts and milk chocolate. Also comes in maple flavor.
Nut Goodie - (Minneapolis) Pearson's, the maker of the Bun Bars, also make the very similar Nut Goodie with a maple cream center covered in peanuts and milk chocolate. Pearson's has been making Nut Goodies since 1912, but only acquired the Bun Bars, which were originally made in Indiana, in 1998. You just can't go wrong with chocolate and peanuts covering sweet goo. 
Old Faithful - (Idaho) Creme center and peanuts enrobed in thick chocolate. I could use a few more peanuts, but I ate the whole thing when I said I was only going to eat half. Good!
Abba-Zabba - (California) Chewy taffy with a peanut butter center. Not sure if the white taffy has any flavor other than sweet, but the thin smear of peanut butter gives an overall impression of peanut butter. You could definitely loose a filling eating this.
Sour Apple Abba Zabba - (California) For those of you who like artificially fruit flavored taffy (raises hand), there's also a sour apple Abba Zabba with a peanut butter center. Peanut butter can go with just about anything, and it does go here, but, still, I was asking why there was peanut butter in my sour apple. I like the sour apple better than the original Abba-Zabba.
Big Hunk - (California) Annabelle, the maker of Abba Zabba, also makes Big Hunk. Big Hunk is a slab of chewy nougat studded with whole peanuts for a more peanuty flavor than Abba Zabba. Still ultra chewy, I find the Big Hunk easier to eat and slightly more mature (whole peanuts are more mature?). Big Hunk trumps the original Abba Zabba in my book.
Blue Monday (Kentucky) -Dark chocolate covering a "pulled candy". The center could be almost cookie-like if it were a little crunchier. At first I was not fond of this bar, thinking it sweet and slightly odd with no real draw or interest, but then I sampled some other bars that were definitely odd, and rethought my original view. Still...meh.
Smoothie - (Pennsylvania) Chocolate getting in the way in your Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? Grab a Smoothie. Same crumbly peanut center, but covered in butterscotch coating. I originally thought the coating was peanut, so...overall it's peanuty sweet.
Cherry Mash - (Missouri) Cherry fondant center covered in chocolate with small pieces of peanuts. You've got to really like cherry flavored candy to eat one of these. I'll eat a small cherry creme chocolate from a mixed box of chocolates no problem, but I could not eat an entire Cherry Mash.
Valomilk - (Kansas) "The Original 'flowing center' candy cups."I was so excited to try one of these milk chocolate cups with flowing marshmallow, but, alas, they do not travel well. Any crack in the chocolate shell, and the inside will leak out. The center marshmallow is incredibly sticky and messy, hence the unavoidably ripped package. Gonna give it another go next time I'm in Kansas to, hopefully, avoid the travel issues.
Charge Bar - (California) A dark espresso caramel sits at the bottom of this milk chocolate cup with rice puffs. The top of the cup is thick and substantial, making this cup more about the chocolate than the caramel center. Slight coffee flavor.
Rocky Road - (California) Milk chocolate coated marshmallow with cashews. I absolutely love chocolate covered marshmallows, and always buy myself a holiday themed chocolate covered marshmallow at every holiday. Rocky Road is the closest thing to those fluffy marshmallows coated in chocolate, except it has the tiniest bits on cashews (virtually indiscernible) in the crumbly chocolate top. Nothing mind blowing, but if you like chocolate covered marshmallows like I do, you'll like Rocky Road.
Cup-O-Gold - (California) Milk chocolate studded with tiny bits of almonds and coconut surrounding a "creamy smooth center" that is not as creamy as the picture leads on. There is definitely an Almond Joy-like flavor going on with the almonds and coconut.
Sky Bar - (Massachusetts) : Four distinct flavors (caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge) in one milk chocolate bar. I love the concept of Sky Bar, but the fillings are not the best. The fudge is grainy, the peanut has the consistency of caramel and barely tastes like peanut, the vanilla tastes exactly like the white in chocolate covered cherry cordials (not a fan), and the caramel, well, it's the best of the bunch. The chocolate is very sweet. (Gosh, I should have used a knife to dissect the bar instead of crushing it with my hands.)What were my favorites?
Caramel Bun - Reminded me the most of Goo Goo Clusters. Best all around.
Sour Apple Abba Zabba - I used to love chewy fruit candy like Airheads and Mambas.
Rocky Road -I'm a sucker for chocolate covered fluffy marshmallow.
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