Munz Dark Swiss Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts

The Swiss chocolatier Maestrani makes a number of different chocolate bars, this one features two things I like, dark chocolate (60% cacao content) and whole hazelnuts (20%). The ingredient listing is just okay, cocoa mass, sugar, hazelnuts, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, butterfat (milk), soya lecithin and vanillin.

How does it taste? I'm always pleased when I find a bar combining hazelnuts and dark chocolate, most of the ones made are with milk chocolate. The chocolate is quite tasty, though the hazelnuts don't taste fantastic, and I quibble about the distribution of the whole hazelnuts - some pieces have none or one, some 3 hazelnuts - better care would make this a more enjoyable bar. I would buy this bar again.

Aiello Ciocolady Latte Nocciole

Most of the Italian chocolatier Aiello's offerings are dark chocolate; this is the first I've tried that is milk chocolate. It also has hazelnuts, a favourite of mine. Being milk chocolate, the cacao content is low, 33%. The ingredient listing is okay, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, hazelnuts (20%), soya lecithin as emulsifier and vanilla.

How does it taste? This is my least favourite of Aiello's chocolate bars, despite the whole hazelnuts. It is a good milk chocolate bar, the chocolate is flavourful, but it just does lend itself to repeat eating. It suffers from the whole hazelnuts being on top; when you break the bar, you often don't get an even amount of milk chocolate per hazelnut. I don't think I would buy this bar again.

Manamim Cubes

Many companies make crispy wafers with hazelnut filling, these were made in Israel. They came very cheap. I don't like that they are only hazelnut flavoured (I see why they are cheap), and I found them very sweet and will not ever eat them again.

Maitre Truffout Haselnuss

The Austrian chocolatier Gunz appears to make some of their products in Italy (a good place if you are wanting to make something with hazelnuts). This is a milk chocolate bar, and its ingredient listing is not that good, mostly sugar. The bar cost less than $2.

How does it taste? The hazelnuts were very small, the bar itself melted very easily and was not too sweet. I like the hazelnuts of this, but I don't think I would get this bar again.

President's Choice Chocolate Hazelnut

I like Nutella, have for a long while, so I thought to try this Nutella-like product from President's Choice. The ingredients of Nutella are basically hazelnuts, oil, cocoa and sugar; this one is very similar, using canola and palm oil, skim milk powder and low fat cocoa.

How did it taste? Quite good, similar in flavour to Nutella, but with its own unique flavour. I don't know if it would replace Nutella in my heart of hearts, but it's a good substitute.

Loacker Gran Pasticceria Dark-Hazelnut

Loacker from Italy makes a number of creme biscuits of differing flavours; I’ve tried a few of them in my time, I was intrigued by this one, because it has 60% cacao content, and contains hazelnut pieces. I notice too, down the long list of ingredients, that there is also Bourbon vanilla pods.

How does it taste? I like the chocolate coating, it does taste like dark chocolate. The pieces of hazelnut were fairly small but still noticeable. I found them good but not great, and likely wouldn’t buy them again.

Goldie's Premium Carob Bar - Hazelnut Praline

The second of three carob bars I tried (carob is made from the fruit of the locust tree) had hazelnut praline as its flavour. Goldie’s has been making carob bars for 25 years. Their bars contain no preservatives, refined sugars or hydrogenated oils. The ingredient listing looks like a milk chocolate bar, barley malt, fractionated palm kernel oil, carob powder, hazelnuts and soy lecithin.

How does it taste? Still good, I like carob in taste and smell, but the flavour of hazelnut was totally lost in this carob (it almost seems to me that I got a carob bar instead of one with hazelnuts). I liked their Banana better. I would buy this bar again.

Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss - Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

I had heard about this new more-healthy ice cream before, but it was, apparently, mostly sold in the States. This past weekend we came across a Tasting at Organic Garage in Oakville, and decided to check it out. The idea of Coconut Bliss, is that, instead of cow’s milk cream, it uses coconut milk. Coconut milk is used to make ice cream in Thailand, so this is not a new concept, save for North America. Each of Coconut Bliss’s ice creams also contain other healthy ingredients; they use agave syrup as a sweetener, which is low glycemic; all of their ingredients are Organic. The one I selected was their Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge.

How does it taste?. Quite good, and not overwhelmingly like coconut (save for their Naked Coconut one). The fudge is a small strip of agave sweetened cocoa and not too sweet at all. The hazelnuts are quite large chunks, though soft, and not crunchy. This is a small container, similar to how Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s market their ice creams, so no large bowls. Overall, I would say I enjoyed this ice cream, and more so than Dark Chocolate one I sampled.

Perugina Baci Bar

I've not cared for the Baci chocolates from Perugina, these are similar, just flattened out. The ingredient listing actually looks worse than the individual chocolates; sugar, unsweetened chocolate, hazelnuts, vegetable fats (palmist, palm, babacu, saffron, cotton), cocoa butter, modified milk ingredients, soya lecithin and artificial flavour. There is also no love note; I guess this is for those who love Baci.

How does it taste? Sweet, but not too bad. The hazelnuts and filling are there in flavour, but should be paired with a better chocolate. The bar cost $2. I liked this better than the individual chocolates, though not enough to eat again.

Lindt Special Edition Egg - China

I found this for sale in Germany at Easter, there were also ones for India and Mexico (that I could find). I like the Chinese Dragon!

Within were several chocolate eggs, two milk chocolate Lindor, one Cresta (with rice crisps), one Truffel a la Vanilla, one Truffel Marc de Champagne (with alcohol) and one Nougat with hazelnuts (my favourite).

Kwatta

I was recently working a couple of weeks in the Netherlands, it was very close to the Belgian border, and for my second week, I stayed in a Belgian hotel. Most of the hotels there have breakfast buffets, and I noticed this small package next to the jams and butter. Ah, something like Nutella. A happy face on its cover, it must be yummy.

Kwatta at one time, they've been around since 1883, was a Belgian-Dutch company; in 1972 it became a sole Belgian company; in 2010 it was sold to the American company Heinz. The name Kwatta comes from Suriname, the country where they first obtained their cacao, and means "one fourth" in the native language, which refers to that one-fourth of the chocolate spread is made out of real cacao.

How did it taste? Well, I enjoyed it every morning for breakfast, and on two slices of bread, and even "stole" some from the buffet to take home to Canada. There is definitely a sweetness to it, though the chocolate part of it looks darker than Nutella. I was disappointed that the hazelnut part of it was lacking somewhat, I find Nutella more hazelnut-y. I didn't have a chance to get to a store in Belgium, to see if I could purchase a jar of it, but I definitely would, and think it makes a nice change to Nutella.

Governor's Choice Dark Chocolate with Raisins, Hazelnuts and Almonds

We got this chocolate bar at Zeller's, it is Swiss chocolate imported for Hudson's Bay Company (of which Zeller's is a part). It features hazelnuts, my favourite, and almonds, my beautiful Bride's favourite, and is at 44% cacao content. The ingredient listing is not bad, sugar, chocolate liquor, dry raisins, hazelnuts, cocoa butter, almonds, butter oil (I guess to replace cocoa butter?!), soy lecithin and artificial flavours.

How did it taste? Not bad, though I found out after eating the whole bar, I was waiting at an airport, that it was expired. The nuts at least were still crunchy, though I was more aware of the almonds than the hazelnuts. It was under two dollars, and I doubt that I would buy it again.

President's Choice Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts

This very big chocolate bar from President's Choice I got as a Christmas gift. The chocolate is milk chocolate, unfortunately (you have to go with the Almond one for Dark chocolate), but it does contain whole hazelnuts. The ingredient listing is as good as any milk chocolate bar (okay, perhaps better), sugar, milk powder, hazelnuts, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, canola lecithin and natural vanilla flavour.

How does it taste? Sweet, like most milk chocolate bars, but the hazelnuts are tasty, and crunchy. I'd definitely like to see a Dark chocolate version.

Hans Freitag Mignon Waffeln

I've tried other versions of this hazelnut creme-filled wafers drenched with chocolate, this is a tasty version from Hans Freitag in Germany. The hazelnut taste of the hazelnut creme is fairly strong (the hazelnut content is 6%), and the chocolate was not bad, though is a milk chocolate (at 30% cacao content). I think I would buy these again.

Lindt Petit Desserts Chocolate Mousse Hazelnut

The second of Lindt's new mousse-filled chocolates, there is also the milk one, I only tried, because it has hazelnuts for it (not having liked the Dark one). The ingredient listing isn't very good (other than the hazelnuts) and the chocolate is a milk chocolate.

How does it taste? Well, okay, about as good as the Dark one, and the hazelnut pieces are very small. Another reason I was tempted to try it, was that it was on sale, and even then it seemed expensive, $2.50.

Lindt Caffarel

These were the latest batch of interesting, and made with hazelnuts, individual chocolates from Lindt.

This Caffarel is an authentic Gianduja in the style of Torino. It appears to be a milk chocolate hazelnut. Quite tasty.

This Caffarel is called Antica Ricetta; it is a Gianduia, and appears to be dark chocolate. Also quite tasty.

This Caffarel is a Nocciolotto, which is a chocolate Gianduia, milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts. Also tasty.

President's Choice Whole Wheat Hazelnut Cantuccini Mini Biscotti

I like the idea of this twice-baked cookie (which is what biscotti means) having whole wheat, a healthier version of this treat. It also has honey in it, another good ingredient, as well as butter. The hazelnuts were whole before the individual pieces were sliced. These taste pretty good, not too sweet, and with good hazelnut flavour. I would say, that I would eat these again, and it gives me an idea to make my own version.

Green & Black's Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

I like a fair few of Green & Black's chocolate bars, and also like Nutella (as you might have guessed), so recently given the opportunity, this being on sale (it's much more expensive than Nutella, but worth it), I decided to try it finally. Comparing the ingredients, Green & Black's uses sunflower instead of palm oil, and palm fat and soy powder instead of whey powder; otherwise they are the same (the actual percentages could be different, certainly, and only Green & Black's states that the hazelnut content is 10%).

How did it taste? Which do I prefer? Well, no clear winner, though I do like the Green & Black's very much, the hazelnuts taste as if they might have been toasted, and the hazelnut taste is definitely there, strong and good. Given that the Green & Black's is much more expensive, I don't think I will be buying it as often as Nutella, but now that I know how it tastes, I definitely will be purchasing it when it's on sale.

Verkade Hazelnoot

My boss had occasion to be in the Netherlands for a little while, and he kindly bought me a couple of large Dutch chocolate bars, one Dark and one Milk with Hazelnut. Verkade has been making chocolate since 1886; these bars were around everywhere he looked, so I would guess they are popular. This is a milk chocolate, as such the ingredient listing is not great, sugar, 25% hazelnuts, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, soya lecithin and natural vanilla flavour. This is a Fair Trade product.

How does it taste? Fairly good; the hazelnuts are quite big and tasty and fresh. I find it sweet, but kind of a honey sweet. I'm intrigued as to whether there is a Dark Hazelnut or other nut version. If I were in the Netherlands, I think I would try this bar again.

President's Choice Raisins & Hazelnuts European Milk Chocolate

Now, I like fruit and nut chocolate bars, so I thought this one would at least have that going for it. It also has hazelnuts going for it! Like most hazelnut chocolate bars, this one is milk chocolate (Again, dark chocolate, people!). The ingredient listing looks good, all save the soy lecithin is organic (from their Organics line); raw cane sugar, whole milk powder, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, raisins, hazelnuts, soy lecithin and vanilla extract. There is no indication of cacao content, though it's likely to be about 30 percent.

How does it taste? Good for a raisin nut bar, and the pieces of hazelnuts were substantial enough, ie. not tiny. The hazelnuts paired well with the raisins, though, once again, it had me longing for a Dark version.