Candy Hunting: 2014 Holiday Candy, Part 1

Seasonal Edition Extra Candy Cane Peppermint

Place found: Walgreens

Peeps Candy Cane

Place found: Walgreens

Brach's Candy Cane Candy Corn

Place found: Walgreens

Brach's Peppermint Creme Candy Canes

Place found: Schnuck's

Cherry Apple Twist and Candy Cane Tic Tacs

Place found: Schnucks

Hershey's Cookies 'n' Mint Nuggets 

Place found: Walmart

Russell Stover Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Santas

Place found: Walgreens

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate & Coconut Macaroon Santas

Place found: Walgreens

Twizzlers Cherry, Green Apple, and Lemonade Pull 'n' Peel

Place found: Schnucks

Queen Anne Black Cherry Cola Cordial Cherries

Place found: Walgreens

Whiskey Flavored Chocolate Flight

Place found: Target

Chocolate Covered Nuts and Berries

Varieties: Hot Toddy Chocolate Covered Peanuts, Egg Nog White Chocolate Covered Almonds, Mulled Cider Chocolate Covered Cranberries, and Buttered Rum Chocolate Covered Raisins

Place found: Target

Caramel and Fudge Bites

Varieties: Chili Pecan Caramel Bites, Scotch Whiskey Caramel Bites, Maple Bacon Caramel Bites, and Jamaican Rum Fudge Bites

Place found: Target

Holiday Mr. Sketch Markers

Ok... These are not candy, but they are awesome. 

Scents: Candy Cane, Santa's Cookie, Christmas Tree, Sugar Plum, Gingerbread, and Chimney

Place found: Schnucks

Links to more Holiday Candy Hunting: 

Peeps (Part 2)

One Pound Candy Bars (Part 3)

Holiday Assortments (Part 4)

Part 5

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate & Cranberry Cream Pumpkin

Place purchased: Walgreen's 

Price: $0.50

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 4.8

The pumpkin consists of a dark chocolate shell with a vibrant light pink, cranberry filling. There are a few pieces of cranberry skin mixed into the filling, though they can be hard to detect. 

E: Very PINK filling. 
E2: The middle is SO PINK. 

Flavor and Taste - 5.8

The filling is very sweet with some tartness. Despite Russell Stover's use of cranberries and cranberry juice concentrate, the filling tastes more like sour raspberry than cranberry. The flavor of the dark chocolate comes through towards the end after the cranberry filling dissipates.  

E: Dark chocolate is pretty good, but I'm distracted by the 'cranberry' filling, which is way too sweet. 
E2: I like the combo of the sweetness of the chocolate and tartness of the cranberry. Tastes like a sour fruit, but not necessarily cranberry. 

Texture - 5.0

The bite of the chocolate provides a nice textural contrast to the soft and airy filling. The chocolate shatters when biting/cutting into the pumpkin, which causes the sticky, gooey filing to escape. I bought two cranberry cream pumpkins. The chocolate shell of the unphotographed pumpkin cracked and the filling oozed out all over the inside of the wrapper.  

E: SO GOOEY! 
E2: Spongy, foamy center with chocolate layer that is the right amount of hardness/firmness. 

Aftertaste - 6.5

The aftertaste is mainly dark chocolate, with a bit of lingering sweetness from the filling. 

E: I get a little more cranberry flavor after the sugar rush subsides. 
E2: Chocolate - yum! 

Overall - 5.5

The lack of cohesion when the chocolate shell was broken was my main issue with the Cranberry Cream pumpkin. Also, while the cranberry filling was tart and included actual cranberry, it tasted more like generic sour berry. The dark chocolate tasted great, though. 

E: The chocolate is good and the idea is strong, but the cranberry filling is too sweet and gooey. 
E2: Just too sweet! 

Russell Stover Pecan Pie Pumpkin

Place purchased: Walgreen's 

Price: $0.50

Number of reviewers: 2

Appearance - 7.5

Like all of the Russell Stover pumpkins, the Pecan Pie pumpkin is shaped somewhat like a pumpkin. The Pecan Pie pumpkin has a golden caramel colored filling surrounded by milk chocolate. 

E: Pretty cute. 

Flavor and Taste - 6.0

The filling is sweet and slightly salty. The flavor is a combination of nutty, maple, and caramel. The combination of the nutty and maple flavors seems perfect for the fall. I could not taste the chocolate coating at all. 

E: Weirdly savory while still super sweet... Maybe a nutty molasses flavor? Chocolate flavor is nonexistent. 

Texture - 4.5

The filling is thick and grainy. The texture is very reminiscent of maple candy. 

E: Very grainy filling. 

Aftertaste - 5.5

The saltiness of the filling comes through in the aftertaste. There is also a strange metallic/bitter flavor, which seems to come from the chocolate. 

E: Salty. 

Overall - 5.5

I enjoyed the Russell Stover Pecan Pie pumpkin much more than the Apple Pie pumpkin. While the texture and aftertaste of the pumpkin missed the mark, the combination of the maple and nut flavors were pleasant and autumnal. Maple flavored food will always remind me more of fall than any caramel apple or pumpkin spice product, and I hope companies will start to make more well-executed maple products in the future. 

E: It's sweet and distinctive, but so grainy. 

Russell Stover Apple Pie Pumpkin

Place purchased: Walgreen's 

Price: $0.50

Number of reviewers: 2

Appearance - 7.5

The Russell Stover Apple Pie flavored pumpkin has a cute, though vague, pumpkin shape. The thick, golden brown apple pie flavored filling is coated in a layer of milk chocolate. 

E: Seasonal! 

Flavor and Taste - 3.5

The Russell Stover Apple Pie pumpkin smells strongly of apple and cinnamon. However, the cinnamon completely overtakes any other flavor in the pumpkin. I could not taste the apple or chocolate, just cinnamon and some sweetness. Also, the cinnamon intensifies during and after chewing. 

E: "CINNAMON!!!" It screams at you as you bite down. It continues until you swallow and beyond...

Texture - 4.5

The filling is very grainy. Unlike the Russell Stover cake eggs which were slightly grainy due to the inclusion of cake mix, there is no reason why the  Russell Stover Apple Pie pumpkin should be grainy. Russell Stover R&D scientists could have easily created a filling containing the apple spice mix and apple flavor without it being repulsively grainy.  

E: Grainy.

Aftertaste - 2.0

The aftertaste is just cinnamon. So much cinnamon that it made me cough and caused a burning sensation in the back of my throat. 

E: Straight up cinnamon. Like you ate a warm cinnamon Yankee Candle. 

Overall - 3.0

This was probably the closest I will get to taking the cinnamon challenge. There was too much cinnamon for the Russell Stover Apple Pie pumpkin to be enjoyable. 

E: Cinnamon flavor is hilariously heavy-handed. 

Candy Hunting - New Russell Stover Pumpkins

Russell Stover Apple Pie (Review) 

Place found: Walgreen's
Price: $0.50

Russell Stover Pecan Pie (Review)

Place found: Walgreen's
Price: $0.50

Russell Stover Pumpkin Pie (Returning from 2013)

Place found: Walgreen's
Price: $0.50

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate & Cranberry Cream (Review)

Place found: Walgreen's
Price: $0.50

Russell Stover Pie Big Bites

While I have yet to find these in stores, the Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Pecan Pie Russell Stover Big Bites look intriguing. I would expect the addition of graham cracker 'crust' to elevate the Big Bites over the Russell Stover Pumpkins. 

Place found: Russell Stover's website
Price: $1.00

Candy Hunting - Russell Stover Cake Assortment

Russell Stover Cake Assortment

One Red Velvet, Wedding Cake, Chocolate Cake, and Carrot Cake truffle in each box.

Place found: Publix 

Price: $1.00

Also new are Cookie Dough, Red Velvet, Wedding Cake, and Chocolate Cake Big Bites. 

Russell Stover Brownie Egg

Place purchased: Walgreens

Price: $0.59 

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 6.5

The Russell Stover Brownie Egg has a milk chocolate shell with a dense chocolate brownie filling. 

Flavor and Taste - 7.3

The filling is very rich and fudgy. The milk chocolate shell is sweet and chocolaty. The filling and chocolate shell together taste like milk chocolate coated brownie batter.  

C: Very eggy. Tastes like uncooked brownie batter. 

J: Great chocolate flavor and inside tastes like real brownie batter.

S: Tastes just like brownie batter. 

Texture - 6.5

The brownie filling is thick and very rich. There are tiny sugar granules within the filling, which makes it slightly crunchy, like actual brownie batter. The harder texture of the milk chocolate coating provides a good contrast to the filling. 

C: Almost slimy, gooey. 

S: Grainy like brownie batter.

Aftertaste - 7.3

The aftertaste is mainly the flavor of milk chocolate. 

C: Chocolate cake batter.

J: Brownie batter. 

S: Chocolate, eggy. 

Overall - 7.1

Overall, I enjoyed the Russell Stover Brownie Egg. Though, I think the name should be changed to 'Brownie Batter', as the filling has the exact flavor and texture of brownie batter, not baked brownies. 

J: I love things that taste like uncooked batter, so I'm sold on this one.