July 1st: M&M's Strawberried Peanut Butter

Kcal 230 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 22.0g

Last weekend I went and saw the new Transformers 2 film - thinking about it now I wish I had these M&M's to keep me occupied during the overly long middle sections of the film where Megan Fox wasn't present. These days it is not often that a blockbuster passes through without there being some sort of confectionery item that bears the licence. Off the back of last years Indiana Jones M&M's and Reese's Black Knight Bats I today got to grips with these M&M's Strawberried Peanut Butter thanks to CandyPirate. CandyPirate seem to be the only guys in the UK that have these in stock at present so I suggest if these take your fancy you very much get involved and visit the CandyPirate website and pick up a few of the 39.7g snack bags they have on offer (Click HERE).

Just as the name suggested these were your typical M&M's Peanut Butter with just an added strawberry flavouring embedded in the milk chocolate. Having observed the packaging I was immediately taken in by it and I liked the way that the usual M&M's designwork had been altered to bear the Transformers theme. The M&M's themselves came in red, brown and red speckled yellow colours ... where was the Optimus Prime dark blue eh!? (...excuse me whilst I fight my inner geek!). In previous M&M reviews I have often commented on how they usually lack forthcoming smells - I found quite the contrary here and was welcomed by some pleasant red berry and chocolate scents.

Implementing fruit flavours in M&M's has never been one of Mars' strengths - for evidence see their attempts M&M's Razzberry & M&M's Wild Cherry. Those reviews didn't really inspire confidence but I was glad to find that Mars had done a distinctly better job here. The outer shells were of their usual accord and provided a nice crisp layer to the softer inner chocolate and peanut butter. I was again amazed at how M&M's can deliver such a strong chocolate flavour burst with such a thin chocolate layer. The chocolate hit was delivered well in each bite with the mild cocoa flavours predominantly sudued by the stronger sugar and milk ingredients. The strawberry flavouring did take a while to register on my tastebuds but I much preferred this to a strong, artifical type flavour burst like in the previously mentioned Razzberry & Cherry M&M flavours. The strawberry influence was sweet yet gave a distinct fruity, red berry like tinge to the chocolate andI though it complemented the peanut butter well. The peanut butter centres lacked the forceful nut flavours of Reese's Peanut Butter yet still have a delicious buttery, saltiness that meant these were incredibly moreish. It didn't take me long to get through the small bag but I felt pretty satisfied having eaten it.

Overall unlike many that have gone before these were actually a pretty successful move tie and I would expect them to become a main part of the M&M's portfolio in the future. Peanut Butter and Jelly (jam to us Brits!) is a pretty common sandwich filling in the US so it surprises me very little that this combination worked well. The strawberry element was decently executed despite the simplicity of the 'flavouring' approach to its implementation and I thought that it complimented the savory flavours of the peanut butter well. I always like to rate things dependent on whether I would have them again - although I would always pick Reese's Pieces ahead of M&M's Peanut Butter I would most definitely settle for these as a second best. If you like the chocolate and peanut butter combinations this is a product you will almost certainly want to get hold of.

8.2 out of 10

Want to try the M&M's Strawberried for yourself? Head to CandyPirate for all your American Candy and Chocolates Needs - Right here in the UK!