April 12th: Snickers Cruncher

Kcal 206 Fat 11.4g Carbs 21.8g

Over the past two years I must have tried nearly ten different Snickers Limited Edition bars and they have all apart from one (Snickers More Nuts) hailed from outside the UK. Indeed todays Snickers Cruncher bar was produced by Masterfoods in Holland, though having googled it this variant seems to have graced the US market at some time during the mid-Noughties (See Cybele's review HERE). As I am sure you are aware the Snickers Cruncher is a variation on the original bar and it replaces the usual milk chocolate nougat with crispy rice cereal. Given how integral I believe the nougat is to the original bar I wasn't quite sure how this was going to sit with me, though of course I was more than willing to give it a try.

This bar came in a 40.0g size that you wont be surprised to hear wasn't as satisfying as a normal Snickers yet was still a sufficiently adequate snack. The outer wrapper wasn't quite as cool looking as the American Cruncher though I liked the clear communication of the rice cereal contents and consitent branding. In addition I also thought it still looked relatively appetising when cross-sectioned as the innards had a golden/bronze glint due to the plentiful caramel. As I have come to expect with Snickers bars the aromas that emanated from the foil wrapper were suitably enticing and there was a strong peanut influence amongst the milder chocolate scents.

Biting into the bar for the first time it was immediatedly evident that the milk chocolate coating wasn't quite as thick as on standard Snickers. That said it had just as much say in the taste due to the inner contents being less viscous without the nougat so I shan't complain too much. The milk chocolate was pretty standard Mars stuff - it was milk led in taste and was more sugary that it was cocoa focused - it was fine by anyones standards! Due to me not being the greatest fan of rice cereal I wasn't expecting all that much from the centre, however I was surprised to find that it was pretty damn good. The peanuts took a firm hold of the taste providing a wonderful savoury salt kick and the caramel and cereal elements contrasted nicely providing notes of honey and malt. Additionally all three components of the centre combined nicely to provide some variable textures with the nuts and cereal proving to be fresh and crunchy and the caramel adding a degree of chewiness which subsequently helped the flavour longevity for each bite. The 40.0g was finished a little too quickly for my liking but as I have mentioned above it left me feeling adequately fulfilled.

Overall I wouldn't rate this as being in the same league as the iconic original Snickers but at the same time I think if it were available to me more readily I would probably choose to have it over the standard bar every now and then. I feel I can quite comfortably say that as it is quite often that I choose to consume another snack over a Snickers bar because I don't always want the full on experience that the original offers. Despite it being marginally reduced in size recently the standard Snickers is still a pretty hefty bar which is something that doesn't always match up to my needs. This Snickers Cruncher fits such occasions nicely in that brings the majority of the taste to the party but just not in such a full on manner. Personally I think it is about time that Mars UK took notice of how other countries in their organisation play the game with the Snickers brand. The UK market is calling out for it's own proper Snickers limited edition but I won't be holding my breath. Snickers lovers this Cruncher variant is well worth giving a try despite it not being the best the brand has to offer.

8.1 out of 10