Snickers Achieves Just the Right Balance Among its Four Main Flavors

I’m a confessed chocoholic and I will often seek out different foods with chocolate to get my daily fix. The chocolate can take on various forms, from hot chocolate in the morning to chocolate chip granola bars for lunch to chocolate ice cream for dessert. But when I think of chocolate in general, the first food that comes to mind is a candy bar and one candy bar that I have consumed in the hundreds or even thousands over the years is Snickers, one of my all- time favorites.

Basic Facts About This Candy Bar:

Snickers is a medium- size candy bar made with peanuts, caramel, nougat, and milk chocolate. Cut a Snickers bar down the middle to reveal the inside and you will see that the peanuts and caramel are mixed together and are found on the top layer. Nougat is found beneath the caramel and peanut mixture and the outside of a Snickers Bar is coated with milk chocolate.

Snickers offers a tasty combination that is well- balanced among the four main ingredients. The roasted peanuts contribute to the flavor, but the overall taste is not overwhelmed by peanuts. The caramel taste is also obvious, and so is the milk chocolate coating. The nougat isn’t quite as noticeable as the other flavors, but it still has its own unique flavor to offer.

Nutritional Information:

A standard size (2.07 oz. or 58.7 g) Snickers bar contains 280 calories (130 from fat), 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, zero trans fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 35 grams total carbs, 1 gram fiber, 30 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. A standard size bar also contributes 4 percent of the USRDA for calcium and 2 percent of the USRDA for iron.

Ingredients:

Snickers is made using milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, milk fat, skim milk, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, lactose, salt, egg whites, chocolate, and artificial flavor.

Final Thoughts:

Snickers candy bar has been satisfying me for my entire life and it remains as one of my all- time favorite candy bars. Snickers is a product of M&M Mars and it was first introduced in 1930. It ranks as the best selling candy bar of all time, with annual sales exceeded two billion dollars.

The reason for Snickers widespread popularity is, of course, the mixture of ingredients. Peanut flavors are common with chocolate and there are dozens of candy bars that offer this flavor combination. But Snickers takes this a step further by also offering the tastes of caramel and nougat. The combination is balanced just right- Snickers is neither too chocolaty, too peanut- like, too caramel- enhanced, or too nougat- enriched. The flavors are balanced in a way to maximize their compatibility, even though the nougat is certainly the faintest of the four tastes.

One other positive aspect of Snickers is its nutritional levels. It is no substitute for health foods, but when you look at the numbers, they are really not that bad. There are 280 calories in a single bar- not much at all for a delicious snack like this. And each bar contains 4 grams of protein- more than you get with other candy bars. With nutritional statistics like these, Snickers is not an “empty calorie” food, like so many other snacks.

Snickers is a little bit on the chewy side, and small bits of peanuts will get stuck in your teeth as you eat. Fortunately, the people at M&M Mars knew the exact level of caramel to add to this candy bar and no more. Too much caramel would make it too chewy, but Snickers succeeds at keeping the chewiness at a moderate level.

Overall, Snickers ranks among my all- time favorite candy bars and it is one I will continue to enjoy as an afternoon snack to alleviate hunger and as a late night treat when the craving for chocolate has me in its grip. The combination of peanuts, caramel, nougat, and milk chocolate is well- balanced and it makes Snickers an old favorite among candy bars that continues to satisfy year after year.