Shopping at Target around a holiday always yields an exclusive candy item. This season it’s Dove Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Promises.
I was surprised that Dove hasn’t done these in the past, as it seems like a ideal flavor infusion for their marketing. They’re a Dark Chocolate piece infused with artificial hazelnut flavor. That doesn’t actually sound that good, but I was willing to give it a go.
The pieces are wrapped in dark brown foil and like all of the other Promises, the foil has a little affirming motto printed inside. At least three of mine said, “hug someone today.”
They’re beautiful to look at and smell alluring. It’s easy for artificially flavored candies to overdo the smell, especially with dark chocolate products, but this started with a good balance. It’s a toasty scent of maple syrup, coffee and hazelnut with a sweetness to it. The melt is very good, smooth but with a little bit of a dry finish to it. The hazelnut is just a flavor, a note of roasted nuts and a trace of toffee sweetness. It’s not overpowering or too fake. It would be great to have real crushed hazelnuts in there, like the Almond version, but I can see that the goal here is really about the texture.
They’re quite rich, in fact, they clock in at 156 calories per ounce, so there’s lots of cocoa butter and dairy butter fats in there. I found that two made an excellent treat, but were still a little on the sweet side for me as a dark chocolate product.
Back in July of 2012, I reviewed the Target exclusive Dove Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Promises and was later called by Dove (Mars) representatives to let me know that their Dove line was converting to Rainforest Alliance certified cacao, starting with the Dark Chocolate. To date, I’ve only seen the Dark Chocolate, there have been no subsequent roll outs of the certified sustainable cacao on anything but the plain dark chocolate. The Mars website still says they’re on target for all cacao sourced through traceable channels by 2020 and should hit 35% by the end of 2014.
Dove Dark Chocolate Promises contain soy and dairy and are made in a plant that uses peanuts and tree nuts. (Some Dove chocolates are made in nut free environments, so be sure to check the labels.) There’s no statement about gluten.
Related Candies
- Dove Mint & Dark Chocolate Swirl Promises
- Dove 71% Cacao Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate (Rainforest Alliance)
- Ghirardelli Squares Milk & Hazelnut Crisp
- Dove Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Promises
- KitKat Hazelnut Cream
- Fling: Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut
- Dove Milk Chocolate Pecan Pie Caramel Promises
I agree that they should put real hazelnuts in there to give it texture and a boost of natural flavor. Or they could go for a filled variety of a nutella type filling.
I bought these and thought they were terrible. My own fault that I did not read the packaging closely. Saw the pictures of big, fat hazelnuts on the package and assumed (oops!) that there were actual hazelnuts in the candy. The artificial hazelnut flavoring was overpowering to me. Fortunately my co-workers seemed to enjoy them as they disappeared from the candy jar rather quickly!
I’m actually glad they don’t use real hazelnuts. I love the flavor of hazelnut, but unfortunately am allergic.
I found the hazelnut chocolate promises at my local Target store. They say they cannot order them anymore. I love them. I tried to see if my local Publix supermarket could get them and they say that they cannot order them even though I provided them with the number 40000 48796. It seems it was a limited edition. Very disappointing. Just as disappointing as when Mars company changed the recipie to all chocolate Three Muskateer Bars. I loved the old ones for many years and then they just discontinued them. I can understand trying a new flavor, but to take away a favorite is not a good company policy. I haven’t bought one since the change.
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