Monday, January 7, 2008

Smooth n Melty

Smooth n MeltyThere are a few candies that I like against my better instincts. Smooth n Melty Mints are just such a candy.

I was at the grocery store and saw these “petite mint chips” on post-holiday sale. At only $1.24 for a 12 ounce bag, I could hardly resist. Sometimes I find myself spending six or eight dollars a pound for these little beauties in pastels at a candy shop when I get one of those strange cravings. They come in two different sizes, the regular which are the size of a squat Hershey’s Kiss and these that I picked up are the petite size that are like little chocolate chips.

Smooth n Melty

What are Smooth n Melty? Sugar, partially hydrogenated oils and mint ... and a few nonpariels thrown in for a little crunchy texture.

While that doesn’t sound good, they’re simply buttery melting mints. They’ve very sweet but not too minty. There’s a milky component to them, but it’s not an overwhelming dairy flavor. They’re completely unsatisfying in the sense that I have to eat them one after another until the whole bag is gone. (Well, there are a few left in the bag right now.)

The only thing I didn’t like about this “baking chip” variety over the pastels is that I had that little bitter taste from the red nonpariels (red dye #40 again).

Smooth n MeltyBack in ‘06 when Hershey’s introduced their Candy Cane Kisses I was so excited. They were Smooth n Melty, only made with cocoa butter instead of partially hydrogenated tropical fats. Sadly Hershey reformulated those seasonal Kisses so they are no longer made with just cocoa butter so I didn’t buy them this year.

Now if the partially hydrogenated thing puts you off, I did talk to Gary Guittard about Smooth n Melty. He said that they are working on reformulating them to include no trans fats. (But Guittard has no plans to make a real cocoa butter version, drat!) You can also get the mint disks without the nonpariels on them (usually for melting & candymaking) but I prefer the little crunch.

Related Candies

  1. Jo’s Peppermint Crunch
  2. Craves Chocolate Sticks
  3. Junior Mints Pastels
  4. Head to Head: Cookie Joys vs Cookies n Mint
Name: Smooth n Melty Petite Mint Chips
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Guittard
Place Purchased: Von's (Hollywood)
Price: $1.24 (on sale)
Size: 12 ounces
Calories per ounce: 151
Categories: Mint, United States, Guittard, Kosher, Christmas

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:05 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. These really are delish and yes, the nonpareils are a must. The small ones are great in cookies and the regular size are very pretty in a clear covered candy dish, though they don’t last long at my house! They’re often available in the bulk department at local (PDX & Seattle) groceries.

    Comment by Liz on 1/07/08 at 9:45 am #
  2. I love these, which is odd since mint isn’t my favorite. I loved the original Candy Cane Kisses for the same reason and I’m excited to hear about Guittard’s reformulation!

    Comment by Sera on 1/07/08 at 10:17 am #
  3. There are many candies that I like against my better judgment, heh.  I’ve never seen these before though.  They’re very cute!

    Comment by Alicia on 1/07/08 at 1:09 pm #
  4. I ate these until I was sick once, and never again.  It might’ve not even been caused by them, but they sure did a great job of finishing it.

    Comment by Dave on 1/07/08 at 1:33 pm #
  5. I too just bought some of these on sale - I think I’m going to put them in some cookies.

    Comment by Kate on 1/07/08 at 5:18 pm #
  6. I love the bigs ones (slightly larger than a quarter). They remind me of being a kid and going to the drive-in with my family. We’d start the evening by popping a bunch of popcorn in a kettle, then putting that popcorn in a couple of grocery bags. Then we’d stop at the grocery store and pick up some candies at the bulk foods section. The pastel, large mints were one of my dad’s favorites.

    Comment by Abi on 1/09/08 at 7:01 am #
  7. Would it be possible to start a petition and try to get hydrogenated oils out of chocolate/candy?

    I ate a few bags of the candy cane kisses this season, even with the hydrogenated crap because I couldn’t find the Ghiaradelli peppermint bark (which probably had crap in it too… but were SO good)

    I’ll pay more for good chocolate but I have kitschy tastes and the fun stuff is always made so cheaply.

    Comment by Storme on 1/10/08 at 8:28 pm #
  8. Wow! I just bought some tonight lol

    They are very good

    Comment by Jonathan Keim on 1/11/08 at 4:24 pm #
  9. yum yum

    Comment by Alyssa on 1/14/08 at 1:09 pm #
  10. Does anyone out there remember a brand of Butter Mints that were distributed by Fred’s Dollar Stores. I think the name of them was Vernon’s. I googled Vernon’s Butter Mints and came up with nothing.

    Jana

    Comment by Jana on 2/20/08 at 3:41 am #
  11. These are one of my absolute favorites!

    Comment by Elsa on 2/21/08 at 5:45 am #
  12. These are wicked good and HIGHLY underrated.  I can never find them anywhere though :(

    Comment by Amy on 4/14/08 at 1:19 pm #
  13. I am looking for Pink and Green (color of lime)
    ..not mixed ...colors in seperate pkgs.  for a baby shower…I have looked everywhere.  Canada has pink ones…all the other candies are wrapped..
    Many thanks…
    God bless,
    Danielle

    Comment by Danielle on 12/07/08 at 11:58 am #
  14. Throw some of these in your next batch of brownies and I guarantee you’ll have a hit on your hands.  :D

    Comment by Jared on 11/06/10 at 4:08 am #
  15. We used to get something similar from Hickory Farms every year at Christmas, in the pastel flavors. This was in the early 90’s, and my kids loved them!

    Comment by Ruth on 12/19/14 at 3:09 am #
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