REVIEW: Crispy Cat Candy Bars (a.k.a. the organic Snickers)

Have I mentioned before that I have a killer sweet tooth? It’s not that I need dessert frequently, and in fact I generally eschew sweets after meals. My particular brand of sweet tooth hits rarely, but it hits hard. As a result, I love candy. Candy is super-sweet, and my favorites have always involved chocolate in some form. My love of candy hasn’t translated well to an organic lifestyle, however. A stroll through the candy section at Whole Foods or other markets may yield such treats as peanut butter cups and cookies, but what I’ve always craved is an honest-to-goodness candy bar. I grew up loving Snickers, Milky Way, and Three Musketeers; where was the answer to those candy bars in my favorite natural foods markets? All I could find were things involving carob. I’m sorry, but carob just doesn’t equal candy.

At Expo, I found my answer: Crispy Cat. The company makes three flavors of candy bars, and their ingredients are organic. That sounds too good to be true. But, dudes? You will DIE when you try this candy. It’s so effing good, I’m going to call it one of my favorite products of this year. Are you listening to me? I realize that candy isn’t going to save the world or anything, but it makes people happy, so how can that be wrong? And when the candy is as delicious as these organic candy bars, you’ve got a good thing.

The three Crispy Cat flavors are Mint Coconut, Toasted Almond, and Roasted Peanut. I’ve sampled them all (my job is so hard) and below are what I think of each flavor.

MINT COCONUT
At first I didn’t think that mint and coconut would go together, but I was so, so wrong. The rice is crispy, the mint is just minty enough, and the coconut is sweet and fragrant without being overwhelming. And the chocolate is of a better quality than I expected. If you’re a fan of coconut and chocolate, or mint and chocolate, you’ll definitely appreciate this flavor.

TOASTED ALMOND
I’d say that this bar is pretty good. It’s not my favorite, but maybe that’s because I just tasted the mint coconut bar, which had more flavor. I do think the Toasted Almond flavor is nice, it’s light and nutty. It would make a nice sweet snack if you were out hiking.

ROASTED PEANUT
The first thing I thought when I tried this bar was OH MY GOD SNICKERS. This, folks, is the Holy Grail: an organic Snickers. Okay, it doesn’t taste exactly the same, but it’s similar enough to warrant the comparison. The mixture of peanuts and chocolate is perfect. I’d even call this candy bar sexy. This is the only bar out of the three that I finished eating. I told myself I would only sample a few bites, but the Roasted Peanut bar was too alluring, and I enjoyed every bite with closed eyes and a fluttering heart.

Crispy Cat lists the ingredients for their bars on their website, and they’re fairly clean. They’re sweetened with organic brown rice syrup, and there isn’t a single corn-derived ingredient in the lot. The bars also rely on cocoa butter, not dairy, for their creamy goodness. I did notice a natural flavor thrown in here and there, but seriously, have you ever read a Snickers ingredient list? It contains corn syrup and partially hydrogenated soybean oil, not to mention the fact that lactose shows up twice in the list. It also contains milk, butter, and milkfat. I hope that puts it in perspective: Crispy Cat is a candy-lover’s god send.

Also, did I mention that these candy bars are vegan? They’re freaking VEGAN. I didn’t even know that until I sat down to write this post and read that on their website. I almost can’t believe it. So, there you go, vegans! Another triumph for the veggies among you.

Try these bars, for real. Candy is definitely a sometimes-food, so use moderation (and common sense). But you can be sure that every time one of my vicious sweet cravings hits that I’ll be reaching for a Crispy Cat.