Hostess Milky Way Brownies!

Folks, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't really care about Hostess stuff. Remember a few years back when they were going out of business and everyone threw a fit? Eventually, against all odds, Hostess came back from the brink, like Rocky Balboa turning it all around in the final moments of a title fight.  People's fears of a Twinkie-less world were put to rest. Well I'm going to throw it out there, I felt no sadness at the death of the Twinkie. They aren't good! I don't think I've ever spent money on one. I've definitely eaten them when given them, and it helps remind me of why I don't ever buy them. Tastes vary from one fatguyfoodblogger to another, so I'm sure my peers will have an ear full to send my way. But that's just me. I don't really like much of what they have to offer. Those little cupcakes? 

Uhhh...what about the fruit pies?

Ho Hos? Zingers?

But I have to be honest, Ding Dongs are great (Insert penis joke here). Despite being half the size they used to be.  Chocolate Zingers are decent too. Those fruit ones? Nasty. But in the end it kind of just feels like Hostess likes to do what's comfortable and what people expect from them. The problem there is that people feel nostalgic when it's going to go away, but they rarely purchase the items because they are old hat. Things they have had a million times before, but that are nothing new. You gotta give them points for trying to put different filling in the Twinkies over the past couple years, but come on, gang, you gotta do better than that.  I have heard that their Salted Caramel Cupcakes are pretty good, but haven't run into them to try them yet. 

Perhaps someone at Hostess finally knows what's up. When I saw the new Milky Way Hostess Brownies in my local grocery store I was like...

So I bought a box! Let's check them out! 

The Hostess Milky Way Brownies come in a box of six. Makes sense. I guess a half dozen is a solid number when you're talking about brownies. Of course, I ripped the box open and just dumped them all out on the table at once. Just in case they are so good that I decide I need to eat all of them right there at that moment, like Cookie Monster...but with brownies. 

You always have to brace yourself when un-boxing a pastry item like this because it's never going to look like it does on the box. Let's be realistic. They are tumbling around inside of that box like a bunch of astronauts training in zero g. But these don't look too bad! Lots of chocolate and nougat chunks stuck in the caramel! My first thought is that they smell like Cosmic Brownies. You know, those awesome little brownies with the multi-colored candies on top that are put out by Little Debbie, aka the Queen of Pastries. Mother of snack cakes. Breaker of diets.

The Hostess Milky Way Brownies themselves do kind of taste like Cosmic Brownies, but not as moist. The caramel on top is more like caramel flavored frosting. I was hoping it would be as gooey as the caramel on the box and the caramel you find inside a Milky Way Bar. But...this is okay too. 

The Milky Way pieces on top are kind of disappointing. It's really sort of just dry pieces of chocolate and nougat with the occasional melty piece. It really all just combines in your mouth into a strange sweet paste. Not bad, but also it doesn't really get me too excited. Also it really doesn't taste that much like a Milky Way.  I think they missed the boat with the nougat. Imagine the brownie having a gooey nougat center? Perhaps with caramel frosting and chocolate pieces on top? Seems like they took the lazy way out. 

When a world famous snack cake company teams up with one of the greatest candy bars of all time, you expect to see sparks flying. You want to bite into it and see a fireworks display like they have at Disney World every night. But the Hostess Milky Way Brownies are more like a sparkler.  Hissing away in your hand for a moment. It's cool, and it's better than not having fireworks. But is it the sky lighting up and filling your brain with wonder? Nope. Same here. I think Hostess needs to hire someone to mix things up. Baseball themed cupcakes? That's what you're doing? Really? In 2016? Really? Sigh. If you're curious and want to try these out, go for it, but be prepared for mediocrity.  Are they better than not having a brownie at all? Sure. But if you need me, I'll be eating this here Cosmic Brownie. My allegiance lies with my Queen.

I give Hostess Milky Way Brownies a C. Such potential, but in the end, just an average sweet pastry snack that won't get you that excited at all. 

Review by Rich Brunelle, who can be found walking all around Seattle to find items to review on this very website.

Yo! Wanna get at your favorite Food Blog Fat Guys? Want us to review your stuff? Have some ideas for reviews? Want to be the one to tell us about the newest kind of Oreos/chips/ice cream/Fast food thingy? Want to send us pictures of your dog? Would you like to sponsor a post?

Well, here's how you can reach us:
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
EMAIL

Universal Yums! Snacks from around the world!

One of my favorite things to do whenever I'm traveling is take a look in stores and see if they perhaps have snacks or treats that I might not have back in my home town. Come on. If you're reading this blog, you probably do the same thing. There's just some things that are only available in certain areas. But what about visiting other COUNTRIES? That's not as easy. You see, I've been around a lot of the USA but outside? I've only been to Canada. Canada was barely a days drive from where I grew up but when I went there it was like another world. Their Mcdonalds had pizza! They had candy bars I had never fathomed and their milk came in bags! It was crazy. 

Now what if there was a service that would bring that experience right to your front door? Well, my friends, there is. It's called UNIVERSAL YUMS and every month they put together a box of snacks from one specific country and deliver it to your front door. You can get one once, or for a gift, or you can sign up to get a different one every month! 

Well the good folks over at Universal Yums dropped us a box in the mail for us to check out and I had so much fun with it that I thought I'd share it with all of you. So without further stalling, let's check out Universal Yums box of snacks from SCANDINAVIA! 

A list to let you know what you're getting into! I like it. 

When you first crack the box open they give you a listing of everything in it. This is good when dealing with food items you've never heard of from another country. I'll try anything once but if I'm going to be eating a chocolate covered grasshopper or something I'd like to know beforehand, am I right?

Look at all this stuff! 

There was definitely a huge amount of different kids of snacks. That picture? That's actually after I tried a few things.  Sometimes my snack excitement makes me forget I need to take pictures of this stuff. I wasn't sure the best way to do this so I decided to break each item down and let you all know what it was like. Some were good, some were bad, but it was a fun adventure along the way.  Let's take a look at how they snack in Scandinavia!

First up was KEX! It's basically just chocolate and wafers! But still pretty tasty. Kind of like a Kit-Kat with less chocolate. But the chocolate had a unique taste with almost a slight coffee flavor to it. I have to say I thought these were great but I could see how you could eat a ton of them without looking back.

Dumle were up next! They were a classic soft caramel covered in chocolate. Who doesn't like that? The chocolate was melty and the caramel was pretty soft so these ended up being a great gooey treat. Reading the sheet they sent along with it they said there's a similar Swedish candy to this that's called "PLOPP". But those are mostly eaten in Sweden because everyone else just thinks about pooping when they hear PLOPP and that's the last thing you want to be thinking about when you're eating candy. These were not bad at all!

Next we had Geisha chocolates! They are soft, creamy chocolate hazelnut middle surrounded by slightly harder chocolate on the outside. They weren't bad! Nothing to write home about. The pink wrapper and sexy writing made them look like a snack geared towards ladies, but I'm cool with that. Apparently these were inspired by a Japanese pastry called Japonica, that's why they got name Geisha, although these are apparently only popular in the Nordic countries. They certainly like their gooey chocolate candies!

Daim bars are toffee covered in chocolate! Kind of like a Heath bar. Funny story, way back in 1950 the Marabou chocolate company reached out to Hershey to try and get the license to sell Heath bars in Sweden. Hershey said, "Hell no." so what did they do? They created their own version called DAIM(I'm choosing to decide that this is pronounced DAMN)! It's different though, it's more like a Skor bar. Oh and the kicker here? Hershey later made a copycat of DAIM in the USA called SKOR. Friggin' cut throat business, right?  But the bottom line is that these little bars are great if you enjoy Heath or Skor. Every time I ate one, I just wanted to say...

Thanks Ron.

NEXT UP, Marianne Chocolate Mints! These are a cool mind hard candy with chocolate inside. Not my favorite thing in the box but I think if there was a dish of these for after dinner I might enjoy them but definitely not just for snacking. Still, solid tasting for what it was.

And then we have Panda Blueberry Licorice. Now, I'm going to start this out by telling you that one of the things I hate the most in the world is black licorice. It's the worst taste on the face of the planet. I would rather eat a spoonful of my own brains out of my own open skull than eat black licorice. So luckily this is not that. I was worried. Instead it's kind of like if they mixed together one of those weird natural fruit roll ups with licorice. It's a strange flavor but not all bad. The package boasts lots of things like Fat Free and blah blah blah. The exact opposite of what you're reading this blog for. Was it good? Not really. But it could have been a lot worse. It could have been...oh no.

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL...AND HE SHALL APPEAR!

Salmiakki Finnish Sweet Licorice. I was hoping that I would open it up and be wrong about it. But no...from the second I ripped open the package my nostrils were assaulted by the black licorice fumes and I had to fight the urge to fast ball pitch this thing out my office window.  Apparently this is one of Scandinavia's most well known treats. And I guess it's salted too? Will that improve the horrid taste?

It's huge. And soft. It stinks, and by the Gods, for you, my readers, I WILL TASTE THIS HORRID LICORICE! Sometimes being a food blogger isn't so glamorous...

As you guessed, it was absolutely terrible. Do you like soft black licorice? Well then gather all the rest of the people you can find who like terrible, disgusting snacks and get your grubby mitts on one of these things. For me? It was the worst. It was like that time I drank too much Absinthe but in solid form. So. So. So gross. NEVER AGAIN! I would rather take a bite from the belly of a bloated roadkill than have another taste of this.

Then there were the Rye Snacks. The flavoring on them was pretty tasty, Garlic and herb with big chunks of sea salt. But the cracker was definitely strange. A little hard but still tasty. Apparently back in the 1800's they used to only bake bread twice a year so they would make them crispbreads that would last the months in between. These are apparently a modern take on that. Hmm.

In my old age I've become quite the fan of a ginger snap. Why? I'm really not sure. Perhaps as the years go on I'll also decide I love hard candy and sitting at the mall people watching at 11am on a Tuesday. But hey, ginger snaps are solid and these Lars Swedish Gingersnaps don't disappoint! Thinner than most I've had in the past, I felt like this shape and size made for a great hard cookie. The only down side is that I forgot to put them in something to seal them up and they went bad. The next day I went to grab one and it was soft. Like chomping into an old piece of cardboard! My fault! Otherwise these were great.

And last but not least the Marabou Chocolate bar with Nougat! It is widely agreed that Marabou bars are THE BEST CHOCOLATE IN ALL OF SCANDINAVIA! So they included a giant Marabou bar and it was pretty damn tasty! Easily broken into segments and shared with some fellow snackers, these bars are too big to eat by yourself in just one sitting. Well...unless you are rocking a supreme sweet tooth.  The chocolate and nougat are both very soft and tasty. I can see why they like it so much. The nougat is not the weird whipped version that a lot of American candy companies have adopted but a more dense and flavorful version. This was definitely one of the highlights of the Universal Yums box!

This box was filled with interesting and tasty treats and I'm glad they include the list because I feel like I came away from this with a little more knowledge packed away in my brain. The next time someone asks me if I want a Skor bar I'll be all..."no thanks. I think I'll eat one of these DAIM candy bars." But say it like DAMN and also like Ron Simmons. Because why not?

I would say if you're adventurous about your snacks Universal Yums service could definitely be for you. It's a great way to try a bunch of stuff you've never even heard of before. Not only that but these are a great gift idea too. It's kind of like going through your stocking on Christmas morning except it's JUST CANDY and it's all from one certain country. Christmas is NEVER themed like that. So take a look at their website and the next time you don't know what to get your friend who has everything, perhaps you they might like a box of fun from Universal yums!

Review by Rich!

Don't forget to drop us a line if you find something you'd like us to review, or a restaurant you'd like us to try. There's so many new things coming out non-stop that we can barely keep them all straight so we rely on our awesome readers to be a part of the team and help us out! You can reach us by email: fatguyfoodblog@gmail.com , Twitter: @fatguyfoodblog, and even our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/fatguyfoodblog . Tell us what we should review, how much you love us, or show off some ridiculously awesome thing you made. We love it all!