They Changed The Cookie
Candy Bar Review
TWIX PB
Not long after I picked up the research material I needed for my review of the Twix Peanut Butter bar, I noticed something a little unusual. What I noticed was that particular candy bar was disappearing from the shelves. The disappearing act went on for at least two or three months, and my initial reaction was that Mars had ceased production of the Twix Peanut Butter.
Kind of made my review a little useless, didn't it?
But after two or three months, I began to see it gradually reappearing, with what I thought were merely cosmetic changes. While it was still a predominantly red color, the wrapper had been redesigned, and the candy bar now sported the name Twix PB.
But while I thought the changes were merely cosmetic, a closer look revealed that they went beyond the wrapper. The changes went into the composition of the bar itself.
They changed the cookie.
The vanilla cookie that had been the base of the Twix Peanut Butter (and is the base for the original Twix bar, as well as being the base for most of the recent limited editions) has been replaced by a chocolate cookie. Now, this is a darker chocolate cookie than what was used as the base of the Twix Triple Chocolate bar. As a rough estimate, I would say that Mars put at least twice the cocoa in the batter for these cookies. As a result, the cookie has a deeper, darker, richer brown color.
There is one other noticeable change with the new cookie. Its flavor isn't completely overwhelmed by the milk chocolate and the peanut butter. Those two flavors still fight to be the dominant flavor on your tastebuds, but the cookie's flavor has more presence.
The texture has also changed with the new cookie base, although it is still the dominant texture in this candy bar. I'm not completely sure how to describe the difference, other than to say that there is one. It would be easier if I had samples of the two cookies, without any of the other ingredients. I think I could make an accurate comparison then. I do suspect, though, that if I were to sample both the vanilla and chocolate cookie bases, the chocolate cookie would produce more crumbs as I ate it.
The change in the cookie base is the only one. The rest of the Twix PB remains the same. The cookie base is still topped with a smooth peanut butter, and the whole thing is still enrobed in milk chocolate. And there are still two slender bars in each single size package.
One other thing hasn't changed about the Twix PB. It still doesn't have the contrast in textures that the other Twix bars do. That, of course, is because the peanut butter lacks the chewiness of the caramel present in the other Twix bars.
The flavors of the peanut butter and the milk chocolate make for a good pairing, as they do in just about any other candy where they appear together. The slight saltiness of the peanut butter (very slight in this bar) and the sweetness of the milk chocolate both blend together and contrast with each other simultaneously. And as I said earlier, the chocolate cookie does not completely fade into the background. It provides some slightly darker chocolate undertones which provide an interesting contrast with the milk chocolate.
Switching to a chocolate cookie base for the Twix PB was one of those rare changes that really is an improvement. I hope that Mars decides to use this chocolate cookie in other Twix products. It would work particularly well if Mars ever decides to bring back the Twix White Chocolate bar for another run. As I mentioned when I reviewed that bar, I thought that the overall effect was a little bland. Using the chocolate cookie base would provide the right balance and contrast with the white chocolate.
-jc-
TWIX PB
Not long after I picked up the research material I needed for my review of the Twix Peanut Butter bar, I noticed something a little unusual. What I noticed was that particular candy bar was disappearing from the shelves. The disappearing act went on for at least two or three months, and my initial reaction was that Mars had ceased production of the Twix Peanut Butter.
Kind of made my review a little useless, didn't it?
But after two or three months, I began to see it gradually reappearing, with what I thought were merely cosmetic changes. While it was still a predominantly red color, the wrapper had been redesigned, and the candy bar now sported the name Twix PB.
But while I thought the changes were merely cosmetic, a closer look revealed that they went beyond the wrapper. The changes went into the composition of the bar itself.
They changed the cookie.
The vanilla cookie that had been the base of the Twix Peanut Butter (and is the base for the original Twix bar, as well as being the base for most of the recent limited editions) has been replaced by a chocolate cookie. Now, this is a darker chocolate cookie than what was used as the base of the Twix Triple Chocolate bar. As a rough estimate, I would say that Mars put at least twice the cocoa in the batter for these cookies. As a result, the cookie has a deeper, darker, richer brown color.
There is one other noticeable change with the new cookie. Its flavor isn't completely overwhelmed by the milk chocolate and the peanut butter. Those two flavors still fight to be the dominant flavor on your tastebuds, but the cookie's flavor has more presence.
The texture has also changed with the new cookie base, although it is still the dominant texture in this candy bar. I'm not completely sure how to describe the difference, other than to say that there is one. It would be easier if I had samples of the two cookies, without any of the other ingredients. I think I could make an accurate comparison then. I do suspect, though, that if I were to sample both the vanilla and chocolate cookie bases, the chocolate cookie would produce more crumbs as I ate it.
The change in the cookie base is the only one. The rest of the Twix PB remains the same. The cookie base is still topped with a smooth peanut butter, and the whole thing is still enrobed in milk chocolate. And there are still two slender bars in each single size package.
One other thing hasn't changed about the Twix PB. It still doesn't have the contrast in textures that the other Twix bars do. That, of course, is because the peanut butter lacks the chewiness of the caramel present in the other Twix bars.
The flavors of the peanut butter and the milk chocolate make for a good pairing, as they do in just about any other candy where they appear together. The slight saltiness of the peanut butter (very slight in this bar) and the sweetness of the milk chocolate both blend together and contrast with each other simultaneously. And as I said earlier, the chocolate cookie does not completely fade into the background. It provides some slightly darker chocolate undertones which provide an interesting contrast with the milk chocolate.
Switching to a chocolate cookie base for the Twix PB was one of those rare changes that really is an improvement. I hope that Mars decides to use this chocolate cookie in other Twix products. It would work particularly well if Mars ever decides to bring back the Twix White Chocolate bar for another run. As I mentioned when I reviewed that bar, I thought that the overall effect was a little bland. Using the chocolate cookie base would provide the right balance and contrast with the white chocolate.
-jc-