Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, cane sugar, cocoa butter, butter, corn syrup, walnuts, pecans, soy lecithin, water, vanilla, sea salt

14g sugar/43g serving (32.6% by wt.)

Sometime after I tried last week's Trader Joe's caramel-filled bar, I happened to be back at the store and spied the other bar in the same line, Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans, though this one contains inclusions rather than a filling.

Appearance: First of all, I love these box designs, a crowded and colorful riff on the detailed, Victorian-style illustrations Trader Joe's uses on its promotional materials. That aside, the bar is thin and flat, with a uniform, glossy surface, solid brown color, and little bumps visible on the back.

Smell: Not particularly strong. Pleasant, rounded, fruity.

Taste: This bar contains small nuggets of toffee and flecks of nut. The chocolate is good in a generic way, so while it's not complex or intense or smoky or anything else you might like personally, it's also pretty dark and doesn't have any “off” flavors or no flavor at all, and I suppose that's a good way to appeal to a lot of people. The toffee pieces are large and salty-buttery enough to be enjoyable (I'm looking at you, Endangered Species), and the small nut bits are pretty forgettable, but given how many people buy chocolate bars containing little pieces of delicately flavored nuts, maybe others get more out of them than I do.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans doesn't stand out, but it's inoffensive and fun, and for $1.99 you get a gourmet-ish bar in a nice box.