Product Review: Unreal Candy Coated Chocolate Pieces

In other words, M&Ms. When it comes to chocolate, I prefer mine not covered in a candy shell, but I can't escape the popularity of this candy. It is brightly colored, making it very appealing and pretty for all seasons and holidays. However, this also means it is full of artificial food dyes. Food dyes scare me.

While I would love to give a go at making M&Ms myself, I think that is waaayyyy down the line. I also know they would end up looking NOTHING like real M&Ms, if that is what I really wanted.

Over the summer I found these at a Walgreens while I was waiting for a prescription to be filled. Since then I have seen them at CVS and Target. I thought it was a marvelous idea! I may not eat much of this type of candy, but recently I had reason to buy some:  to decorate my son's birthday cake.

The Unreal brand also sells their version of peanut M&Ms, snickers, milky way, and peanut butter cups. I have tried the peanut butter cups as well (my favorite candy) and they were pretty good. They don't taste exactly like a Reeces, but that is because they aren't filled with hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup and other laboratory ingredients. It was basically just peanut butter in a dark chocolate shell - pretty darn good.

Anyway, the un-junked m&ms are really very good. They do have a little different flavor, and I can't decide whether it is from the colorings or the better ingredients in the chocolate itself. The colors aren't as bright, but they are natural looking, and I feel so much better letting my son have a few of these rather than food-dye covered candy. They also worked really well on his birthday cake, since I also used concentrated vegetable coloring to color the icings.

These are much more pleasing to my eye

This was Gavyn's Choo-Choo cake. The candy is used in the back two cars. 

I'm no dietitian, but I would suggest you don't go buying these thinking you can now gorge yourself on candy since it is chemical-free. They do have less sugar than M&Ms, but they can only be part of a healthy diet in moderation. However, when you do indulge, you can feel better that you aren't putting so many chemicals into your, or your family's, bodies. Oh and aren't those pastels perfect for Easter?