Kellogg's Special K Brownie Bites *Updated*

"These fudgy mini-brownies are soft in texture and rich in flavor. They're made with 100% real cocoa, which makes them 100% delicious!"

"Delicious, bite-sized brownies baked with real milk chocolate and white chocolate chips. Brownie has a moist, chewy and soft texture combined with a delightful vanilla and butterscotch flavor for a great taste and texture combination."

I received an email the other day which mentioned Kellogg's has come out with Special K Blondie Brownie Bites and Special K Fudge Brownie Bites. I was psyched, because (1) prepackaged chocolate brownies that taste good are hard to find (2) butterscotch brownies are even more difficult to procure than chocolate brownies and (3) I have been craving butterscotch. I have been checking grocery stores and drug stores, hoping to find a  couple boxes. Nope, not one box at Walgreen's, Walmart, Publix or Winn Dixie. I've been down the pharmacy aisles, the endcaps, the cookie aisle, the baking mix aisle and the granola and cereal aisle. Still nothing. Kellogg's has a "find a store that carries this" page, but it claims no stores within 15 miles of my house have it. Like a dagger to my heart, I tell you!

So I finally caved and bought one box of Special K Blondie Brownie Bites and one box of Special K Fudge Brownie Bites online. Which means tomorrow I'll find a huge display of them for $2.50 and feel silly. But whatever. As long as I get my brownies I'll be a happy girl. I'll post a review after the boxes arrive.  

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**1/24/2013 Update

The Kellogg's Special K Brownie Bites arrived today.







Blondie Brownie Bites
- Six .74 oz pouches.
- Each pouch is 100 calories.
- Package claims "made with real chocolate"; vanilla extract, semisweet chocolate, molasses and white chocolate are on the ingredient list
- Strong, delicious butterscotch and vanilla cookie dough smell in the box, before even opening the pouches.
- Tastes like half baked cookie. Is too doughy. Not even close to being a brownie
- Vanilla is very heavy. It masks the white chocolate chips, semisweet chips and butterscotch
- Heavy vanilla flavor clings to the mouth too long afterwards







Fudge Brownie Bites
- Six .74 oz pouches.
- Each pouch is 100 calories.
- Package claims "made with real chocolate"; semisweet chocolate and cocoa are on the ingredient list.
- Fudgy smell, similar to Little Debbie Fudge Brownies.
- Closer to a baked brownie texture than the Blondie Brownie Bites.
- Aftertaste similar to that of the original Snackwells Devil's Food Cookies, albeit less strong (I don't care for it in either case).
- Can definitely taste the semisweet chocolate chips. Not high quality chocolate, though





The Fudge Brownie Bites had 11 pieces. The Blondie Brownie Bites had 10 pieces. Both treats are tiny. Kellogg's wasn't kidding about these being "bites."

The fudge pieces seem better a tad bit better than the blondies. But I wouldn't buy either variety again. I'll stick with Fiber One 90 Calorie Chocolate Chip Cookies and Fiber One 90 Calorie Chocolate Fudge Brownies. The Fiber One snacks are much more decadent and make me feel I'm treating myself to real sweets. The Special K Brownie Bites leave me deprived; they come across as half-as-good substitution, which is no fun for anyone cutting calories.

Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards, Part 2

As a follow up to a previous post: I found three of the Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards flavors at a gas station today.





Sweet Rewards: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar
This bar had a thick layer of chocolate chip cookie dipped in "chocolatey coating" (or, as the ingredient list says, "chocolate flavored confectionery coating"). The amount of cookie, chocolate chips and coating were perfect. Unfortunately, the taste was on par with your average convenience store cookie: meh vanilla taste, not moist but not exactly dry, slightly crumbly, a forgettable brand of chocolate chips. The fake chocolate coating dragged down the flavor, too. Definitely not worth the $1.49 price tag, unless the recipe is improved down the road.





Sweet Rewards: Devil's Food Bites
I haven't bought cake balls yet, but I assume that's what Betty Crocker had in mind for this product. The Devil's Food Bites smell like a yummy batch of Betty Crocker chocolate frosting. The outer shell is chocolatey coating, while the inside is cake mixed with frosting. There is more cake and frosting than chocolatey coating, so the proportions are just right. The chocolatey coating works much better in this product than in the chocolate chip bar. Each pack comes with three pieces. The Devil's Food Bites don't satisfy my chocolate cake craving, but they do satisfy my desire for a rich creamy chocolate truffle.





Sweet Rewards: Buttercream Bites
The Buttercream Bites were my hands down favorite. When I opened the foil wrapper, it had the same enticing scent as a piece of yellow cake. The proportion of cake, frosting and chocolatey coating is the same as the Devil's Food Bites. The chocolatey coating is a good match for the yellow cake, although I would die of happiness if Betty Crocker upgraded this line with real chocolate coating. That would be total heaven! The Buttercream Bites actually satisfies my craving for a piece of moist yellow cake with chocolate frosting. This flavor is a must have for holiday stocking stuffers. I am okay with paying $1.49 for the Buttercream Bites and Devil's Food Bites because they are both high quality, flavorful and well crafted sweets.

I'm not likely to buy the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar again. I will, however, stock up on more packages of the Buttercream Bites and Devil's Food Bites. Because past experience tells me the tastiest, most uniquely flavored products are the first ones to fall prey to "We don't carry that item anymore. Nobody bought them / or the company randomly discontinued them."

On a side note, I would suggest the following flavor ideas for the Buttercream Bites. Readers, feel free to share what flavors you'd like to see, too!
- Chocolate cake with mint buttercream
- Chocolate cake with coconut buttercream
- Coconut cake with vanilla buttercream
- Cherry cake with chocolate buttercream
- Vanilla cake with almond-vanilla buttercream
- Lemon cake with lemon buttercream or coconut buttercream
- Orange cake with white chocolate buttercream
- White chocolate buttercream with mocha-chocolate cake
- Butterscotch buttercream with white cake
- Caramel buttercream with yellow cake

Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards

I received an email today mentioning the General Mills site Find My Snack. I was excited to see a new product listed called Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards Bites And Cookie Bars. Only one store in my area is listed as carrying these, but I'll definitely look for them and try to do a review. The treats are available in convenience stores, according to the email. This is what FindMySnack says:



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Triple Chip Cookie Bar
"Soft butterscotch cookie with chocolate, caramel, and rainbow chips, dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.42oz."



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar
"Soft cookie with chocolate chips dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.42oz."



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Devil's Food Bites
"Cake and frosting mixture dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.5oz."



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Buttercream Bites
"Cake and frosting mixture dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.5oz."

*10/25/12: Oh duh, the Sweet Rewards Bars came out in 2011. How did I miss that ? *face palm* On a happier note, there are more flavors listed on General Mills Convenience, Convenience Store News and The Moxie Life:
-Sweet Rewards Fudge Crunch Bar
"Chocolate Cookie Base With A Chocolatey Fudge Layer"
- Sweet Rewards Turtle Bar
"Cookie base with caramel, chocolate and nuts"
- Sweet Rewards 7 Layer Bar
"Graham base with chocolate, caramel, nuts and coconut"

Quaker Taste Test

Thank you to Peter and his family for being my taste testers recently:

Quaker Granola Bites: Chocolate Flavor

the granola bites had a crunchy bite,the taste of it was just ok

Quaker Mini Delights: Chocolatey Mint, 90 Calorie Packs

the Quaker chocolate mint cookies had a horrible taste

Quaker Cinnamon Life

the life cinnamon cereal we all liked even my aunt tried them she loved them lol

Quaker Simple Harvest: Honey Roasted Nut Bars
Quaker Chewy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars

the granola bars i don't like peanut butter or any type of nuts in it,but my dad liked them very much