Monday, December 5, 2022

Sweet & Salty Clusters...of lies!


Chocolate covered potato chips are sweet and salty, with the added bonus of a crispy texture, what's not to love? 

Well, unlike most consumers, I have been spoiled. Aunt Charlottes, a confectionary located in Merchantville, NJ, makes the best chocolate covered potato chips of all time. 

It's true! I have tried big-brand chocolate potato chip products, and even made some attempts at my own, but none of them compare to Aunt Charlotte's. 

The chocolate used for their chips is incredibly smooth and sweet, more like European style chocolate than when we're used to in the states, and the flavor blows brands like Hershey's out of the water. (Which is basically chocolate flavored wax at this point.) Their good-quality chocolate has a lovely mouth-feel, and somehow, even after dipping, the chip stays crisp and crunchy. It is the best of the best....that said, how do these "clusters" compare? 


I saw these are the Walgreen's checkout, way back when I was scooping up Halloween clearance items, and didn't think much of it, but I guess these are new-new? 

At a glance, they look like the potato chip shrapnel that is left at the bottom of the bag, rolled in chocolate with red and green sugar crystals. Conceptually, it sounds great. Another combination of sweet and salty and crunchy.

When opened, the candies? Snacks? I'm not sure what to classify these as, so I'll just call them "lumps." The lumps have a flat bottom which reminds me of when I was trying to teach myself how to use a melon baller. (First of all, it's harder than it looks, secondly, it wastes so much melon just for the "aesthetic." 0/10 Do not recommend. Squares or triangles only.)  


The chocolate covered potion forms the flat stump-y bottom, but it serves as the "glue" holding everything together. The potato chip bits look a lot like rice krispies...in fact I am pretty sure these are rice Krispies, with small amounts of potato chips mixed in. Right off the bat, this feels like cheating. This is not what the bag promised, but it gets worse. 

I popped one into my mouth and was immediately underwhelmed. The chocolate quality is okay, on-par with Hershey's kisses. Nothing to write home about. You get some salty potato chip flavor, but it's on the stale side of things, kind of like a Kettle chip, but unintentionally so, and the sugar crystals seem to bring nothing to the table other than seasonal flair. But I was hit with a nutty flavor that threw me for a loop. But it turns out there are freaking almonds in this? What? Why?

Other than in the ingredient list, almonds aren't mentioned anywhere, and I don't see a nut allergy disclaimer on the front either.  I guess I had to scan the QR code on the back to get more food information to know that almonds were in the mix, but I feel like that is really dangerous and stupid. What if someone had an allergy? 

I'm normally pretty benign in my posts, and say things just aren't for me, etc. But this is bad and Lay's should feel bad. I wanted a "dipped potato snack," like the bag promised, not cereal and almonds. 

Something like this would be a great way to take broken chip bits, or whatever chips don't make the cut for bagging in the factory, and give them a new life while also generating profits. It should be a no-brainer, but someone over there messed up and made these instead and made the packaging so strangely vague to hide the fact that there are almonds and rice krispies in these as filler. I just don't get it. 

Safe to say, I don't like these and I wouldn't rebuy them. Just to give them a fair shake, my friend who has never had Aunt Charlotte's, and likes snacking on almonds, enjoyed them and ate most of them happily. 

I don't think Aunt Charlotte's sells their potato chips online, but check out your own local candy shop to see if they make them. I assure you it'll taste way better than this and you'll be supporting small businesses while treating your taste buds. 


Fans of this would also like:
Reese's with Potato Chips, Fudge covered Ritz Crackers, Pigs n' Taters Candy Bar, or Aldi Turkey and Stuffing Chips

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1 comment:

  1. Agreed. These are way lame. I eventually finished the bag but wouldn't recommend them and wouldn't dream of buying more.

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