"'Marshmallows' and 'tart and refreshing' may seem like they don't belong in the same sentence. But BonBonBar's handmade passion-fruit marshmallows are the most fabulous marshmallows I've ever tasted. Made with all-natural ingredients, they're like lovely little clouds of tropical flavor. Ever since the first time I tried them, I've been dreaming about exotic s'mores. And I can't even imagine how these marshmallows are going to liven up our cookouts. If you live in California, you can buy them in retail outlets; otherwise, you'll have to order them by mail. Fortunately, they don't weigh much."
Ruth Reichl - Editor-in-Chief, Gourmet Magazine - New York, NY
"I just wanted to write to tell you how fabulous your chocolates were, and the passion fruit marshmallows were unbelievable."
Elinor I. - Totowa, NJ
"Suffice it to say, these things are GOOD. Worth the $5.00 apiece. They're in the shape of a candy bar, but every bit the same quality of the best artisan chocolates - if not better. I also love love love her flavor choices. Orange? Malt? Caramel? Hello!"
Alice - Alice Q. Foodie - San Diego, CA
"[The Orange Bar] is definitely not your ordinary mars bar... i wish that all grocers had this bar at the point of check out... the bon bon bar is incredibly delightful with a scent of orange. it is full of caramely-gooey-wonderfulness - - - i am sure that when candy bars were first made, they were made like this.
the bar may seem a bit steep at five bucks a pop ... but you can definitely tell that the company is not skimping on good and real ingredients... you can taste the rich butter and delight your buds with the candied oranges.
Rachel Rifat - Chocolate Snob - Hollywood, CA
"I read about your Bonbonbars on a food blog a while back, and recently ordered your six bar assortment. I expected the quality to be first rate and to like them very much based on the descriptions, testimonials, and hand-made, artisanal nature of the product, but they surpassed my expectations. I can only say they blew me away. There is no comparison between your bars and any other candy bar I'm aware of. The only comparison would be with high end super premium chocolates from France, Switzerland, Belgium, etc. In that context, the prices are perfectly reasonable. The flavors and textures are exquisite and explosive. I love the balance of salty and sweet. While they are all superb, my absolute favorites are the orange and the caramel nut bars. Now I know what REAL caramel is supposed to taste like. Yours has a depth of flavor missing in mass market brands.
I can only say it is probably a good thing your bars are not available at retail stores in NYC where I live, because I'm afraid I would become seriously addicted! I am going to have to stock up before the summer weather makes it too hot to ship across country.
Kudos to you."
David Gordon - New York, NY
"Oh my goodness! I just want to let you know how much I enjoyed this [caramel nut] bar!
Thanks for making such high quality and interesting candy. It's just not something you'd ever get from Hershey's-- inSANEly good :)"
Diane Sanfilippo - Balanced Bites - SF Bay Area, CA
"[The Orange Bars] really have to be savored and it takes time to fully appreciate all the aromas, textures, flavors and sensations. They're treasure troves of all of them. I sliced off bites so I didn't mar their elegance and I still have half of one minibar to look forward to this evening.
The aroma of the chocolate is as rich and earthy as you could possibly hope. The nougat is unlike any I've had in a candy bar; soft and creamy from its freshness so there is no need to whip it full of air that dilutes the flavor. The complex caramel flavor takes a half moment more to emerge so the smokey flavor of the golden caramelized sugar lingers. And the orange is the tiny little jewel of firm chewability with its little crystalline crunch and sweet-tart citrus punch.
I don't even have a word to describe the marriage of the childhood exileration of a candy bar with the sophistication if this combination. Bravo or whoopee or some combination of the two that I can't quite fathom! Well done, kiddo!"
L.S. - Woodland Hills, CA
"[The Malt Bar is] sorta like a Twix, but a bajillion times better. None of that fake chocolate taste, stale cookie, or overly sweet caramel. Instead, you have this crisp cookie, lovely malty ganache, covered in chocolate. I liked the dark one better, but I always dig the dark choco!"
Jen C - Flickr - Toronto, Canada
"...the most amazing chocolate I have had to date. BonBonBars are utterly divine, if goofily named, hand crafted chocolate bars. They are way up there on the pricey side, but for what the ARE, the cost is totally warranted. Each is made fresh, practically to order, and hand wrapped and shipped from LA within days of production.... [The Malt Bar has a] super creamy and buttery chocolate malt ganache atop a fresh shortbread butter cookie--oh my, y'all, it was unlike anything I've ever eaten, it was THAT good. If you're looking for a one of a kind treat for someone special (or yourself), BUY THIS CHOCOLATE. You will not regret it!"
Cortney Hall - All because two people fell in love... - West Knoxville, TN
"To paraphrase my friend Zach's comparison of The Wire to Law and Order, Nina's confections are to a normal sugar fix what Dostoevsky is to Danielle Steele. Yeah, that's right, they're that good...
The Caramel Nut Bar incorporates California-sourced organic almonds, walnuts and pecans, paired with a buttered caramel made with organic cream. I can't quite summon the words to describe this, but you can think of it as a Snickers bar that's broken free of its shackles and rebelled against its industrial masters. To continue the "Big Candy" analogy, the malt bars could be considered Twixes Gone Wild: malt ganache (just mull that over in your head for a second: Malt... Ganache...) and hand-made shortbread enrobed in milk/dark chocolate. These were even better than the Caramel Nut Bar. I'll never be able to look at a Twix the same way again.....
You may not be accustomed to paying five dollars for a small candy bar (or $30 for an internet order of small candy bars), but believe me, it's worth it.
Tommy - Macerating Shallots - Portland, OR
"Now, I must admit that, at first, I was skeptical of the Scotch Bar. I don't even like ice in my Scotch, but chocolate and caramel? I also feared that it was a gimmick without much basis in flavor. I'm happy to report that I was wrong....
This is not a candy that tastes like liquor. The whiskey flavor is quite subtle and understated. What comes through is just the faintest bit of smoke from the Talisker. Along with this subtle flavor, the whiskey adds a smoothness which balances well with the caramel and salt. The combination of the four flavor elements is sublime....
And be sure to also try the phenomenal Caramel Nut Bar, a chocolate bar filled with gooey caramel and a mix of nuts and cacao nibs...many great tastes that taste great together."
Sku - Sku's Recent Eats - Los Angeles, CA
"I was absolutely amazed by the salted caramel! It had some of that French Laundry butter with fleur-de-sel magic - natural, expected caramel goodness with just a tiiiny tang of something else that keeps your tongue stay alert and your taste buds say WHOA.
And then I had the marshmallows...holy crap holymoly holy crapola @#$%^$%# ohmygod duuuude, they were good. (I can say dude, damnit. I live in California and so does Nina.) I absolutely loved the vanilla marshmallow - surprisingly dense and flavorful, yet with a melt-in-your-mouth, light texture. But oh man, then came the passionfruit marshmallow. JenC has a picture of my face when I bit into the passionfruit marshmallow: it's not a very photogenic moment of mine, but you can sure tell I'm really enjoying that marshmallow.
I didn't even LIKE marshmallows before BonBonBar's marshmallows - unless they came with lots of chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers..."
Lorelai - Musings and Munchies - SF Bay Area, CA
"The Scotch Bars are amazing... Having grown up in Europe, I was so disappointed by coffee, beer and chocolate when I immigrated to USA. Living in Portland now, I have the coffee and beer thing solved. BonBon Bar solves the chocolate thing. My life is complete once again."
Ben P. - Portland, OR
"[BonBonBars] are not knock-offs of consumer bars, these are unique combination bars with fresh ingredients... Biting into the narrow [Malt] bar, the ganache is soft and yields quickly until I got to the dense and buttery shortbread. Crispy, crumbly. The mix of flavors, the immediate hit of dark malt, the cookie and the distinct saltiness ... it was all quite dreamy. This is what I always wished a Twix would be, super smooth milk chocolate, strong cookie flavor ... well in this case instead of caramel it’s a ganache.....
Upon first bite [of the Scotch Bar], the caramel is the perfect consistency of stringy and smooth but not too sweet. The first flavor is of a dark single malt scotch ... it’s kind of like tobacco and leather with that ultra-buttery base of deep chocolate truffle ganache. The chocolate shell is sprinkled with a little flaked salt, so it gave little additional hits of salt to the otherwise incredibly consistent experience....
Basically, [BonBonBars] are not candy bars at fine boxed chocolate prices. They’re fine chocolates in bar format...
Cybele May - Candy Blog - Los Angeles, CA
"I fell in love with BonBonBar sweets, beautifully made down south (as in Los Angeles). Nina Wanat creates small candy bars from high-quality chocolate, organic nuts and cream, using malt syrup instead of high fructose sweetener. They're like little cousins of old faves (think Kit Kat, for one). Her wee marshmallows (vanilla or passionfruit) are delicious on their own, even better in hot cocoa made from her mix."
Pat Fusco - Pacific Sun - Marin County, CA
"So why on earth would you want to pay $5.00 for a candy bar? 'Oh, that’s expensive' you say between sips of your venti nonfat half-caff vanilla soy triple mocha. Actually, it’s kind of a bargain considering how much it costs to keep things out of a candy bar... The taste [of the Caramel Nut Bar] was incredibly fresh and the quality of the chocolate and caramel were second to none. ... The milk chocolate Malt Bar was amazing and the shortbread cookie inside was fantastic and crunchy... The Vanilla Marshmallow had texture and freshness unlike any marshmallow I have had before. Equally fresh and light, the Passion Fruit Marshmallow was accurately described as tart and refreshing... "
Brian - Chocolate Gourmand - SF Bay Area, CA
"I have a marvelous discovery for all the die-hard Candy Addicts out there who simply need to know the best of what’s out there. BonBonBar Confections is a name you need to remember... I love the flavor of malt, but I’m not really a big fan of most commercial chocolate-malt balls. This makes the BonBonBar Malt Bar particularly delightful, because it’s everything familiar to me - crunch, chocolate, and malt; but the quality is multiplied by a gazillion... The Vanilla and Passion Fruit [marshmallows] left me speechless. They were soft, light, airy, and just slightly chewy... BonBonBar Confections may come disguised as plain marshmallows and candy bars, but don’t mistake these for anything other than gourmet treats - all of the luxury, with none of the pretension.
Breanna - Candy Addict
"I received your sampler pack in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and it didn’t last long, everything was so tasty! Your candy bars really had a mature taste, and I enjoyed them immensely!"
Julie - One-Wall Kitchen - Arizona
"Seriously good treats..."
Ed Levine - Ed Levine Eats - New York, NY
"BonBonBar's caramel nut bar is REALLY FREAKIN' GOOD. Just so you know."
Robyn Lee - The Girl Who Ate Everything - New York, NY
"[BonBonBar's confections] are like idealized versions of things you probably loved as a child. For me, BonBonBar offers not just delicious and high quality treats, but the cure for candy nostalgia."
Amy Sherman - Cooking with Amy - San Francisco, CA
"This is delicious... I just love those BonBonBars."
Jacob M. - Age 6 - Dublin, CA
"Phenomenal."
Jeff K. - Fairfax, VA
"I just finished eating one of the most WONDERFUL pieces of chocolate that I ever ate!!!!"
Sharon B. - Wantagh, NY
"Those were the best candy bars I've ever had. I am not a huge caramel person, but I actually really enjoyed your caramel. Thank you!!"
David L. - Colorado Springs, CO
"I just wanted to let you know I received my candy bars yesterday! The packaging is very cute and the chocolates are so tasty. I had to fight my 1.5 year old over the malt bar (I didn’t know what to expect, but it was delicious) and then my husband and I split the nutty caramel bar for dessert. We both loved it. My only complaint is that they are going to be gone too fast!"
Kerri H. - Vallejo, CA
"The Caramel Nut Bar is fabulous! The caramel has just the right flavor, saltiness and delicate spread. I'm really impressed, and though I wanted to share with others, I'm not sure I'll be able."
Stephen Durfee - Former Pastry Chef of The French Laundry & James Beard Award Winner, "Outstanding Pastry Chef" - Napa, CA
"I just ate the caramel nut bar. It was so so yummy!!! Bravo. The taste was amazing. And I LOVE the packaging."
Pouneh R. - Baltimore, MD
"o-m-g. The one that I didn't think I would 'like' as much as the others ended up being my favorite. Holy Cow. It was the dark chocolate buttery salted caramel with the nibs… I'm a milk chocolate girl but this bar was heavenly... Who knew I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE dark chocolate with slightly salty caramel.. My god it was delish!"
Lisa M. - Vacaville, CA
"Ok. Wow. The Malt Bar is the best chocolate I've ever had. How did you do that?"
Alan - Los Angeles, CA
"mmmmmmmmmmmmmm it was so tasty!"
Jamie H. - Irvine, CA
"This malt chocolate = absolutely amazing!! Major props."
J.S. - Los Angeles, CA
"That was the best marshmallow I've ever had in my life!"
Ashley K. - Santa Monica, CA