Not As Minty As I’d Like, Snyder’s Of Hanover York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips Are Still Fun!

The Good: Tastes good, Not terrible on the health front
The Bad: Not as minty as I would hope, Comparatively expensive
The Basics: York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips are a fun snack, but not the most intriguing one I have had in a while.


One of the television series’ that I enjoy is Psych. As one who does not have cable television, I catch the show in its entirety after each season when it hits DVD. One of the things I have noticed in the later seasons of Psych, especially season six (reviewed here!) is the volume of product placement. One of the most obvious and continually referenced in-show advertisements comes from Shawn’s references to Snyder’s Of Hanover’s pretzels. To be honest, it was less Psych and more the intrigue of chocolate and mint on pretzels that led my wife to pick me up a bag of York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips. This is a fun snack, but it is surprisingly expensive for the volume and not as extraordinary as one might hope, especially for the price.

Basics

York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips, for those who are not familiar with them, are like chocolate-covered Oreo cookies, where the cookies have been replaced by round pretzels. Snyder’s Of Hanover has marketed their pretzels since 1909, but the Dips line is a fairly new addition. These are almost unrecognizable as a salty snack because the pretzels are buried beneath a layer of chocolate and that makes them a surprising snack for those thinking they are getting just chocolate or see the Snyder’s Of Hanover bag and assume they are getting a pretzel.

York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips come in various sizes, but always in a bag. The standard size bag that I have found is 5 oz. The pretzel Dips are round and approximately 1 3/8" in diameter and ½” thick. Many of them are slightly lopsided, as the tops and bottoms are not perfectly aligned before they are sealed up in the chocolate. At $3.49 for the 5 oz. bag, these seem exceptionally expensive to me for a snack of this caliber.

Ease Of Preparation

York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips are simple to enjoy; all you need do it open the bag and remove the Dips from it! There is no trick to eating York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips; they are a snack that is ready to go from the bag to the mouth.

Taste

York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips smell slightly minty, but mostly chocolatey, when opening the bag. The smell dissipates fairly quickly after the bag is open.

On the taste front, the outer portion of the York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips is dominated by the thin layer of chocolate. The chocolate is appropriately dark, like York Peppermint Patties (like the ones reviewed here!), and it melts away after about half a minute in the mouth. Beneath the chocolate, the York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips are dry, but not salty and the mint flavor is subtle and cool, more than vibrant, sweet, and minty. As a result, the mint aspect of these is sublimated to the dry, bready, pretzel flavor and the strong dark chocolate. The mint never takes the forefront of the palate and for those who love York Peppermint patties or mint flavor in general, this is a bit of a disappointment.

The aftertaste is, however, very much the peppermint aftertaste of York Peppermint Patties. Sadly, it does not come forth before that, though.

Nutrition

York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips are a surprisingly natural snack, with no recognizable preservatives. Given that the ingredients are mostly sugar, enriched flour, and chocolate, it might surprise snack eaters to learn how generally good these treats are. These have a shelf life of approximately one year, so it's not a bad snack to stock up on.

Each four sandwich serving (an utterly unrealistic serving size given how tasty these are!) of York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips has 140 calories, forty-five of which come from fat. There is also a gram of dietary fiber. While there are 5 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein, there are only 45 mg of sodium, which represents 2% of one's RDA of sodium. There are a smattering of vitamins and minerals, but nothing significant. There is a dietary note that the York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips includes milk, wheat, and soy ingredients, which prevents them from being Vegan compliant or Gluten-free. They are, however, marked as Kosher dairy!

Storage/Clean-up

Kept in their bag, York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips will remain fresh for a year and as long as the bag is resealed, one suspects they will last for several weeks before getting stale. I've never had to deal with issues of freshness for my York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips.

Cleanup is simple as well. York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips are a dry food and thus leave no mess behind. However, if the chocolate melts, they will stain; consult your fabric guide for how to get dark chocolate out of anything these melt into!

Overall

York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwich Dips are a tasty snack that never quite lives up to the potential of the namesake York Peppermint (or, I suppose, what one expects of Snyder’s Of Hanover pretzels as a salty snack!). For the expense – my wife and I downed a whole bag pretty much in one sitting without trying at all! – this seems less remarkable than it ought to. As a result, they fall more into the average realm, leaning below, making them tougher to endorse for those who love mint chocolate.

For other salty snacks, check out my reviews of:
Triscuit Dill Sea Salt & Olive Oil Crackers
Everybody's Nuts! Garlic & Onion Pistachios
UTZ Potato Sticks

4.5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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