Someone mentioned wanting a gourmet Reeses Cup the other day and immediately I started salivating at the thought of chocolate and peanut butter. If I haven’t made it clear on the blog yet, I am a serious sucker for sweet stuff. If I had it my way, every meal would end with dessert - but with a modest amount of self control, I can usually keep it to once a day.

Anyway, the chocolate and peanut butter thoughts got me thinking about two kinds of chocolate, peanut butter goodness that I just love.

The first is Colts Bolts, basically a grown-up, gourmet version of a Reeses Cup. The inner-package designer in me screams “take the eighties portrait off the label”, (you’d know what I mean if you saw it). But, I guess that’s just the charm that comes from buying from artisan producers. Mackenzie Colt (the lovely lady on the label) was once a star on the show “Hee Haw” and then had a stint in country music. Eventually she fell into the chocolate business and I am glad she did.

In the center of a Colts Bolt you’ll happily find a custom blended, wonderfully rich peanut butter. The peanut butter is topped with fresh roasted almonds (the secret ingredient!) and then both are covered in a rich dark chocolate. They also have a milk chocolate version if you prefer. No offense to Reeses, but once you have Colts Bolts you can’t go back.

The other perfect peanut and chocolate combo comes from Koeze. Their Cream-Nut Chocolate and Peanut Butter Clusters are sorta addicting. Their award-winning peanut butter certainly sets them a part. Jeff Koeze sources good Virginia peanuts, brings them up north in 2,000 lb sacks, then blanches them to remove the skins and keep them from going rancid. He roasts and grinds them in vintage coffee roasters, then adds a bit of salt. The result is not an air-whipped sugar-filled concoction, but a natural, intense, velvety, mouthwatering sensation. That peanut butter is combined with white chocolate rolled in pecans, then covered with dark chocolate. Oh my goodness yum.