A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the
chocolate bar
A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily brea ...
, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with other ingredients, such as nuts, caramel,
nougat
Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. ...
, or
wafer
A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...
s.
Many varieties of candy bars exist, and many are
mass-produced
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...
. Between
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the middle of the 20th century, approximately 40,000 brands of candy bars were introduced.
Chocolate bars
A chocolate bar is a bar-shaped piece of
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
, which may also contain layerings or mixtures of other ingredients. A wide variety of chocolate bar brands are sold. A popular example is a
Snickers
Snickers is a chocolate bar made by the American company Mars, Incorporated, consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts that is encased in milk chocolate. The annual global sales of Snickers was over $3 billion .
In the United ...
bar, which consists of
nougat
Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. ...
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
s.
The first solid chocolate bar was produced by Fry's of Bristol, England in 1847.
Fry's Chocolate Cream
Fry's Chocolate Cream is a chocolate bar developed by J. S. Fry & Sons and currently manufactured by Cadbury. Launched in 1866, Fry's Chocolate Cream is the first mass-produced chocolate bar and is the world's oldest chocolate bar brand.The fir ...
became the first mass-produced chocolate bar in 1866. The
Goo Goo Cluster
The Goo Goo Cluster is an American candy bar created in 1912 by Howell Campbell and the Standard Candy Company in Nashville, Tennessee. The disk-shaped candy bar contains marshmallow nougat, caramel, and roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate ...
was the first mass-produced combination bar, including
marshmallow
Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...
, nougat, caramel, and roasted
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
s. In some varieties of English and food labeling standards, the term ''chocolate bar'' is reserved for bars of solid chocolate, with ''candy bar'' used for products with additional ingredients.
Non-chocolate bars
Candy bars containing no chocolate include:
* Abba-Zaba: taffy with a peanut butter center
*
AirHeads
''Airheads'' is a 1994 American comedy film written by Rich Wilkes, directed by Michael Lehmann, and starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Ernie Hudson, Michael McKean, Judd Nelson, Michael Richards, Amy Locane and ...
: a taffy based candy that comes in multiple flavours
* Big Hunk: nougat center covered with peanuts
*
Bit-O-Honey
Bit-O-Honey is an American candy product; it first appeared in 1928 and was made by the Schutter-Johnson Company of Chicago, Illinois. Bit-O-Honey was a new kind of candy bar consisting of six pieces wrapped in waxed paper and then packaged in ...
: honey-flavored taffy with almond bits
*
Carambar
Carambar is a brand of chewy caramel candy from France, owned by Eurazeo.
History
In 1954, Mr. Fauchille, director of the Delespaul-Hazard company, and Mr. Gallois, an employee, had a surplus of cocoa and decided to create a new, original recipe ...
Chick-O-Stick
Chick-O-Stick is a candy produced by the Atkinson Candy CompanyChoo Choo Bar: liquorice-based candy
*
Laffy Taffy
Laffy Taffy is an American brand of taffy candies produced by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. The candies are small (about ), individually wrapped taffy rectangles available in a variety of colors and artificial fruit f ...
: a taffy based candy that comes in multiple flavours
*
Mantecol
Mantecol is the brand name of a typical dessert of the cuisine of Argentina,
: a peanut butter nougat bar
* Munch: peanut brittle-like candy
*
PayDay
A pay day or payday is a specified day of the week or month when one is paid, usually workers collecting wages from their employers.
Pay Day, PayDay or Payday may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Pay Day'' (1918 film), a ...
: peanuts and caramel
*
Salted Nut Roll
Salted Nut Roll is a candy bar made by the Pearson's Candy Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota and is available in the Midwestern United States.
Description
It has a nougat center that is surrounded in a layer of caramel and then covered with s ...
: nougat center covered with caramel and peanuts
*
Turkish Taffy
Turkish Taffy Is a "chewy" (usually hard and crunchy) taffy-like candy bar, which comes in several flavors.
History
Turkish Taffy was invented in 1912 by Austrian immigrant Herman Herer, who sold the rights to M. Schwarz & Sons of Newark, New ...
: taffy-based candy
* Wazoo: taffy center covered with sprinkles
*
Zagnut
Zagnut is a candy bar produced and sold in the United States. Its main ingredients are peanut butter and toasted coconut.
History
The Zagnut bar was launched in 1930, by the D. L. Clark Company of western Pennsylvania, which also made the Clar ...
Dessert bar
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts o ...
– a type of American "bar cookie"
*
Energy bar
Energy bars are supplemental bars containing cereals, micronutrients, and flavor ingredients intended to supply quick food energy. Because most energy bars contain added protein, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and other nutrients, they may be ma ...
*
Granola bar
Granola is a breakfast and snack food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown. The mixture is stirred while baking ...
*
List of candies
Candy, known also as sweets and confectionery, has a long history as a familiar food treat that is available in many varieties. Candy varieties are influenced by the size of the sugar crystals, aeration, sugar concentrations, colour and the typ ...
*
List of chocolate bar brands
This is a list of chocolate bar brands, in alphabetical order. Flavour variants and discontinued chocolate bars are included. A chocolate bar, also known as a candy bar in American English, is a confection in an oblong or rectangular form ...
*
Yeot-gangjeong
''Yeot-gangjeong'' () is a candy bar-like variety of ''hangwa'' (traditional Korean confection) consisting of toasted seeds, nuts, beans, or puffed grains mixed with ''mullyeot'' (rice syrup). In general households, they usually make and eat ...
References
Further reading
* Cadbury, Deborah, ''Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers'' (PublicAffairs, 2011)
* Mazze, Edward M. and Michman, Ronald D., ''The Food Industry Wars: Marketing Triumphs and Blunders'' (Praeger, 1998)