Brach’s Turkey Dinner Candy Corn
I’m gonna say it – I like candy corn. I only need it once a year, but that vaguely honey-flavored, tri-color, triangular tidbit of sweet paste hits the spot in mid-October. Chew a few kernels along with peanuts and you’ve got a bootleg Payday bar.
In 2020, Brach’s tried to kill off we few remaining candy corn lovers with bags of Turkey Dinner Candy Corn. More a dare than an actual treat, Turkey Dinner Candy Corn was only available at Walgreens and contained the flavors roasted turkey, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, ginger glazed carrots, and sweet potato pie. I tried to find “Thanksgiving in a Bag” but it was sold out long before November.
Guess what’s back for 2021 with a new flavor mix? Returning “favorites” are roast turkey, green beans, stuffing, and cranberry. Carrots and sweet potato pie have been replaced with coffee and apple pie, presumably so there are a couple flavors you’ll actually eat more than once. How did I snag a bag? You gotta shop for Thanksgiving candy in mid-August.
Let’s wrap up with a taste test. Each flavor has a different color combination, but there’s no legend. Apologies if I mistook the turkey and stuffing for each other. It’s not like they’re unmistakable recreations.
Green Beans (top row, left) – It has a definitely flavor, but I never would have come up with “green beans” if it wasn’t color-coded. It’s malty or musty. Is that what beans taste like? It makes sense all six of these are sweet, but that doesn’t make it good.
Roasted Turkey (top row, middle) – One of the few ingredients not disguised under “natural and artificial flavors” is sesame oil. I think that’s what Brach’s is using here to recreate “roasted.” Again, they’re all sweet. How much sugar do you add to your Thanksgiving bird? I also detect notes of garlic or onion.
Cranberry (top row, right) – Best I can say it’s inoffensive. Not tart at all, comes across more like strawberry. At least it’s a candy-flavored candy.
Stuffing (bottom row, left) – This is the one that made me immediately look for a place to spit it out. Salty and oniony and buttery and a little “burnt”? I immediately salivated in a bad way.
Apple Pie (bottom row, middle) – It’s a relief to hit another one that’s edible. Not bad. I get apple (even a little tartness) and cinnamon and vanilla and butter, but overall, it’s how you imagine an apple pie air freshener would taste.
Coffee (bottom row, right) – My mouth thanks Brach’s for not ending on mincemeat or brussels sprouts. It’s like what you’d expect from a cappuccino Jelly Belly, maybe a little cheaper.