Editor's Note: Introducing Meet Me Mondays - Candy Version! I am Britta Malsch, the Purchasing Manager at Anderson's Candy Shop. I also help the Andersons with social media duties. As I enter my 10th year at the store, another one of my goals has been to help introduce each of our delicious candies to our wonderful customers, while also providing a tool for the general public to be able to identify our candy. I hope you enjoy this series which will highlight all the Anderson's Candy that you love!
Sixteenth in our series is Hazelnut.
Meet Hazelnut.
This nut has quite an interesting history with our shop!
If you're up for a fun read, go --> here to learn the story of how we transitioned this not-so-popular nut bar formerly known as "Filbert" into the now trendy Hazelnut. All thanks to a devoted customer!
Our Hazelnuts start out as our other nuts do, sourced locally via NIDA Trading Company in Elk Grove Village. These small round nuts are buttery, sweet, slightly earthy with almost a toasted note in their flavor profile. They are part of a match made in heaven with our chocolate.
When searching for a Hazelnut piece in your next box of Anderson's, you will look for a cup that has two pieces (yep, all of our nut centers are paired up). This piece is ever so slightly oblong and usually fairly uniform in size. On the top you will see a sort of slender "C" shape right in the middle.
You will note in the photo above and below, that the handwriting on the two Hazelnuts is different. Yep! Just like on paper, each Chocolate Dipping Associate in our shop has her own chocolate handwriting.
Hazelnuts are also offered at our shop in the popular "candy bar" format.
Each bar starts out as an oblong "bed" of chocolate. The Hazelnuts are tucked in and covered in chocolate. The bars are made in groups of ten on a pan, so that each Dipper can weigh their work on a scale to ensure uniformity (within a given margin) in their hand dipped candy bars.
This perfect union of chocolate and smooth rich taste of the hazelnuts is dare I say, better than the famous "Nutella" spread?! I guess you will have to try one to be the official judge of that!
As always, our chocolate nut bars are Gluten Free!
