What is Chocnut (or Choc Nut, or Choc-nut)?
You will see this candy spelled as either “Chocnut” or “Choc Nut” or “Choc-nut.” I like to use the single word “chocnut.” Chocnut is a combination of the word “chocolate” and “peanut” because that’s what chocnut is–chocolate and peanuts.
Chocnut lists only 5 ingredients: Roasted peanuts, sugar, milk powder, cocoa powder & vanilla.
It is a product of the Philippines from Annie’s Sweets Manufacturing & Packaging, which is located about an hour South of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
What does Chocnut taste like?
Chocnut is probably most similar in taste to a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Chocnut starts as a more crumbly texture but smooths out very nicely. It is has more of a peanut flavor than a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
One of the most common criticisms of Chocnut is the crumbly texture. A package of Chocnut comes with 24 individually wrapped rectangular briquettes. If you are too rough with the packaging, the briquettes can easily crumble inside the packaging.
Admittedly, it is not as satisfying to open a crumbly piece of chocnut as it is to open an intact one.
Chocnut in Pop Culture
Chocnut is an original creation of the Philippines. As I discovered on Wikipedia, it is a candy featured in an award-winning comic series out of the Philippines–Trese. Trese is also now a Netflix series!
In this episode (Ep. 1), the main character bribes a demon to give her information with a giant piece of chocnut.
So when you are eating Chocnut, you are not only eating a tasty morsel of peanut-chocolatey goodness but you are also partaking of a part of Filipino pop culture.
Rating Chocnut
I tasted chocnut and rated it using my proprietary hedonic food rating scale. If you want to see my taste test, check out the YouTube video above or go to my YouTube channel.
My food rater scale rates foods on a scale of 1-10 based on presentation, smell, texture, taste, value in terms of calorie, and value in terms of cost. Each variable uses the following chart:
| Presentation | 9 |
| Smell | 8 |
| Texture | 9 |
| Taste | 9 |
| Value in terms of Calories | 7 |
| Value in terms of Cost | 9 |
| Total Score | 8.5 |
So although this came out as a 8 on the scale, I feel like it could be an 8.5 or 9.
It’s a really good candy.
In fact, it is so enjoyable that you have to be careful. You can eat through these like they are a bag of chips. But at 70 calories per piece, you can easily go way overboard.
When I visit my parents over the holiday, my mom usually gets a bunch of packages of chocnut. I generally gain 5-10 pounds. Chocnut is probably a big part of that. No pun intended…
Where to get Chocnut
It you have a Filipino grocery store near you, they very often carry chocnut. If you don’t, you can get them from Amazon or an online Filipino grocer.
If you want to see what other Filipino treats I’m trying, check out my post on Trying Filipino Candy & Treats. If there’s something you think I should try, let me know in the comments.
