Asking yourself: “Is chocolate good for you?”

Bad timing for my Best Vegan Candies of 2020 post from mid-July. It’s now August and I already need to amend the list with Hu Chocolate Bars, which are not only Vegan and Paleo, but non-GMO, no soy, no dairy, no REFINED sugars — and fabu tasting.

Check out the Hu Cashew Butter + Orange Vanilla Dark Chocolate:

To be honest, the sheer amount of customized, small company chocolate bars are overwhelming. Where 15 years ago, you only had the big guns to choose from (Snickers, Hershey, Mars etc.), now there are a multitude of small purveyors at the register of my local grocers. They are usually pretty good, albeit more expensive, but I haven’t found many specialized chocolatiers to be all that different than the others. Until now.

First things first is the texture. Most dark chocolate bars are crisp and tight, not creamy. The Hu Bar is the opposite. And with no dairy? Impressive. Perhaps cashews are the key ingredient for that. The bar has some weight and girth too.

I don’t like orange and chocolate. Or at least I didn’t. But in this Hu Bar it worked for me. More of an undertone — like a good groove; not trying to be the lead singer.

This Hu Bar has a tartness but not sharp taste, very earthy with carob overtones but it won’t feel like you’re eating Trail Mix in 1985. The right amount of salt pulls the flavors out.

Dieting, or managing portions? This bar can fit right in. I found the Hu Bars because my friend Jen is on Weight Watchers and this is her default goto chocolate since 1 piece (which is a reasonable size in volume) is only 1.5 points.

When you’re trying to stay healthy, want Vegan, still need a sweet treat, and can eat nuts: get the Hu Chocolate Bars; they’re wonderful.