Dunkin' Eggs Easter Candy Review: These Treats Are All They're Cracked Up To Be

When Dunkin' dropped the word "Donuts" from its name in 2018, the company hoped to emphasize its expanding menu rather than just focusing on the popular pastries that launched the business. It also provided an opportunity for vast branding in the grocery and snack sectors, with shelved items like canned and bottled coffee (see which is better) and its new brownie-batter flavored coffee creamer bringing the flavors home. But when Dunkin' Chocolate Eggs appeared this year in time for Easter, something unique happened; suddenly, three of the chain's classic donut flavors — Coconut, Jelly Donut, and Brownie Batter — have been captured in candy form and bagged up for the Easter-shopping public to relish.

With the introduction of chocolate candies filled with frosting flavors, Dunkin' has executed a delicious twist on an experiment decades ago that saw egg-shaped donuts. These new candies are foil-wrapped and ready to fill Easter baskets. But you'll find no mention of these festive confections on the Dunkin' website; they're made in conjunction with Frankford Candy and appear only in outlets where they're sold, a strange and seemingly limiting move on Dunkin's part. Maybe the company spent all its marketing money promoting the new DunKings menu items.

Regardless, we tracked down a bag and tore into it so we could determine whether moving further into the candy business would be a smooth move or a bitter failure for the chain.

Read more: 12 Popular Ice Cream Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

These Chocolates Are Made From Some Pretty Standard Stuff

Rather than lump all the flavors into a single concept, Dunkin' cleverly creates a different profile for each egg. Brownie Batter makes use of a milk chocolate shell filled with a rich, ganache-like chocolate frosting, while the Coconut one fills a darker chocolate husk with fluffy coconut crème and real coconut flakes. Jelly Donut is a white chocolate treat with a berry-flavored jelly core surrounded by vanilla glaze. Each option incorporates elements from its donut counterpart by moving the toppings to the inside, making these chocolates much tidier when munching.

According to the ingredients listing, Dunkin' uses actual white chocolate made from cocoa butter, not the vanilla-flavored white candy melts found in other so-called white chocolate creations. Milk chocolate is the only other chocolate listed on the label, though it appears in various forms throughout the bag, offering a different flavor each time. Though the fillings aren't called out specifically, the listing mentions nut pastes, fondant, and vegetable fats as well as stabilizers and coloring agents. Palm and shea fats are also listed, which sounds a little gross. But hey, this is Easter candy flavored like donuts we're talking about. We weren't expecting Belgian cocoa and Madagascar vanilla.

You Can Get A Bag For Under $5

The good news for Dunkin' die-hards: You can find a bag of these novelty sweets priced for around $4.49 at your nearby brick-and-mortar Target as well as on the retailer's website if you prefer to have your purchases shipped to your home or prepped for pick-up. The back of the bag says you'll get about seven three-piece servings, which equates to 21 eggs per bag or about $0.21 per piece. You can find them similarly priced for a two-bag purchase on the manufacturer website, FrankfordCandy.com. So though the bag may seem small and the price a little high for such a modest quantity, the per-egg amount is incredibly affordable for a branded treat that could make your holiday a whole lot sweeter.

Official word from the manufacturer is that Dunkin' eggs are also available at Walgreens, Giant, and Ross stores. But beware if you go shopping online anywhere other than Target. We found a few listings that jack the price up to unreasonable levels. Crafty candy retailer Snackivore lists a two-bag offer for Dunkin' chocolate eggs on Amazon for $19.99, which is more than twice the Target price. Sweetzo, another online confection connection, has its own Amazon listing at $18.75 for two bags, and a third-party seller on Amazon lists it's two-bag purchase at $24.99. Even if you're a fan of Dunkin' or limited-edition chocolates, or even candy that's shaped like eggs, there's such a thing as paying too much. Try Target first.

Dunkin' Chocolate Eggs Are A Limited-Edition Treat Made Available By Frankford Candy

You may recognize the name Frankford Candy, a player in the long game of sweets and treats making branded goodies through strategic partnerships for more than two decades. Though the company's history extends back to 1947, its connection to recognizable names has resulted in creative cross-promotional packages for the 2024 Easter season, including Rice Krispies Strawberry Bunnies, Super Mario Treasure Hunt eggs filled with candy, and even Claussen pickle-flavored jelly beans. Dunkin' Chocolate Eggs are part of this collection, extending the brand-based handshake to incorporate the biggest donut and coffee chain in the U.S.

Aside from holiday-ready fare, Frankford Candy also stocks store shelves with some familiar products year-round, clever creations like gummy Lunchables and Krabby Patties. In all, the company represents more than 25 well-known brands, adapting television, film, and familiar toy properties into fun, edible, and collectible items that appear to be made by the brands themselves. Check the back of the package, though, and you'll discover they're Frankford Candy products. And now, Dunkin' has a chocolate Easter offering that bears the same label.

These Candies Are A Fun Addition To The Usual Easter Basket Stuffers

There's something especially exciting about finding a Dunkin' chocolate among the other bags in the Easter candy aisle, especially with the distinctive Dunkin' colors standing out so boldly among the pastel palette of the holiday. But these aren't the only Dunkin' chocolate treats circulating the candy world. Frankford Candy adds the seasonal selections to a previous Dunkin' line that includes truffles filled with similar flavors and cleverly packaged in a Munchkin take-out box. For Valentine's Day, the truffles made an appearance in heart-shaped boxes bearing the bright orange Dunkin' logo. Frankford also makes these treats available in bulk form on Amazon and on its website for non-holiday enjoyment.

Frankford Candy's listing of Dunkin' products isn't limited to these diminutive bon-bons. You can find hot chocolate bombs from Dunkin' in an assortment of flavors as well as donut-flavored chocolate patties similar to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and jelly beans that capture the cool flavors of iced coffee sold by the Dunkin' company. It's an enticing line-up that doesn't overwhelm you with too many choices. Every selection seems to be carefully thought out to fit within the Dunkin'-branded world. Having donut-flavored chocolate eggs joining the collection is a logical extension of the core concept.

A Satisfying Serving Isn't The Worst As Far As Nutrition Goes

The back of the bag qualifies three eggs as a single serving. Since these treats are generously sized, it's a whole lot of Dunkin' to delight in. A serving carries with it 190 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 18 grams of sugar. But if you're not in the mood for downing three Dunkin' eggs in a single go, one unwrapped ingot divides those numbers into thirds: 63 calories, 3.6 grams of fat, and 6 grams of sugar. You won't be mistaking these candies for health food, of course, but as candy goes, a single treat is more than adequate to satisfy your craving while allowing you to sample the novelty flavors without wildly compromising sensible eating guidelines.

To put these numbers in perspective, Cadbury Mini Eggs, another popular Easter candy option, considers 12 pieces a serving, which comes with 190 calories and only 7 grams of fat, though the sugar jumps up to a whopping 28 grams. While a full serving of both Dunkin' and Cadbury treats are fairly equal in what they offer nutrition-wise, in our experience, you'll get as much enjoyment from one Dunkin' egg as you would from a full serving of Cadbury Mini Eggs, but with less impact to your nutrition goals.

All in all, a single Dunkin' egg will quell your sweet tooth and allow you to indulge in the holiday fun with more consideration for your health goals than other treats.

Review: Dunkin' Chocolate Eggs Are Well Worth Dunkin' Into

It's a sweet surprise to discover neither Frankford Candy nor Dunkin' has fudged on this most recent foray into the chocolate market. We tried these chocolate eggs a few different ways to find the best approach for experiencing the full flavor spectrum. First, we broke one of each flavor in half to expose and sample the filling separately. This was a perfect way to determine that the interiors are smooth and luxurious inside each unique treat. Jelly Donut offers a white chocolate shell with fluffy pink confection and jelly filling that tastes surprisingly ... baked? Yes — baked! Coconut encases whipped coconut crème and real coconut within a milk chocolate shell, like a Mounds bar made with more finesse. And Brownie Batter is rich and silky, with a distinctly ganache-like taste and texture. Every variation is a sweet surprise.

The only oddity we found were the winding grooves on the surface of the eggs that made them resemble walnut shells more than eggs, a design choice that seems strange but inconsequential. And whether intentional or accidental, the two halves of each egg are slightly misaligned, making it easy to break the candy in half to eat the filling separately, Oreo-style. It also makes simple work of sharing your eggs — if you choose to do such a thing. We liked these chocolates so much that we didn't feel particularly generous when we tried them. We're guessing you might feel the same way.

Read the original article on Mashed.