Review: M&Ms White Chocolate Strawberries & Creme Are Cute, But Don't Make The Cut

Just in time for Valentine's Day, and for a limited-time only, M&Ms has unveiled its White Chocolate Strawberries & Creme candy, available while supplies last, starting at $5 each. These bite-sized, strawberry-flavored pink and red beauties are filled with white chocolate as opposed to the typical milk chocolate found in the candies. 

The M&M's brand is certainly no stranger to creating some of the most interesting and bizarre-flavored candies for virtually every special occasion known to man. While this one is a little more mainstream than some of its previous endeavors, like Jalapeño Peanut M&M's and Thai Coconut Peanut M&M's, it sparked my curiosity nonetheless. As a chef, I am no stranger to combining berries and white chocolate in desserts. In fact, it is one of my favorite flavor combinations in recipes like a red, white, and blue chocolate bark or a white chocolate mousse. That said, I jumped at the opportunity to review these crimson and pretty-in-pink confections. Read on to see if they lived up to my expectations or if they were too good to be true. 

Full disclosure: I happen to be a peanut M&M's lover and generally prefer dark chocolate. That said, I do enjoy white chocolate in the right context, so, while this might not be my go-to candy selection, in theory, these should have been right up my alley. When I opened the package, these M&M's smelled just like Skittles. They were super fruity, but the kind of artificial berry scent that is kind of unidentifiable. I popped one in my mouth and let the candy shell melt so that I could really taste the underlying strawberry and white chocolate flavors. While both were discernible, the whole thing was exceedingly sweet and the white chocolate was rather mediocre. 

For the uninitiated, white chocolate is actually chocolate, despite the fact that it doesn't contain cocoa nibs. The key is the amount of cocoa butter contained in the white chocolate, which, must be at least 20% to be legally classified as such. While white chocolate is nowhere near as complex as its milk and dark counterparts, it should have some nuance to it. It should not be overly sweet and should have a distinctive buttery quality that coats your tongue when you bite into it. This white chocolate was none of those things. 

Though the M&M's White Chocolate Strawberries & Creme candies are creamy and as cute as a button, they are far too sweet for my palate. The strawberry flavor wasn't as pronounced as I would have preferred and the white chocolate was average, at best. I missed the bittersweet notes of dark or even milk chocolate and the saltiness and crunch of classic peanut M&M's. 

This probably shouldn't have surprised me, as, historically speaking, strawberry-flavored M&M's have not fared well in rankings of this iconic candy. Many of the top ranking flavors combine sweet with salty, creating a complexity that is far more appealing for discerning palates. 

So, should you buy a package of M&M's White Chocolate Strawberries & Creme as a special treat for your sweetie this Valentine's day? That depends on your tastes. If you don't mind a candy that is really sweet and are mostly looking for something that will stick with the romantic pink and red theme of the holiday, these would be a fine addition to a gift. They'd even work in an everything but the kitchen sink type cookie recipe, where there are other ingredients to lend nuance and texture to the mix. I wouldn't make them a regular staple treat to satisfy my sweet tooth, though. I'll stick with my favorite peanut M&M's for that.