Nutty Steph's blogs

Now Hiring for The Hub

Josie — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 15:38:12 +0000

Posted on Wed, Feb 10, 10:38am

by Josie

About Us

Nutty Steph’s is a chocolate and granola manufacturing company that uses highest quality GMO-free ingredients to produce the most delicious food we possibly can for Vermonters, loyal American mail order customers, and natural and independent wholesalers. We need a new “Hub,” who pulls the loose ends together. We have built a compassionate and collaborative work environment with special perks and flexibility for someone who gets the job done. Our goal is to create the best company we by maintaining transparent financial and managerial systems, and we strive to balance the health of the business with the well being of the workers. This is an exciting time to join our team, as we build systems from the ground up and lay a foundation for future growth.

Position Summary

The Hub delivers administrative excellence and acts as a liason between production workers, vendors, wholesale customers and the owner. They will get their hands dirty in the goopy chocolate and the maple-sweetened granola as a means to understand and improve systems with our staff of excellent chocolate makers and bakers. We are looking for someone who is excels in time management and communication. This person has proficiency with spreadsheets and will use them to build protocol documents and to analyze costs of goods, production bonus structures, and other aspects of profitability. The Hub also maintains software and hardware assets in working condition and is comfortable trouble-shooting in the face of malfunction.

Essential Responsibilities

Order Fulfillment:

Phone and email response, including wholesale order invoicing
Order processing, generation of shipping labels, error tracking and follow-up
Production scheduling in accordance with product flow and in anticipation of customer needs

Administration:

Vendor relations and weekly purchasing
Data entry and cost analysis
Accounts receivable, payroll reporting and deposits
Maintenance of company systems and manuals

Skill Requirements

Proficient computer skills, including email, Google docs and spreadsheets
Excellent communication and record keeping skills
Creative and adaptable; able to problem solve and improve systems
Optimal but not required: Quickbooks experience, social media, POS systems, Shipstation
Baking or chocolate-making experience is a plus

Additional Details

This position begins at less than 20 hours per week
Compensation is $12-17 depending on experience

To Apply Send cover letter and resume with 3 references to Jaquelyn at [email protected]">[email protected]

Another granola, after all these years...and it's GLUTEN FREE!

Josie — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 20:33:17 +0000

Posted on Tue, Jun 9, 4:33pm

by Josie

After a decade of unwavering faith in our original Nutty Steph’s granola, we’re ready to officially introduce a new Nutty Steph's classic. Certified gluten free for all the celiacs and other gluten free eaters out there, this granola is the next best invention to come out of our test-bakery over many years of experimenting. It’s called Ginger Bootstrap.

Its name hints at the flavor. There is obviously ginger. Bootstraps, however? None in sight, though the dark leathery imagery manages to carry the flavor profile to your mind’s tongue. This granola is a deep, rich, toasty brown from the gingery molasses and maple that we coat these oats with. Plenty of spice and deep aromatic pungency, wrapped around the characteristic Nutty Steph’s crunch, create a gingerbread-inspired granola as classic as the straps on your favorite vintage leather boots.

But how could you do this? Where are the nuts, Nutty Steph’s? And why the ginger? These questions may be floating around in the heads of all you Nutty Steph’s lovers, but they are off point. The answer is, because it is delicious and above all, delicious is what we do. Another answer is, we did it for the celiacs. We wanted to offer an excellent snacking option to this population that is most often served by terrible knockoffs of tasty baked goods, made only with gritty brown rice flour and impossibly unleavened. We wanted to create a gluten free goodie that is actually just a great product happening to contain zero glutens.

We’ve been selling this granola in bulk for a few years now and it can be found all over the country in hip places like The Wedge in Minneapolis, Rebecca’s Natural Foods in Charlottesville, VA, North Coast Coop in Eureka, CA, and Pomme de Terre in Morris, MN. It's also a favorite in the bulk department at Healthy Living in Burlington, VT. Soon, this treat will be available on the shelves in convenient packages at your local co-op. Don't see it yet? Put in a request to your food buyer to get it on the shelves, and check in frequently at our online shop. We'll have it available for purchase this summer!

The story behind the Magic

Josie — Mon, 11 May 2015 21:38:34 +0000

Posted on Mon, May 11, 5:38pm

by Josie

Early one spring, just as Vermont sugar makers were boiling off their first batches of fragrant maple syrup, we had a little blip at the granola bakery. A whole 1000 pound batch of granola came out of the oven without its signature crunch. Wondering if the moisture of the spring thaw was to blame, Patrick checked the temperature and humidity in the bakery. After a few small adjustments he baked another batch, but again the crunch was absent. He decide to try a new shipment of oats from a different grower; still the third time was not a charm. This left Nutty Steph’s with 3000 pounds of potential compost.

Meanwhile, Jaquelyn’s good friend Patty had been trying to convince her to mix Nutty Steph’s granola with melted chocolate and freeze it for a new product. After repeatedly refusing, Jaquelyn went on a picnic with Patty, some friends, and a big bag of Patty’s chocolate-covered granola. The bag was empty in less than 10 minutes. Jaquelyn filed this information into brain compartment number 7,863,642,485 for future use, so when she ended up with a truckload of slightly-too-soft but otherwise tasty granola, she knew exactly what to do with it.

"Wait a minute," you say, "did you ever figure out why the granola was soft in the first place?" Yes. It was the new spring batch of maple syrup. The sugar content was slightly less than it had been in the standardized barrels of syrup from the year before; and anyone who’s ever tried to skimp on the sugar in a cookie recipe knows that the right amount of sugar is actually essential to the crunch and texture of the cookie. So the mystery was solved and Jaquelyn was able to utilize this disaster in the creation of a new path for her granola company.

This is how Magic Chunks were born. Initially, we made one kind: the dark chocolate chunk. After discovering our Ecuadorian chocolate source, we were compelled to create more chunk flavors to highlight the fruity, nutty, tropical flair of the new chocolate. Many test-batches later, we’d settled on the winners:

The Crunchy Mint Magic Chunk: Dark and simply delicious with real peppermint oil, these chunks are reminiscent of those ever-beloved Girl Scout cookies that you have stashed in the back of your freezer. You know what I’m talking about.

The Black Forest Magic Chunk: With dark bing cherries, sweet banana slices, and crunchy coconut flakes, these chunks are chewy, tangy, and seriously irresistible.

The Peanut Butter Magic Chunk: A peanut butter and milk chocolate synthesis proving that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. So expertly blended, this flavor is a favorite even of those hard-to-please customers who claim they don’t like peanut butter OR milk chocolate.

The Gluten-Free Magic Chunk: We keep the kitchen clean enough for a celiac with these original dark chocolate chunks featuring certified gluten-free oats. Gluten-free doesn’t always translate to rice flour and inferior texture. You won’t detect any decline in deliciousness here.

And there you have it folks--the first half of the story of Magic Chunks. I know what you're thinking. "There's another half of the story?" Yes--it's a story of friendship, determination, and the indomitable human spirit. I am not joking one bit, and when I finally tell you the rest you will understand.

You want to get in on this magic? Visit our online store this month and get a FREE ½ pound of magic chunks for any order over $50.

It all started with Mom

Josie — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 17:38:20 +0000

Posted on Wed, Apr 29, 1:38pm

by Josie

I’m not just making a general statement about my life or life in general when I say that it all started with mom. I’m talking about Nutty Steph’s. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we've been reflecting on all the mothers involved in the company and the massive additions of creativity, enthusiasm, and loving support that mothers have infused into Nutty Steph's over the years. It was in fact Jaquelyn’s own mother Libby who gave her the idea of starting the business.

Libby has always made it a priority to come to Vermont and help her daughter with big moves and life changes, taking a break from the business she co-owns with her husband Todd. In 2003 when Jaquelyn decided to quit teaching math, Libby came to help her transition and find a place to live in Montpelier. While driving around central Vermont, the duo stopped at a gas station and bought some granola. Libby remarked that Jaquelyn’s granola, which she’d been baking for 3 or 4 years already, was so much better and she should start her own granola business. Jaquelyn took her advice.

Since then, Libby has faithfully returned for every major milestone in the Nutty Steph’s world, offering a hand in the move from our warehouse in Montpelier to our current shop in Middlesex, the opening of the Bacon Thursday Bar, and the big Roaring 20’s 10th anniversary party.

And she’s not the only mother who's made a big impression on the place. Our chocolatier Priscilla often brings any combination of her four children to work and they love helping out, whether it be bagging granola, dipping cookies into chocolate or just running around in cowboy or Michael Jackson costumes, livening up the shop. Priscilla, who is a painter, seamstress, and mosaic artist, designed tile mosaics for a few of our tired old bar tables and inspired us to re-paint the shop to brighten it up. Her son Steele even put up an art show on the freshly painted walls.

Our warehouse and shop manager Sophie originally started coming to work uninvited with her sister Grace and wrapped chocolate bars for free until we agreed to hire her for her sheer enthusiasm. She has turned out to be a fun, dedicated employee. Besides sewing new potholders for the kitchen and colorful flags to decorate our otherwise very utilitarian warehouse, she always knows how to make the customers laugh. Sophie recently hired her mother Patty to do the huge job of bagging the fresh-baked granola every Wednesday.

Our photographer and mural-artist Natasha brings her daughter Iris when she comes to take pictures and Iris loves getting to taste all that the shop has to offer.

In honor of motherhood and family connections, we take pride in being a business that encourages our employees' families to spend time in the chocolate shop and production space during the work day. Nutty Steph's recognizes the strength and dedication of women who are raising children and we know that our company would not be as vibrant without the mothers and familial bonds we nurture here.

So for Mother's Day this year, of course you should give your mom some of the best chocolate and granola available; but you should also pay homage to mothers everywhere by creating employment situations conducive to motherhood. We recently enacted a maternity leave plan. If you're part of a company that doesn't have one, what better time than now to show that you honor the mothers in your workplace?

Crunchy, Sweet, Tasty

Josie — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Posted on Thu, Apr 9, 12:00am

by Josie

It’s time we talked about my relationship with granola. Having lived in a vegetarian cooperative in college, I've eaten my fair share of granola. We elected at least 4 granola bakers every semester for the sole purpose of contributing weekly to our stash of baked breakfast oats. They did quite a bit of experimenting and sometimes got it right, creating a batch worthy of passing grades in the 3 categories of granola perfection: crunchy, sweet, and tasty. More often than not, though, the granola was lacking in one or more of these qualifications--like the batch sweetened with loads of molasses: not crunchy or tasty, though possibly edible if any of us had been horses. Or the granola baked with soymilk instead of oil and honey: not crunchy, tasty, or sweet. The granola flavored with cinnamon and applesauce was delicious but actually belonged in a whole separate category called "baked oatmeal"--definitely an F on the granola crunch scale.

It wasn't until I moved to Vermont and got a job at the the Bee's Knees in Morrisville that I tried a granola worthy of an A+ in all 3 categories. It was, of course, Nutty Steph’s granola. I was hesitant to try it at first, as the mere sight of granola caused my digestive sphincters to clamp shut (after a few years of eating the experiments of vegetarian college-students-turned-chef, this still happens if someone even mentions lentils in my presence).

Nutty Steph’s granola is perfectly crunchy, sweet, and tasty. One obvious reason is the roasted nuts; and we make sure you get maple-toasted almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts in every spoonful.

Another factor is the precise blend of sunflower oil and maple syrup that we coat the oats and nuts with. Any more maple and it’d be dessert instead of breakfast or snack food, not to mention the extra water content would leave the oats a little chewy. Any less oil and some of the oats would be naked. You may as well be eating muesli at that point. After 11 years, we’ve got this recipe down to a science. A little vanilla and cinnamon go a long way, and did I mention the maple syrup? How many granolas out there are sweetened only with pure maple syrup?

Though the freshness and quality of our ingredients is imperative, the biggest reason for the Nutty Steph’s crunch is not a secret ingredient, but a simple omission. We don’t put dried fruit in our granola. The moisture content of most dried fruit is 25% and that’s enough moisture to leach out into the granola while it’s in the bag and get the oats nice and stale. If you love fruit in your granola--and who doesn’t?--we recommend that you put your choice of dried fruit into the bowl right before you eat it. Or, use fresh blueberries or peaches. We’ll leave that part up to you.

Where did YOU first taste Nutty Steph's granola?

Hand-packaged by us!

Josie — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Posted on Mon, Mar 16, 12:00am

by Josie

The packaging crew wrapping maple walnut bars

In 2004, just a year after Jaquelyn started Nutty Steph’s, she was approached by a Washington County Mental Health worker named Lauren who asked if she would be willing to hire and train a person with special needs. The program Lauren worked for was designed to empower people with developmental or physical disabilities by matching them with gratifying employment opportunities and aides that would work alongside and guide them. Jaquelyn was eager to participate.

Soon after, she was talking with a friend who worked in a transitional home for people leaving prison and this friend recommended that she hire someone from the home who was looking for a job. She became dedicated to helping this person get back on his feet and has since maintained a focus on hiring people with special needs or who may otherwise face challenges when seeking employment.

This new direction turned out to be not only a benefit to the new employees, but also to the company’s health. As Nutty Steph’s was still in its infancy, Jaquelyn didn’t possess much managerial experience and she claims that “working with people with special needs guided me to slow myself down enough to learn that workers need instruction and attention. Indeed, it has been a big part about understanding my own needs, and to be more forgiving of myself and others about the fact that we all need a lot of support and predictability in the workplace.” While she had previously overlooked the practice of developing employee protocols and instructions, Jaquelyn learn how to delegate tasks clearly and consistently with help from the aides that came to work alongside the first new hire.

Packaging granola was the main job for which Jaquelyn hired help in the early years, but wrapping chocolate bars has become another crucial task every week. Many people are surprised when they find out that Nutty Steph’s chocolate bars are all wrapped by hand. Sometimes that’s as many as 2,000 bars a week. As a small artisan food producer, the hand-made and hand-packaged aspects of our products have always been a point of pride.

Employing people to package goods may be more expensive, but the benefits outweigh the costs by far. While less time-efficient, a human touch allows us to use big chunks of hand-cut ingredients in our chocolate bars and to wrap them with finesse, whereas machine-wrapped bars need to be consistently flat.

Check out those toffee chunks in our toffee coffee bar!

Have you ever wondered why your bag of chips has so few chips and so much air in it? It’s because a machine is unable to package as efficiently as a human. It needs space to allow the heat-sealing mechanism to clamp down on the bag without crushing the delicate crispy contents. Machine-filled bags can only be filled ⅔ of the way but at Nutty Steph’s we can pack our granola bags full by hand, leaving virtually no air space. This allows us to use a fraction of the packaging material required by companies that use machines.

This kind of work has a tendency to be very monotonous to some people, but we’re able to offer a gratifying job to a person who enjoys excelling at a repetitive task and performing it perfectly every time. Jaquelyn has found that the members of our current packaging crew, though they each took a little longer to develop the skill of wrapping chocolate bars, can now wrap bars expertly for hours with contentment.

Grace and Britney having fun with Bacon Bars

Grace, who has worked at Nutty Steph’s for over 2 years, enjoys wrapping chocolate bars and loves trying to outwrap the other packagers. Sophie, Grace’s sister who also works at Nutty Steph’s overseeing the packaging crew, knows how rewarding employment has been for Grace. “Having a job is what many people with special needs look forward to most during their week,” says Sophie, “so you can bet that they will arrive at the workplace thrilled to be there, not complaining, and will be an excellent influence on their co-workers. Who wouldn't want to incorporate that sort of weekly rhythm to lighten the workplace atmosphere? [And] because our products are in stores locally where Grace, Britney and Carigen frequent, they get to see all the Nutty Steph’s bars on the shelves that they have packaged and know that they are contributing to the community.”

Grace with a stack of wrapped chocolate bars ready to be stickered.

Working at Nutty Steph's wouldn't be nearly as lively without our packaging crew. We're glad to offer you treats that will always be hand-packed with plenty of fun and love.

What could be better than love? I'll tell you what...

Josie — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Posted on Tue, Feb 10, 12:00am

by Josie

Ah, Valentine's day. I must say, I've always had a hard time with the color red and I loathe the bubbly cartoon heart shape that has come to represent love. The human heart, however, with its veins and compartments and smooth muscle is capable of pumping blood for 100 years literally without missing a beat--now that’s a thing of beauty in my eyes.

Despite the despicable decorative hearts assaulting us from every angle, this holiday has come to represent the love we find in our very real human hearts. Even if you’re happily single, you may spend the day calling your family, having a solidarity dinner with your other single friends, or eating chocolate, alone, on the couch--because chocolate is just as fulfilling as love and you don’t need anyone else to enjoy this sweet pleasure. Romantic love is a drug. It is perhaps one of the only forms of addiction that is actually encouraged. But I’m not here to delve too deeply into the theories and pharmacology of amore; I’m here to talk about a simpler pleasure--one that will never break your heart or leave you high and dry. Who really needs love when you’ve got chocolate?

Did you know that chocolate is good for your heart? It’s true. Chocolate contains extraordinarily high levels of polyphenols, which are antioxidants that protect against heart disease. These polyphenols prevent blood platelets from sticking together, which reduces the risk of developing atherosclerosis -- hardening of the arteries. They also reduce oxidation of the “bad cholesterol” in our bodies. Numerous studies have shown that eating a small amount of chocolate every day can significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Chocolate also contains multiple alkaloids that put the brain in an excited, blissful, and sensuous state not unlike being in love. The most common of these alkaloids is caffeine, which is a nervous system stimulant. It increases blood flow to the brain and secretion of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is involved in mood regulation. Theobromine is a lesser known alkaloid that also stimulates the heart and central nervous system. The most psychoactive of these compounds is phenethylamine, which is sometimes called “the love drug” because it exists naturally in the human brain and is released when we’re in love. It triggers a cascade of stimulating hormones and neurotransmitters: endorphins, which are the brain’s endogenous opiates, norepinephrine, which gives you the racing heart and sweaty palms, and dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical that is released during pleasurable experiences such as sex.

So whether you've got a sweetie to lavish gifts upon or you’re looking to nourish your own heart, I bet you’re coming into Nutty Steph’s to revel in chocolate this Valentine's day. You won’t be able to resist the juicy chocolate-covered strawberries that we’re dipping fresh every day this week. You’re welcome to nibble on our new pink raspberry chocolate lips. If you want to unwrap something scandalously delicious, the love bar was made for you; and we've got chocolate cigarettes...you know, for afterward.

Behind the scenes at the granola bakery

Josie — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Posted on Wed, Dec 31, 12:00am

by Josie

Holiday treats without the food coloring

Josie — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Posted on Tue, Dec 9, 12:00am

by Josie

This time of year often brings to mind the scents I smelled as a child while spending the holidays with my family—warm wafts of gingerbread seeping from the oven, the bright familiar fragrance of the balsam fir tree, clove-studded oranges diffusing over the wood stove—all of these perfumes rising noxiously from their wicks. Actually, we put up the same fake Christmas tree every year and until I went off to college, I assumed that baking from scratch was a form of magic that only Sam's Club knew the secret to. For the holidays in our suburban home, my mom made sure to light candles formulated to mimic those classic olfactory stimulants and I'm certain that's why both of us suffer from mild headaches around Christmas time.

I've come a long way from the days when I stirred artificial vanilla flavoring and white sugar into my milk as a snack. After moving to Vermont when I was 19, I tasted real gingerbread, saw a Christmas tree farm and discovered that there is a difference between pancake syrup and maple syrup. As a child of the land where everything is store-bought and you don't know who made it, where, out of what, I quickly became enamored with the prospect of making food out of real ingredients, and this is what Nutty Steph's strives to do.

December in the chocolate factory is when we look forward to blending up bright red raspberry powder and inhaling the pungent aroma of peppermint. Around this time six years ago, Nutty Steph's had an exciting new store front in Middlesex and Jaquelyn was experimenting with holiday chocolate treats. A friend inspired her to make a two-toned peppermint bark with crushed peppermint sticks in white chocolate, layered over peppermint-flavored dark chocolate. Realizing the white chocolate overpowered the mint candy, Jaquelyn added more crushed candy canes but no matter how much she put in she couldn't achieve the mintiness she sought. She finally just added peppermint extract to the white chocolate. Now that it was deliciously minty though, she realized she didn't feel good about using sugary, dyed candy canes.

While brainstorming ways to make the bark crunchy and pink using natural ingredients, Jaquelyn remembered a snack food company she'd discovered in a natural food store years prior that boasted unadulterated freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. She'd been hoping for a reason to work with this incredible company and ordered some freeze-dried raspberries from Just Tomatoes. The whole chunky raspberries added a tender crunch and finely ground raspberry powder turned the white chocolate a desirable shade of pink. Finally Nutty Steph's two-toned peppermint bark was born.

A few years later, as our tastes continued to refine, we realized that the peppermint extract we were using was excessively harsh, as most alcohol extracts are. This prompted us to source a fine peppermint leaf oil and the bark was improved yet again. This peppermint oil shines bright as ever in our dark chocolate peppermint truffle that is dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with raspberry dust for a flawless holiday look. When I started making truffles here, I shared Jaquelyn's conviction to use the most whole natural ingredients available in our products and I believe that this is the reason for their superiority. Many truffles out there are flavored with liqueurs and leave a vague alcoholic aftertaste that disguises the intended flavor, or they're airbrushed with dyed cocoa butter and metallic glitter. If you're looking for a natural treat for the dark chocolate lover in your life, our dark raspberry truffle is flavored with real raspberry jam and decorated with red raspberry powder. Our pizzelles, flavored with whole anise seeds, baked in a traditional Italian pizzelle press and dipped in dark chocolate, look remarkably like snow flakes.

Ever think about using cranberries and pistachios to make a red and green holiday chocolate bark? We have. Come see what we've thought up this year at Nutty Steph's chocolate shop, where embracing the holiday spirit does not mean swallowing the food coloring.

Revisiting Milk Chocolate

Josie — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Posted on Tue, Nov 18, 12:00am

by Josie

I'm going to let you in on a secret. At Nutty Steph's we blend our own milk chocolate out of dark and white chocolates. The dark provides the cacao content and the white provides the milk powder and most of the sugar. While the main difference between dark and milk chocolate is that dark lacks milk powder, it also generally contains much less sugar and fat than milk chocolate and more cacao--which means more antioxidants and minerals. With all the hype over the health benefits of dark chocolate, milk chocolate's popularity in the U.S. has taken a nose dive in the last decade. It's understandable. Generations of Americans who grew up eating Hershey's bars have seen candy aisles boom with a selection of artisan dark chocolates straight out of a European’s dream, and their options are daily expanding.

Aside from embracing the trend toward low-sugar, low-fat diets, consumers are also discovering the possibilities of subtle flavor nuance available in single origin chocolates. When chocolate is made from cacao beans all grown in one bioregion, it tends to display the unique taste of the soil composition and growing conditions in that area. Who could choose a milk chocolate bar that contains only 11% cacao—which means the rest is mostly sugar and fat—with artificial flavors and an emulsifier called polyglycerol polyricinoleate over an 85% ultra dark Columbian chocolate that boasts a fruity bouquet reminiscent of the papaya trees that shaded the cacao during it's growth, hints of vanilla from the vines whose roots were intertwined with the cacao's, and a delicate bitterness that blooms on the back of the tongue, giving way to a rich buttery aftertaste and an eternal home in the rainforest?

The trend toward single origin chocolates has reached terminal velocity and a new generation of companies like Tcho are experimenting with the range of flavor profiles available in expertly blended cacao beans. Meanwhile we seem to have lost sight of our old stand-by. I must admit that Nutty Steph's has gone through this phase as well because most of our customers want dark chocolate, and for good reason. But I think it's time we re-examine our aversion to milk chocolate.

When I first came on board as a chocolatier at Nutty Steph's, I had abandoned my juvenile predilection for milk and white chocolates and matured into an avid dark chocolate enthusiast. All I could taste when I sucked on a disc of milk chocolate was rotten milk powder. At this point in Nutty Steph's history, we were carrying a variety of European and American blends. I took my dislike for our non-dark chocolates as a sign of my own refined palate. Our discovery of the 71% Ecuadorian chocolate that would come to dominate our product line only reinforced the idea that dark chocolate was superior. It took an Italian white chocolate to change my mind. After opening a shipment of new chocolates and realizing we’d stumbled upon the king of white chocolates—a vanilla bean-studded, fresh creamy-textured cube of organic Italian confectionery bliss—I knew that we could blend a milk chocolate deserving of a silver Nutty Steph's wrapper and a place on our shelves.

We made some test batches of milk, blending this white with our house blend dark chocolate, 100% unsweetened chocolate, and also with our Ecuadorian chocolate. The Ecuadorian blend of course surpassed any other. This synthesis of fine Arriba Nacional cacao beans and only the best vanilla beans and milk created a depth of flavor I hadn't thought possible in milk chocolate. Malted milk balls floated in a viscous sea of buttery caramel lapping onto a fresh dark, ever-so-slightly bitter shore. All of a sudden I couldn’t get enough of our plain milk chocolate bar. It only got better when we mixed in salted walnuts, pretzel pieces, or peanut butter. I started eating milk chocolate turtles on every shift. As an homage to the new milk chocolate I created the coconut caramel cluster, a rich time-consuming handmade caramel packed with toasted coconut and so worthy of dipping into this refined milky coating.

But what about all the sugar and fat? In order to be called chocolate in the United States, a chocolate bar need only contain 10% cacao. In Europe, the minimum is 20%. While most mainstream milk chocolates on the American market don't rise much higher than the required percentage, our milk chocolate contains about 41% cacao. Therefore sugar and fat comprise far less of the total than in the milk chocolate you probably grew up eating. And even if it is a little sweeter and fattier, who really eats chocolate just for the health benefits? The point is, milk chocolate is no longer synonymous with cheap Halloween treats, unrefined palates, and diabetes. It deserves another chance. A milk chocolate with all the promising delicacy of a single origin dark awaits you here at Nutty Steph’s chocolate shop. Come in and sample our maple walnut bar or pick up a few turtles and perhaps you’ll see milk chocolate in a whole new light.