Chocolate Altoids tasty

Altoids Dark Chocolate Dipped Mints. Peppermint, Cinnamon, and Ginger. $2.49 per 1.76-ounce tin.

Bonnie: Ever since its health benefits began being touted, dark chocolate has been appearing everywhere. I'm not complaining, mind you: I was a dark chocolate lover even before I knew it contained higher levels of cholesterol-fighting antioxidant flavanols than milk chocolate.

How do these new dark chocolate-covered Altoids compare to all the other new dark chocolate products out there? I found the ginger odd-tasting, the peppermint underlayer still too strong for wimpy me to finish easily, and the cinnamon just right. Cinnamon is also my favorite Altoids.

Two chocolate-covered morsels will set you back only 15 calories and 0.5 grams of fat, compared to 10 calories and no fat in three regular Altoids. The price you'll be paying is more in money than in calories or fat: Chocolate-dipped Altoids cost 40 percent more per tin than regular.

Carolyn: The famous "curiously strong" mint, Altoids, keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. Now, in fact, it's been covered in a hard (Raisinets) dark chocolate that melts in your mouth, not on your hands. The original mint Altoids overpowers the chocolate. I thought it worked well with the ginger, as unlikely as that combination might sound. (In terms of satisfaction, I thought the Cinnamon somewhere in between the other two.)

To experience these flavor combinations, the candies must be chewed rather than sucked on (something that regular Altoids eaters might not like). It also means they don't last anywhere near as long as regular Altoids. And because of the chocolate, these also aren't anywhere near as refreshing or palate-clearing.

Pepperidge Farm Creme Filled Pirouette Rolled Wafers. Mint Chocolate, Chocolate Fudge, Cappuccino, Chocolate Hazelnut, and French Vanilla. $5.99 per 13.5-ounce tin.

Bonnie: Pepperidge Farm now offers its delicate, rolled Pirouette creme-filled cookies in five flavors (the cappuccino will be available only for a limited time at Target). The Mint Chocolate is my favorite of these crispy wafers, perhaps not surprisingly, since I am a chocolate mint lover.

Half of Pirouette Rolled Wafers' 4 to 5 grams of fat per serving are saturated. And, as you know, for optimal heart health, we should try to avoid saturated fats. So just enjoy one of these occasionally.