Twinkies add limited-edition lemon creme

It’s no secret that Hostess Twinkies are one of the most popular snack cakes on the market. They’ve been around since 1930, and over the last few years Hostess has tried out several new fillings.

Last year I wrote about the strawberry and chocolate creme-filled Twinkies. In Wal-mart last week I happened across cakes with a lemon creme filling. Right then, the heavens opened up and winged cherubs with harps swirled around my head and starting singing. OK, I’m exaggerating.

After trying them, I’m hoping that they stick around, although I don’t need to eat Twinkies regularly. They are a limited-edition item, but maybe if we all go out and buy them, Hostess will add them to their line for good.

Little Debbie has recently introduced some new products, too. They are:

Cocoa Cremes, which are a lot like Hostess Ding Dongs, only smaller. They are very tasty and sell for about $3 for a box of 12.

Little Muffins in Chocolate Chip and Blueberry flavors. The muffins come in boxes of five pouches and sell for about $2.50 a box.

For Easter and spring, the company offers an attractive and flavorful variety that includes the new Butterfly Cakes, Marshmallow Puffs and Marshmallow Treats, Easter Basket Cakes in Chocolate and Vanilla flavors, and Easter Egg Brownies. Pricing will vary depending on what you buy, but most are probably between $2 and $3 a box.

Until recently, I’d never heard of Original Brat Hans. The brand, which was founded in 2008, is distributed by Coleman Natural Foods, and consists of products made from all-natural meats that have no added hormones, preservatives, antibiotics, nitrates, nitrites or MSG.

Products include bratwurst, chicken and pork sausages, gourmet chicken meatballs and the new grilled chicken breast strips. The flavorful strips are made with organic free-range chicken, and have 100 calories and 1 gram of fat per three-ounce serving.

Original Brat Hans products are sold exclusively at Whole Foods, where an 8ounce package of the chicken breast strips should cost $6 to $7. Last year I wrote about the new Kraft Milk & Granola Bars, and at the time, there was little information about them, even on the company’s website. Now, Kraft is marketing Milkbite Milk & Granola Bars, which look similar, but a press contact says they are a totally new item released this year.

The bars come in Chocolate, Strawberry, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin and Mixed Berry. They’re made with real milk and can be found in the dairy area near the milk at most supermarkets. The bars sell for about $3.50 for a box of five.