Any regular readers of my reviews will be aware by now that I am something of a chocoholic, have an immense sweet tooth, and regularly enjoy indulging my "addictions" by way of chomping merrily on a variety of chocolates and sweets. I would go so far as to say it is my favourite hobby, in fact.

Anyway, one chocolate treat that I always enjoy is from the well-known "Galaxy" brand, namely the Galaxy Minstrels. I often find myself hunting for the recognisable brown coloured bag when I am shopping, and they are a favourite of both myself and my husband if we are going to the cinema, so it is fair to say that I purchase the sweets quite regularly.

In case you are unfamiliar with this particular treat, Minstrels are basically round-shaped sweets that are fairly flat in appearance. They are a dark brown colour, thanks to the crispy chocolate shell that covers the smooth chocolate interior so well. Whilst I normally favour treats and chocolate bars from the "Cadbury's" range, I find that the Galaxy Minstrels really offer something a bit different from the norm.

Firstly, their outer coating is so delightfully crisp that it offers such a satisfying 'bite' to the chocolate sweets. Without being overly hard that it makes the sweets seem difficult to crunch, the crispy coating on the Minstrels adds a pleasant texture to the sweets and makes them quite satisfying to eat.

Secondly, the creamy Galaxy milk chocolate contained within the crispy shells is so deliciously smooth that it 'counteracts' the crunchy, crispy outer 'shell' and adds the perfect balance in terms of the overall texture of the sweets. The end result is a perfect combination of crunchy and smooth, and this makes for a very enjoyable crunchy chocolate sweet, in my opinion.

As I touched on earlier, I usually prefer other brands of chocolate over the Galaxy brand as I often find Galaxy chocolate can be quite sickly and a little over-sweet (even for me!) In the case of the Minstrels however, I find that the chocolate contained within is balanced out a little, thanks to the crispy shell coating. The chocolate is still quite sweet as you would expect, but it doesn't seem to be as sickly as when eating a bar of Galaxy chocolate. I can only put this down to the crispy shells on the outside of the Minstrels providing a bit of a balance to the sweets overall.

The chocolate is of a very high quality, as I have come to expect with products in the Galaxy range. I have never found that any of the Minstrels are imperfect in any way, nor have I found that the chocolate has a sickly - or bitter - aftertaste to it. The chocolate is deliciously creamy, although this is only evident if the outer crispy shell has been sucked off the exterior of the sweets! Otherwise, the texture of the chocolate tends to go unnoticed. The taste is simply divine; very rich, delicious and creamy and of course, extremely sweet.

The nutritional information on the packaging is of course not going to deliver the best news for those of you who are watching your waistline or your calorie intake. I can see that 100g of the sweets will provide: 503 kcal and 22.2g fat. Ahem...! The good news is that they are suitable for a vegetarian diet.

Galaxy Minstrels are widely available in all good supermarkets, newsagents and grocery stores. There are various sizes of bags available, such as an 'individual' bag which generally costs around 65 - 75 pence. The "Treat Bag" is 105g in size and is usually priced at around £1.10, this being the bag that I purchase most often for my husband and myself to share...(sometimes..!!) There is also a larger "Sharer" bag - being 170g in size, which I believe is currently on a special promotional price of only £1 in branches of Asda. (Info correct as @ February/March 2012).

Overall, I absolutely love the Galaxy Minstrels and will continue to buy them for myself and my husband to enjoy. I wholeheartedly recommend giving them a try out if you haven't tried them before... delicious!