It seems that the winning recipe for our December candy contest has kicked off a bit of a controversy all over the Bay Area, especially amongst longtime bakers who know their recipes. It turns out that a lot of our readers are quite familiar with the basic premise behind our first place winner’s recipe, a candy made by dipping chow mein noodles and cashews into a mix of butterscotch and chocolate chips. Starting the day the story ran, we began to get calls, emails and letters; about a dozen in all.

Jim Sutherland from Tracy informed us, “The recipe is even on the back of the Chinaboy brand bag of Chow Mein Noodles available at Savemart Supermarkets. This candy is often called ‘Noodle Clusters’ or ‘Haystacks.”’ He went on to provide no less than six other versions of the recipe that he found online. Thanks, Jim! Another reader wrote to tell us that the winning recipe is exactly the same as one she has been making for 40 years — except she uses peanuts instead of cashews.

The most interesting thing is that not a single one of those who called or wrote had a bad word to say about the taste of Tina Armagost’s winning candy. In fact, they all agree that it’s a great recipe. In case you missed the recipe online, it’s simple enough to memorize: 6 ounces each of chow mein noodles, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and cashews. Melt the chocolate, stir in the nuts and noodles and spoon them out into haystacks and you have perhaps NOT an original candy, but certainly a much-loved American classic.

– Jolene Thym