Valentine’s Day is kind of a polarizing holiday. Young lovers love it, and lonely curmudgeons hate it. And so do a lot of normal people. The legendary stories that inspired the celebration vary widely, and the only really clear thing is that people have been getting romantic once a year for centuries. But a holiday about love in the middle of winter makes sense. Celebrating loved ones might be the best thing to do when you’ve been stuck inside with them for months. Just imagine what it would be like if you shared a hovel with them. Or a Conestoga wagon. These days, we’ve got it easy, so let’s stop grumbling and focus on showing people some love.

When you think about candy all the time, Valentine’s Day is super fun. It’s a time for surprises and the joy of delighting people you love. As a relatively “small holiday,” there aren’t that many gifts to choose from — it’s candy, flowers, jewelry, or a mix tape.  And anything that’s not candy goes better with candy. But there are plenty of ways to mix it up and get creative. You can find out your crush’s favorite candy from childhood, then shock them with a whole box. If you’re ambitious, you could even fill a locker or a car with candy.

We’ve got all the traditional candies, like all kinds of conversation hearts and hand-poured mixed chocolates. Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate true love, or friendship, or family. Just find your favorite way to make someone feel special. Here are some interesting options, and you’ll find lots more in our Valentines Candy section.

Lollipop Bouquets

Heart-Shaped Lollipops

Milk Chocolate Roses

Blooming Bouquet Lollipops

Great for Grown-Ups

Reese’s Peanut Butter Heart Gift Box

Foil Wrapped Chocolate Fish

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Golden Apple

Well, we’re two weeks into 2012. Those lifestyle-change commitments should still be fresh in your mind. And we want to help make them happen. A candy company might be the last place you’d look for ways to make your New Year’s resolution a reality. But we’re here to help you with everything candy related, and this is no exception. Sure, if you treat it the wrong way, candy can be the reason behind your New Year’s resolution. But when respected as the perfect motivator kids around the world know it to be, candy can drive you to do just about anything.

Lay off the Sugar

For those of us who need to limit sugar, for whatever reason, there’s good news. We’re living in the year 2012. Over the past several years, shocking advances have been made in the world of sugar-free sweets. New sugar substitutes offer all kinds and degrees of sweetness. And there are sugar-free versions of classic candies that taste incredibly similar to the originals.

Check out these great-tasting options from all over the flavor spectrum to keep your treats interesting and guilt free.

Diverse: Eda’s Sugar Free candies offers every flavor under the sun — from the basics to sour, tropical, coffee, minty, and creamy.
Cool: – York Sugar Free Peppermint Patties give you your mint and chocolate without the ice cream.
Exciting: – Sugarfree Pop Rocks keep things exciting without giving you a sugar rush.
Gummy: Jelly Belly does SF right with bags featuring 10 classic flavors.
Peanut Buttery: Reese’s Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups go right to the jugular of temptation. Everybody needs a little peanut butter sometimes. Have these on hand when your time hits.
Retro: Sen-Sen Rolls pack a classic licorice flavor without the calories.

Quit Smoking

If you’ve sworn off smoking, you’re embarking on a commendable task. It’s one of the greatest things you can do, for both yourself and your loved ones. Quitting smoking is hard, but there are ways to take the edge off your cravings. We’ve received lots of reviews crediting Cinnamon Toothpicks as the best natural stop-smoking aid out there. If you like some refreshment with your substitute, Mint Flavored Toothpicks will also do the trick. These flavorful picks simulate the hand-to-mouth motion of smoking, and they’re totally sugar free. We also have a million kinds of gum to keep your mouth busy. Well, maybe more like 200. But who needs more variety than that?

Reward Yourself

We all know that total deprivation is the easiest way to compromise the mission. Sure, cold turkey seems like it would be the way to go. But believing you’re never able to have something (especially something you think about often) can be dangerous. The forbidden fruit is often the most tempting.

For some habits, quitting cold turkey is the way to go. But for others, moderation is perfectly reasonable. Candy Favorites offers hundreds of delicious options with less sugar, less fat, and smaller portions to help you indulge reasonably. Stock up on a better-for-you treat, and your moments of weakness won’t be disastrous. Even better, proactively plan to reward yourself for positive milestones. This will keep your cravings to a minimum and give you a better chance at reaching your goals.

They say that variety is the spice of life. Well, Brach’s is delivering a variety of spices with its new lineup of holiday nougats.

Okay…so they’re mostly mints. But you get the idea. You might remember Christmas Nougats from going “treeing” at other people’s houses. They have these tiny little trees in the middle, and you can’t help but try and bite around the candy just so, in an effort to free the tree from a forest of nougat. And then, when you fail, you can’t help but try again. Over the years, I wiled away many hours this way, waiting for adults to finish talking. These candies, for many of us, are a signal that the holidays are really here.

Classic Peppermint Christmas Nougats

It all started with the Brach’s Peppermint Christmas Nougat. This red-and-white variety  is the classic soft candy of Christmas, but as a kid I shied away from them. But as an adult, curiosity struck. What I found is that these are actually quite addictive.

The texture seems to be hard before you open them. But the nougat softens as you chew, giving way to one of the cleanest and smoothest candy textures I’ve experienced. They’re really nice after dinner (and after dessert) to make your mouth all fresh and tingly. They’re more peppermint than sweet, so you feel like you’ve eaten a mint rather than a candy.

Wintergreen Christmas Nougats

Somewhere over the years, Brach’s decided to mix it up. So now those more inclined to eat Canada Mints can have a Christmas candy, too. Wintergreen is one of those bizarre flavors that you don’t think you want to eat on purpose. Pepto Bismol might have done that to us. But one bite of something Wintergreen that’s actually yummy, and you can’t stop eating it.

Brach’s Wintergreen Christmas Nougats are no exception. They have the exact same wonderful texture and festive design as the Peppermint nougat, but the base color is light green instead of white. These leave you with a distinct cool feeling in your mouth.

Cinnamon Christmas Nougats

Cinnamon might be the best variety for children new to the world of Brach’s Christmas Nougats. These also have the little tree design, but the main color is pink. When you open an individually wrapped piece, you’re immediately hit with a jolt of cinnamon fragrance. These are just remarkably pleasant, because they have potent cinnamon flavor without overwhelming you with a burst of heat.

Cinnamon Christmas Nougats give you all the texture of classic nougats, plus a cinnamonny experience without the annoying loss of flavor you get from chewing gum. Unlike the mint varieties, this one leaves your mouth feeling warm and toasty.

Chocolate Mint Christmas Nougats

And then there’s one more — the fun one. Brach’s Chocolate Mint Christmas Nougats take things outside the box. They abandon the classic tree design for a basic but totally cute irregular swirl. This makes them fun to smash, so kids — or you — might end up playing with them more than the others. The chocolate and mint layers are made from two distinct flavors of nougat. The chocolate is a really nice surprise. It has none of that essence-of-fake-chocolate taste, but rather adds a subtle chocolate tone to the distinct mint flavor.

I carefully nibbled at the mint layer of several of these, trying to decide what kind of mint it was. I gave up. It has the light green hue of wintergreen but the freshness of peppermint. And seems too much like a Peppermint Patty to be Wintergreen. Either way, when you eat the layers together, you still get that very consistent, smooth nougat texture, with a refreshing flavor that leaves behind notes of mint.

A Christmas Candy Tradition

The nutrition facts on these puppies makes them an indulgence that’s worth it. The stats are pretty similar for all varieties, so 5 pieces have around 160 calories and 3 grams of fat. That’s not bad at all for candy in any season. Stick with Brach’s to revive old traditions or start new ones. These candies are so unique, they won’t be forgotten.

Over the past few weeks, there have been rumblings and rumors of impending doom for peanut-butter lovers. Some people have stocked up on peanut products, while others are suspicious that these might be tactics designed to scare them into buying. After all, no one wants to hoard surplus supplies unnecessarily.

Well, the warnings have been confirmed. Some of our candy suppliers have even reported unavailable products. Due to a perfect storm of drought, rising energy prices, competing crops, and meager plantings, the U.S. is experiencing a peanut shortage. Overall peanut production is down 13%, and the price for a ton of runner (think peanut butter) peanuts is 266% what it was a year ago. This means that peanuts will be harder to get, and they’re about to be more expensive.

Over the last few months, many retailers and manufacturers have been absorbing rising costs related to peanuts. But Kraft is set to raise the price of Planters Peanut Butter by 40% on October 31. Jif will cost 30% more. And Peter Pan is right behind them. Candy producers are among the hardest hit, as they’ve also been struggling with rising sugar and chocolate costs. And sure, the market is sure to level out eventually. But prices aren’t likely to go back down until next September, and even that will depend on next year’s harvest.

So unless you’re planning to leverage the shortage to help your new diet, you might want to do a little stocking up.

Get These Endangered Peanut & Peanut Butter Items

	Boston Baked Beans
	French Burnt Peanuts
	Peanut Butter Kisses – On Sale!
	Peanut Butter Bars
	Peanut M&M’s

I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting some reps from Jelly Belly a few days ago. What wonderful people! And they left behind a single Harry Potter Chocolate Frog for my own personal enjoyment.

It’s the Crispy One, Not the Giant One

I’ve of course been incredibly curious about these. The giant version available at Honeydukes at Universal Studios has gotten a lot of coverage. But those reviews have been mixed — raving about the packaging and size of the frog, but mostly meh on the flavor and quality of the chocolate. Well, I don’t know who makes those, but it’s not Jelly Belly. Fortunately, the Chocolate Frogs available to the rest of us are more reasonably priced and more reasonable in size. It seems that what these lack in heft, they make up for in taste.

Nutrition and Whatnot

Now, I’m a label nerd, so the first thing I look at is nutrition facts. I like to enjoy my treats responsibly. The Harry Potter Milk Chocolate Frog with Crisped Rice is totally doable at 80 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. The other thing that struck me is that there are relatively few ingredients. This is real chocolate, complete with the cocoa butter you’d expect. For the gluten avoiders out there, you’ll unfortunately have to steer clear. The crisp rice is made with barley malt (scourge of foods that would otherwise be edible!)

The Magic Pack

So, the Chocolate Frog is wrapped in pretty purple foil packaging. It’s nothing you’re going to save forever. However, I was totally impressed with the way the important part — the collectible wizard card — is included. It’s enclosed in its own plastic sleeve that’s attached to the top of the wrapper. This suspends the card in the middle of the package, so it’s less likely to get bent or otherwise messed up before it gets to you, or in a backpack or what have you. It also prevents the chocolate from making contact with the card. So even if your frog melts, your card will survive unscathed. I’m sure that plenty of people will just keep the plastic on and build their collections in mint condition. I didn’t realize that the cards were holographic, either, which is a nice touch.

First Impressions

When you open the pack, you get a fragrance that’s chocolate plus a little bit more. Which is fitting, since that’s exactly what you’re about to eat. The chocolate frog itself is cute. It’s not lifelike, but I wasn’t particularly imagining or hoping that it would be. The little frog arms and legs (this guy is all knees) make it clear that you should start by biting off all the extremities.

A Crisped Rice Runs Through It

Since this is chocolate with crunchies (technically known as “crisped rice), I thought it important to compare with other crunchy chocolates. So I broke out a Nestle Crunch and a Krackle. I have memories of absolutely loving Crunch bars, so I didn’t expect the Chocolate Frog to fare very well in a head-to-head. Shockingly, it turned out to be my favorite of the three. The color of our Chocolate Frog matches Nestle Crunch almost exactly, and is a bit lighter than the Krackle. The frog has the fewest obvious crunchies and looks as though it’ll be the creamiest.

Flavor and More Flavor

I started with the Krackle, which built to an almost acidic bitter flavor that kind of turned me off. The Crunch was better, but also finished on an unpleasant note. It’s more appropriate for moments of “I want something crunchy” than “I want some chocolate.” The chocolate in the Frog turned out to be very creamy and not your typical candy-bar fare. It has a consistent, mellow flavor and a mild finish that’s completely devoid of yuckiness. The crisped rice in the Chocolate Frog is far more subtle than in the other bars. As expected, the texture of Krackle is quite a bit granier than the frog, and even leaves a grainy residue on your hands. Nestle Crunch places the emphasis on the crunchies, making it almost a different beast than the frog. In my frog, most of the rice was at the bottom, adding a nice layer of texture without taking over the whole show.

The Verdict

All in all, I was totally surprised by my Chocolate Frog. It includes a nice, quality collectible bonus, which legitimizes the Harry Potter branding. And it’s a genuinely good piece of milk chocolate. I can definitely envision parents eating the frogs and giving the cards to their kids. You can order these now at CandyFavorites.com!

Do you crave peanut butter? Do you hoard peanut-butter-filled wonders in your freezer? Do you keep some in the fridge to ensure suitable textures for all nature of cravings? Have the mothers of children screamed at you for the trail of allergen-rife wrappers you leave in your wake?

I understand.

Peanut Butter Candy is not the most socially approved preoccupation. You can’t just go around eating most candies filled with peanut butter all the time. It’s rude to steal them from your co-workers. It’s greasy and melty and will do terrible things to your body. So the only real options are to force yourself into moderation or to feel guilty about giving in. Well, there’s a better solution.

Because They’re Modest

Peanut Butter Bars are out there waiting for you to discover them. They’re a dark horse of the candy world. Maybe you’ve had them before and forgotten. These crunchy little guys have been made by Atkinson (the makers of Chick-O-Stick) since 1932. But their nondescript packaging, absence from mass-media advertising, and spotty availability add up to a whole lot of people being unaware of their brilliance.

For Texture Reasons

Peanut Butter Bars have a texture similar to the wafer-like crisp peanut butter of Butterfinger or Zagnut, but are more light and airy. For some reason not immediately apparent they’re coated on the outside with a thin, almost transparent, layer of white candy. But I trust these Atkinson people — this sugar coating is obviously crucial to all order in the universe. It enhances the texture and doesn’t mess with the robust nutty flavor. The layers of crunchy peanut butter splinter apart when you bite, filling your mouth with tiny wafers of goodness. There’s something substantial about eating these. Where peanut butter cups just kind of disappear no matter how tiny you make your nibbles, you get to experience a peanut butter bar.

The Ingredients are Real Words

Peanut Butter Bars smell like peanut butter cups, only more natural. With just 6 ingredients, it’s easy to understand what they’re made of. They’re not labeled gluten free, but as an avoider of gluten, I’m not afraid to eat them. They have no gluten-containing ingredients, and the package says they’re made in a facility that processes milk and soy, but not wheat.

For Health and Wellness!

It’s a total bummer to spend all your candy karma points in one place. And when you love peanut butter, that’s easy to do. Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cups are bomb, and they have their own unique textural delights. But a serving size of 5 pieces packs in 15 grams of fat. Zagnuts are nice, but a standard-size bar has 9 fat grams. A Snickers Peanut Butter Squared has 13 fat grams plus all those extra ingredients. That’s all well and good and worth it for people who crave the chocolate-plus-peanut-butter combination.

But I’m concerned with the purists of the PB-loving community. All we really need is the peanut butter, but we prefer a more interesting delivery system than a spoon. Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bars knock it out of the park. These M-80s of peanut butter explosion have 1 gram of fat in a 2-piece serving. So if you eat the typical candy-bar allotment of 200ish calories, you can have 8 peanut butter bars, and they’ll only contain 4 grams of fat!

So, basically, what I’m telling you is a way to indulge your peanut-butter candy craving more often and with less guilt.

And Bonus!

What better way to stave off hypoglycemia? Peanut Butter Bars are individually wrapped and stand up pretty well to heat, so you can totally keep them in your pockets. They’re even flat and quiet enough to eat in class (as long as you can resist biting them. You’re already indulging a craving! You don’t need to bite them, too!)

Of course, you’ll still have to pick up your wrappers. You are obsessed with a Big-8 allergen, after all.

National Lollipop Day is July 20th!

The 4th of July, President’s Day and Labor Day fills the calendar and provides an extra day off for most workers but for sheer fun and entertainment, the favorite has to be National Lollipop Day which occurs yearly on the 20^th of July.

 Why not have a Lollipop Party and treat all the kids to their choice of cool and fun lollipops. Start them out with Charms Blow Pops in the amazing Black Cherry flavor then introduce them to the sweet treat of heart shaped lollipops. Provide goody bags filled with nothing but lollipops, including the Gourmet Lollipops that we offer year round!  Ice cream may be popular for summer parties, but for National Lollipop Day, why not choose the Ice Cream Sundae lollipops.

 Surprise the little fellows in your life with Ford F-150 truck lollipops and little girls can take playing house to a whole new level with Glo Popcifier lollipops while NBL fans can enjoy baseball motif lollipops. Sports fans of all ages will get a kick out of the Sports Glo Popcifiers.

 Business owners can take full advantage of this annual Lollipop day to have some fun and spread some cheer. Cupcake lollipops are the perfect giveaway for bakeries while every florist should have some Daisy Pops on hand.

Theater owners can pick up some Dum Dum Shrek Pops to celebrate the sweetest of all holidays. Every Hispanic store or restaurant can delight people by giving away Jalapeno lollipops.

 There is no limit to the creativity that such a day inspires so forget about lemonade stands and celebrate the Lollipop with a lollipop stand!

 Be sure to pick up some Scorpion lollipops for those people in your life who truly appreciate the more interesting things in life and Slithering Snake Suckers are also a great choice for anyone who enjoys reptiles and amphibians.

 Are you going to be in Vegas for the big day? Take along some Sin City Dice lollipops in regular or Pina Colada flavors to delight everyone in your party. It’s true that the 4th of July has already passed, but the flag is popular every day of the year.

If your baby is expected to arrive around the 20th of July, have a few lollipops on hand to mark the occasion and to proudly announce the birth of your girl or boy so you can share the happy news.

However you choose to celebrate National Lollipop Day, why not browse our huge lollipop selection and stock on all your favorites.

For those of you who are keeping up, researching the new guy here, and cyber stalking me, you already know that I once took a trip to Thailand to become a Buddhist monk. It was a heck of an exciting trip to take for many reasons. However, it was not all fun and games, not that you likely expect a lot of fun and games in a Buddhist monastery. I experienced a good bit of loneliness and culture shock there, even though I was among friends and knew a good bit about the culture I was in.

Something that helped me out was chewing gum. No, I am not making this up. I had gum for my plane ride and took to having some from time to time as a reminder of home. It was easy to find in the country, as almost every town had a 7-11, Lotte, or other convenience store. It reminded me of where I came from and gave me a little taste of home, something to savor among the sing-song syllables of a foreign land. It grounded me and made me feel a bit less lost during my stay.

Have you ever had a particular taste that reminded you of home?

According to Gourmet Live, the first American chocolate bunny was made in the mid-1840s by Whitman, but the fad did not catch on until they were mass-produced and marketed in 1916 by Bortz. The tradition of chocolate bunnies started in Germany in the early 1800s, though. Probably they were more like sinewy, gangly hares than soft cute bunnies, though.

Whatever the history, you can’t deny that they are an Easter classic. How do you eat them? Ears first or feet first? Back in the day when I worked at NCA we had quite a lively office debate on the topic. I still eat them feet first. You don’t want the little guy scampering off. But tell us your method and reasoning. I think of the ears as a perfect handle to get the cute little feet taken care of but some say that’s the wrong way.

Bunny by dearbarbie.

I love gum drops and love how they look.This was a staple flavor of my childhood – gumdrops and other jelly candies, since my father had a special affinity for them. Even today I can count on a candy jar filled with spice drops or gum drops when I make the trek to Pennsylvania for a visit.

What I really like about this picture is the shallow depth of field, including the very intense magnification of the sugar crystals, showing a crust of sweetness – a crystalline exoskeleton -  above the soft jelly interior. This photographer really nailed it in making this picture. other eye-appealing elements include the rule of thirds, diagonal lines and a variety of colors. Good job, Ana G.R.!

Want to see your photos here? We do too! Submit your photos to the Candy Favorites Flickr Pool and you might see them featured here.