Halloween is coming and we have an excuse to eat good candy and chocolate. I’m not going to tell you to make your own Halloween candy for your kids. You’re busy enough and for the most part, and they want store-bought anyway. Nor is this a recipe post where I share how to make popcorn balls or caramel apples. That would be another foolish idea that would only make you crazy.
Instead, I’ve come up with a short list of favorite local candy makers and chocolatiers that for most of the year, you might avoid in a quest for health. If I were gifted with any of these I would be a very happy person indeed, but I’ve actually bought each of them for myself. Because we all need a break from things, we should do so, and dive into things we want. This is the time of year to embrace sugar worked by talented people into really really good treats. This is a list for adult snacking. If you want to share with your children, that’s up to you.
Plunk a giant cinnamon marshmallow into a cup of deep, dark hot chocolate. Photo courtesy of Little Flower Candy Company.
Little Flower Candy Company
-This is the company that made large dense homemade marshmallows a thing. They come in four flavors: vanilla, coffee, cinnamon sugar and chocolate. While I’m not a slavish devotee to the pillowy treats, I do love plunking a giant cinnamon sugar square into a cup of deep, dark hot chocolate. Also there are no s’more like a s'more made with Little Flower Candy Company marshmallows. If you’re into caramels be careful because once you have these buttery soft beauties, you’ll be ruined forever. The salted caramels are a staple but the chocolate ones are what Tootsie Rolls wish they were.
“The toffee comes in slabs. Slabs! You will eat the entire slab and wish you had more,” says Evan Kleiman. Photo courtesy of Littlejohn’s Candies.
Littlejohn’s Candies
-If you’re a pumpkin spice devotee, Littlejohn’s is offering seasonal treats of caramel and marshmallow delights. But for me, the item to get is their English toffee. It’s gorgeous and it comes in slabs. Slabs! You will eat the entire slab and wish you had more. Also if you’re hanging out at the Original Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax long enough, you might get to watch them make it in the fabulous giant copper kettle.
Try a custom box filled with your favorite chocolates. Photo courtesy of See’s Candies.
See’s Candies
-See’s Candies is about more than airport kiosks. If you’ve never been inside one of their stores, I highly recommend it as a salve for the blues. You can point to different confections and ask what they are, and unless you just want to rely on the perfection that is a box of Nuts & Chews, you can put together your own box. Do you just want weird fruit creams? I won’t judge. Do you hate dark chocolate and only want your sweets enrobed with milk chocolate? Okay then. They’ve made it incredibly easy to put together a custom box online that you can pick up at your local shop.
Sockerbit makes gummies that are both sweet and sour. Photo courtesy of Sockerbit.
Sockerbit
-I’m a fiend for licorice, the black stuff. I admit an affection so deep that I even enjoy the salty kind on occasion. When I need a top off I go to Sockerbit, the Scandinavian candy shop on 3rd St. near the Grove. The licorice comes in regular, salty, and super salty, as well as chile-flavored. My faves are the licorice chalk in gray for the holiday. They are also purveyors of gummies both sweet and sour in many shapes, from worms to skulls. I love the skulls. They’re two-biters and have great flavor, as well as the pucker that pleases. The candies are available in bulk to make your own bag, as well as already packaged in signature mixes including the eponymous sockerbitar, which are tiny marshmallows the size of sugar cubes after which they are named.
“Every time I open up a box of bonbons, I feel like I’m a character in a novel,” says Evan Kleiman. Photo courtesy of Milla Chocolate.
Milla Chocolates
-Milla’s BonBons are the kind of treat that you will hide from everyone and take out when you’re alone in the house to savor. Every time I open up a box, I feel like I’m a character in a novel. The pure joy of consuming such stellar tidbits is self-love at its best. Buy the biggest box you can afford because the breadth of flavors is gasp worthy. Some flavors are: Manhattan, Champagne, Amaro, Kir Royale, Cardamom, Coffee, Black Sesame Caramel, Raspberry, Passion Fruit, Yuzu, Hazelnut Praliné with Feulletine, Pistachio Praliné, Almond Praliné with Coconut. Their chocolate enrobed almonds are also crave-worthy.