*This post has been updated for accuracy October 2019.
I love to stock up on different candies for the holidays. I also love to take a gift of candy as a hostess present. I personally LOVE receiving something tasty as a present! Here are some small and/or new candy companies.
Shotwell Candy Co. makes caramels and Tennessee Toffee slow cooked in small batches. There are ten flavors of caramels – original salted, bourbon maple, beer and pretzel, hand-crushed espresso, ‘old fashioned’ cocktail, Caribbean Coconut, honey & granola, five spice, banana nut and holiday mint caramel. There are three types of Tennessee Toffee – classic (my favorite), espresso and trail mix. The company, started by a corporate attorney, is only a couple of years old and is doing so well that he was able to give up his day job!
Liddabit Sweets is committed to using as many local and seasonal ingredients as they can in their fresh, delicious sweets. They make an assortment of sweets – apple cider caramels, pumpkin pie cookies, tallyhos (a cocoa shortbread cookie with fluffy vanilla marshmallow, stacked two high and covered in chocolate), dark chocolate honeycomb, chocolate dipped sea salt caramels, lime in coconut bar and triple C cookies. Is your mouth watering yet?
Sockerbit Sweet & Swedish’s mission is to share the Scandinavian candy culture of “smâgodis” which means little candies. They sell pre-packaged Scandinavian candy bars and licorice. Their little candies are divided into sour (24 variations) and sweet (44 to choose from). All the loose little candies are sold by weight.
I have been the lucky recipient of a Candy Club monthly subscription gift. Choose from the $29.99/month monthly plan of 6 6oz. candy , the $29.99/month six month plan for 6 6oz. candy cups, or the Party Box for $49.99/month twelve-month plan, contains 6 13 oz. candy cups of different delicious candy treats. Tell them your candy preferences and they will make recommendations for your monthly selections. The Candy Club has partnered with The Birthday Party Project, donating 2% of the proceeds of every box sold to the non-profit.
The Little Flower Candy Co. is a tiny café and candy shop in Pasadena, CA. They sell three flavors of caramels – sea salt, lemon, and vanilla. A quarter pound is $8.00. They also make marshmallows in four flavors – vanilla, cinnamon sugar, coffee and chocolate. A quarter pound is $7.00.
*The Little Flower Candy Co. has expanded since this article was written. See if one has opened in your neighborhood here.
Quin Candy is based in Oregon and makes hand made and hand cut candy. Among their offerings are old-fashioned hard candies, marshmallows, sour chewies, lollipops and many flavors of gumdrops and caramels. 20 pieces of your choosing are $12.00. They also offer monthly candy subscriptions.
Sweetdragon Baking Co. is based in California and started out making peanut brittle. They now offer black sesame brittle, burnt almond brittle, chocolate stout peanut brittle, coconut cashew brittle, ginger almond brittle, pistachio vanilla brittle, pumpkin ale brittle and Serrano peanut brittle. They also make pumpkin ale caramels and coconut milk caramels.
Maria Sharapova has created a candy company called SugarPova. Her main love is gummy candies, both sour and sweet. A 5 oz. bag is $4.99. A portion of all sales will go to the Maria Sharapova Foundation.
Mast Brothers is a New York based chocolate maker founded by brothers Rick and Michael Mast. Their chocolate bars are milk chocolate, dark chocolate, sea salt chocolate, smoke chocolate, mint chocolate, maple chocolate, coffee chocolate, olive oil chocolate, sheep milk chocolate, vanilla chocolate, goat milk chocolate and almond chocolate. The bars come in three sizes ranging in price from $5.00 – $24.00.
Mast has teamed up with the Museum of Moving Art with a limited offer of the Little Fraggle Collection. Celebrating Jim Henson and his accomplishments, the proceeds are contributed to MoMI and the Jim Henson Foundation.
We’ve mentioned Monica’s Chocolates from Lubec, Maine in a previous article, but the chocolates are too good for me not to mention it again. All the chocolates are made in her small white clapboard house and shop and they are delicious. My favorite is the Chocolate Sea Urchin – dark chocolate filled with caramel, toffee, and pecans. Each one is quite large and can be shared. A box of three is $16.00.
Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments below so we can share them with the rest of our readers.
We do have a few more suggestions;
