Being a Candy Addict is a double-edged sword. When you’re one, everyone knows you love candy. Around the holidays, that means we can be easily satisfied if someone gives us one of our favorite candies as a gift.

However, you always run risk of giving an addict of piece of candy he/she won’t like. I mean, as Candy Addicts we have very specific taste preferences, and being given a candy bar we won’t eat may seem more of an insult than a sign of affection. In such cases, I’d personally rather have been given socks.

So if we could compile a wish-list of the candy we would most like to find stuffed in our stockings Christmas morning, here is what we’d like to receive and why.

Cadence

1. Cadbury Chocolate: specifically Twirl (a fruit and nut bar), or some mini eggs would suffice, too.

2. Trader Joes Milk Chocolate Clouds

3. Darrell Lea Strawberry Licorice and/or Panda Back Licorice

Cindy

1. Reese’s Pieces: These are probably my most favorite candy ever, but I never buy them for myself. (It’s martyr syndrome… I buy what the family likes). They always top my wish-list at Christmas and my birthday.

2. Dove Milk Chocolate: Okay, so I’m no gourmet, but I love a piece of silky smooth Dove chocolate melting in my mouth.

3. Candy Cigarettes: My favorite childhood candy. It would be so fun to pull a pack of these out of my stocking on Christmas morning. And I promise I won’t pretend to smoke them.

Laurie

1. Lindor Chocolate Truffles: Because it’s not Christmas without these guys! The dark chocolate ones are my favorite, but you really can’t go wrong with any of their flavors.

2. Something fun from my local Asian markets. There’s just something about tearing into a mysterious bag of candy with a label you can’t read….

3. Sponge Toffee: From gourmet candy-shop brands to the standard Crunchie bar, chocolate-coated or otherwise, I can’t get enough of this stuff!

Jamie

1. Chewy Nerds

2. Wonka Tinglerz

3. Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms

Brian

1. Chewy Nerds: I still freaking love those things. The small bags leave me wanting more so I’d like a 1 or 2 lb bag please.

2. Fire Twizzlers: I picked some up at Walgreen’s the other day and damn they’re as good as I remember. (Please Hershey – make these PERMANENT)

3. Twix Java: Still one of my favorite limited edition candies.

Michelle

1. Toffifay

2. Crunch bars (normal, classic ones)

3. Giant Chewy SweeTARTS (If anyone knows where to find Giant Chewy SweeTARTS in Australia, please let us know!)

Robby

1. Snickers Marathon Low Carb Protein Bars: O.K., so maybe this isn’t really a candy, but not only is this the lowest calorie/carb to high protein bar on the market, but also it is the tastiest. Leave it to a candy company to make protein bars taste good.

2. Wild Berry Dots: This is the one flavor of Dots I never tried. It was recalled last year so I feel kinda incomplete never having tried all their flavors….

3. Cadbury Black Forest Bar: Some couples have their own song, some have their own movie, for me, my first real love and I had a favorite candy bar, and this was it.

Caitlin

1. Jelly Belly Raspberries and Blackberries: I freaking love these things. In fact, once I bought a 5lb bag and ate it all by myself. Seriously good yumminess.

2. Choke Cherry Tree’s Plain Caramels: Best. Caramels. Ever. Need I say more?

3. Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Mixture: What can I say, I love me some Jelly Belly.

Regardless of whether it’s Christmas, Channukah, or Kwanzaa that you do or don’t celebrate, one thing that this time of year embraces is the idea of giving. Yes, it’s easy to fall into a capitalism rant about that, but that misses the true point.

When we give someone a gift, we do it because there is someone special in our lives who makes us smile, makes us feel appreciated, makes us feel so incredible that we are compelled to give them something in return to show our appreciation for having them in our lives.

When you give from the heart to people like that, it doesn’t matter how much you spend, even a few bucks on a candy bar, because it’s about showing how much you understand and care for that person. It might seem untrue, but if Cindy’s sons made her an “I Love You Mom” Christmas card out of Reese’s Pieces, or Brian’s daughter gave him a giant bag of Chewy Nerds that she had saved her allowance up to buy, I bet you it would mean more than something ten times as expensive to them.

If you too think this way, let us and everyone else know what’s on your candy wish-list. So from all of us on staff, Happy Holidays, and may you find yourself surrounded by wonderful people who inspire you to give.