It’s almost time for Halloween again and that means yummy treats for everyone.

The folks at the National Confectioners’ Association were kind enough to send me some treats to try, so I’m sharing them with you. I figured we’d start with the healthier treats, in case any of you want to add something healthy to your Halloween splurge.

First up,the bag of Florida Natural Au’Some Fruit Healthy Treats, which contain a mix of sour strings, nuggets, and stiks. I actually enjoy them all. All three styles come in orange, strawberry, and grape flavors and I like the strawberry the best. Since I love sour stuff, I particularly enjoy the sour strings, although I should warn you that they aren’t terribly sour. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the stiks – they are really tangy and nicely chewy without sticking to your teeth. The nuggets are fun, too, but I thought the orange flavor, in particular, could have a wee bit of vitamin taste to it.

Given that the nuggets and strings are only 50 calories a pack, and the sticks are only 35, these are a guilt-free treat, surprisingly tasty and satisfying. As a bonus, each candy has vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals, so these actually have a health benefit! Since these come in nifty little packets, you can hand them out to your Trick-or-Treaters, or take ‘em to work yourself.

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What do you eat when you’ve just returned from the dentist? Me, I eat chocolate-covered sunflower seeds in a rainbow of colors. (My mouth is still numb, if you must know the truth. I don’t know why you must, but you Candy Addict readers are relentlessly curious. At least, I like to think so.)

So now you’re thinking three things. 1) He must have had cavities filled. 2) He won’t be able to fully experience the candy I’ve entrusted him to review for me. 3) He’s insane. Two of those three are correct, but I’m not saying which.

Okay, so I like sunflower seeds. And I like chocolate. Let’s put them together and see what we get.

Hey these are pretty tasty. The sunflower seeds are un-roasted, and have no salt. They’re good. And the coating is the right amount of chocolate, such that you get a good balance of seed and cocoa sweetness. The chocolate has cocoa butter, yum. And the coating has Titanium Dioxide, hmm. And various artificial colors. Less yum. (The Sunflower Food and Spice Co. also makes an all-natural version of these candies; I didn’t see those at World Market but I would have preferred to buy them.)

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It’s rare that a candy company can impress me with some new and interesting products, but the people at Kimmie Candy have done just that. Stranger still was that I opened the box of treats from them and thought, “What the….?” (but in a good way!) I had the pleasure of sampling two of their products – the ChocoRocks and the Sunbursts – both of which impressed me with both taste and originality.

ChocoRocks are exactly what they sound like they should be – “boulders” of chocolate covered in a candy shell so that they look pretty much like they’ve just come out of your garden bed. Sunbursts are dry roasted sunflower kernels which are covered in cocoa and then a colored candy shell – you can purchase them as color themes (Christmas, Easter, etc) or in single-color bags.

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