Holiday Gift Guide

Artisanal Sweet Treats

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a bit of a sweet tooth, with chocolate being on the top of my list. So when I think gifts, I think sweet. And although I can be completely satisfied with some plain old chocolate chips from the baking aisle of the market, this time of year, something a bit more fanciful and special seems in order to give to friends and family. Here are a handful of places that make some of the best chocolaty, sugary, carmely, marshmallowy stuff I can think of having or giving, any day of the year.

Smore's Bites by Recchiuti

More Info: recchiuti.com

I'm often visiting the Ferry Building in San Francisco, and every time I walk by Recchiuti I drool just knowing that these things exist there. I mostly stare at them with yearning, but every now and then, I break down and buy 'em, and share one or two with a friend. Marshmallow on graham cracker and covered in chocolate. Mmmmmmmm.

Marcie Blaine Chocolates

Price: $2.00 each
More Info: marcieblaine.com

San Francisco is my current home, but I spent my formative years in Philadelphia, and love that local chocolatier, Marcie Blaine, tips their hat to the place I grew up. Raspberry ganache, cacao & vanilla bean, peanut butter pretzel ganache, and crispy hazelnut milk chocolate praline make up the Philadelphia Series. Can't quite decide which one I want most (probably pretzel), or if I should just swap them out for some Pub Crawl chocolate bark. Get one for the ex-Philadelphian you know and watch their eyes well up with tears of joy.

Petite Bouchee Caramels

Price: $12.00 per sampler of three
More Info: petitebouchee.net

Coming in a close second to chocolate on the list of sweets I love, is caramel. Petite Bouchee's salted-butter caramels look so good, that I can actually taste them melting in my mouth. Right now. Just looking at that picture. The one above. Right there. Drooling.

Hooker's Sweet Treats

Price: $20 for 10 pieces
More Info: hookerssweettreats.com

Oh sweet baby Jesus. So, first there is caramel (#2 on the list, remember). Then there is dark chocolate (#1 favorite of all time). And then there is a little touch of salt to set it all off. And a great design on top of all that makes it such a great gift. Really, speechless.

Peanut Butter Blossoms from Batter Bakery

Price: $5.50
More Info: batterbakery.com

Close to our offices here at Dwell is a little Kiosk on the corner of Kearny and California. They sell lots of yummy treats, but above all of them, shine the Peanut Butter Blossoms. So peanut buttery, so yummy. And best of all, one satisfies for quite some time, so they last a while. Needless to say, we all go there a lot.

Fleurir Chocolates

Price: $9 box of four
More Info: fleurirchocolates.com

Ok, these are really really really cute. Perfect gift. It's like a picture plus chocolaty goodness. Little trees and flowers and colors and tiny details. Adorable deliciousness.

Cornflake Cookie from Momofuku Milk Bar

Price: $10 per tin of six cookies
More Info: momofukustore.com

Cornflakes, chocolate and marshmallow. Just in case you didn't read that clearly, Cornflakes. Chocolate. And marshmallow. Plus the usual cookie stuff. I really don't know what more there is to say about this cookie. OMG.

Strawberry Stripes Bar by Mary & Matt

Price: $10
More Info: chocolate-editions.com

It's just so...pretty. And well designed. And you can tell that it's handmade and there is an attention to the process of the whole chocolate-bar-making thing. I love it when good design meets tasty sweets.

Mast Brothers Chocolate

Price: $80 set of ten
More Info: mastbrotherschocolate.com

Mast Brothers roast their own cacao beans, and create amazing, intense, small batch, handmade, highly crafted chocolate. You can get an assortment of ten chocolates online, for the oh-so-serious chocolate aficionado. Impressive not only in flavor but in presentation as well. All are hand-wrapped, labeled, and dated.