The Candy Critic's Thanksgiving Candy Ideas That Should Exist

There are so many flavours associated with Thanksgiving, and many have crossed over to the snacking world. Pumpkin spice is probably the most popular flavour right now, but there are also many potato chips flavoured with inspirations from this holiday as well. I seem to remember Jones Soda pulled off Thanksgiving flavours at one point, and people went nuts over them. I personally think we need more snacks with the awesome flavours of Thanksgiving, but I’m not just going to complain about it.

Instead I’m designing a few Thanksgiving candy and snack creations, and best of all for the candy/snack companies out there, I’m giving the concepts away. I invite any snack or candy company to use these ideas, all I ask in return is that you send me some samples. I’ll even post a review on candycritic.org.

Sweet Potato Marshmallows

The connection between sweet potatoes and marshmallows is a weird one. I don’t know how it started,  but I can’t deny that it works. One of the thing it taught me is that sweet potatoes work well in sweets. In Asia sweet potato candies are common, but not in North America. That’s why I think introducing a sweet potato candy in North America around Thanksgiving makes sense. If you tie it with marshmallows it just could be the novelty candy that people grow to love.

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy Pop Tarts

The idea of a savoury Pop Tart is due. McDonald’s in Asia have been selling savoury pies for years, and what is a Pop Tart other than a flat pie. I think theming it to Thanksgiving would be a great way to introduce this concept, and mash potatoes and gravy would be the perfect flavour and texture combination. You could fill the pie with the mashed potatoes and then make a nice gravy (unsweetened) topping. After that the sky’s the limit, chicken pot pie, pizza, so many choices.

Cranberry Bubble Gum

Of all the concepts I’m presenting today, I think cranberry gum is the most logical and least intimidating. It’s so logical that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone mentions in the comments that it already exists. I think cranberry could easily become the flavour of Thanksgiving much like pumpkin spice, this way we’d have a flavour to put between pumpkin spice and peppermint/candy cane.

Turkey Spice Corn Bread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

This next idea requires a little bit of imagination. Take your a average store bought cupcake, like a Hostess Cupcake, and flip it around. Go savoury over sweet, and use some Thanksgiving flavours. To start, get rid of the cake and go cornbread instead. Then take the spices one normally uses in turkey stuffing, and flavour your cornbread. If you so choose, maybe fill it with mashed potatoes as well. Next, top this cake off with some savoury cream cheese. I think this would be a fun play on pumpkin spice, and done well could actually work. Having said that, if it does work, and Starbucks makes a frappuccino flavoured with Turkey Spice, I claim no responsibility.

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This Week In Candy

Well the first of the three big holidays have past, and the second (at least for Americans) is on it's way, Thanksgiving.  I'm actually a big fan of Thanksgiving, and I'm glad that Americans and Canadians celebrate it at different times.  Mostly because this gives me the opportunity to celebrate it twice, my excuse being that my father lives in the US.  I really love turkey, and I also love the many desserts that come with Thanksgiving, pies, cakes, and such.  So this week, and next, we're going to be celebrating this most festive of holidays whose sole purpose is to lead up to a meal that will likely just make you regret having eaten it in the first place.

We're also continuing to work on the new projects here at candycritic.org.  Last week we released the first installment of our dessert club, featuring my world famous banana bread.  Next we're looking at some holiday treats including gingerbread, and a turduckin version of a cake.  We're also looking at various was to make ice cream without an ice cream maker.  Make sure to keep up with our social media sites to see what we're making next, and play along if you'd like.

On a side note, but food related, I've been asked to do some graphic design/consulting work on a menu for a restaurant.  They want me to re-think the format as well as some of the food on a menu, something I've never done before, but always had an opinion.  I'll be posting about my progress on our social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr), and I'll probably write a blog about the process when it's done.  So far it hasn't been an easy task, but it has been really fun.  Unfortunately the restaurant wants to remain anonymous, so the name will be blanked out.

This week on Snack Facts, our Instagram feed, we're going to post some early Thanksgiving facts for all of our American friends.  We're going to look at the history of this great holiday, and more particularly why we eat what we do on this day.  Make sure to check our Instagram feed daily this week, but if you don't use Instagram don't worry, we'll also post Snack facts on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as well.

This week's new review is a pretty interesting bar.  In the candy world this bar is fairly politically charged, as it's taking aim at what some consider unhealthy candy.  My opinions on the matter are simple, I love all candy, so I love the idea of stirring the pot a bit when it comes to new ideas.  Click here to read about this "trend" in candy bars.

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This Week In Candy

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!  To me Canadian Thanksgiving is really the first official day of fall.  Fall in Canada is truly a beautiful time of year, the harvest is in, leaves are changing colour, and Tim Horton's is offering pumpkin everything (as pictured above with the pumpkin pie donut).

This week on the blog we're going to continue looking at some awesome Halloween costumes, as well as review another candy related tablet game.  On our Instagram feed "Snack Facts", all this week we're going tell you some fun facts about artificial flavours.  As always you can keep up with the latest candy news by following our Twitter feed, also this week we're going to start sharing the latest news on our Facebook page as well.

This week's review is a classic Canadian treat, the Caramilk Bar.  I figured since it's a Canadian holiday I might as well  go with a Canadian review.  Click here to read this week's review.

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Candy News

Here's a fun game to play, how many of these UK chocolate bars have you sampled?

A few weeks back I had a debate over weather or not you "have" to toast Pop Tarts.  Apparently toasting isn't the only option.

American's will soon be celebrating Thanksgiving, and here's a few strange dessert ideas to serve with dinner.

Apparently there are rules about how children are allowed to consume candy, crushing up their Smarties (the American kind) and snorting them is apparently not cool.

The fact that I'm a visual artist and a candy food writer makes these sketchbooks made of cocoa the perfect Christmas gift.

Good idea: Enjoying your sweet treats fresh out of the package.  Bad idea: Microwaving them first.

Have you ever wondered who invented the cupcake, or when the jawbreakers first hit the scene?  Well wonder no more.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Happy Thanksgiving USA!!!

I hope your day is filled with Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, greens, friends, and family.

Most of all I hope you manage to score a huge plate of dessert.

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Thursday's Candy Links

The price of cocoa keeps going up, strikes hit, and then this expensive cocoa goes to waste siting in ports, I hate economics.

If you find yourself in Abilene Texas, why not check out Vletas Candy.

Storing candy?  This article about how leftovers go bad might give you some insight as to why you're old candy goes bad too.

Check out these awesome thanksgiving themed cupcakes.

Boing Boing found the greatest Thanksgiving dessert ever.

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At Story About Candy, Thanksgiving traditions, Halloween, and Christmas

It seems like a story that involves all of those topics might be a little busy to read but it's not.  In fact it raises some questions I have about humanity and why in the world some people think it's OK to give kids really old candy... Like they won't notice.

Click here to read the story.

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Happy Thanksgiving All You Lovely Americans You

To celebrate this great holiday I've decided to first of all remind you that there's still time to enter the Candy Critic/Yummy Earth Candy contest.  You an read details about how to enter and what you have to do to enter here.  I also thought I'd share this link about the science behind pumpkin pie increasing the male sex drive.

Click here to read the story.

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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

As my friend Andrew says "What Thanksgiving is all about -- though I could be wrong on this...". What you're looking at is the DQ pumpkin pie blizzard. I haven't tried one myself and I'm not sure if I want to.

Picture courtesy of Andrew Currie from the wonderful blog Open Attitude.

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