5 freeze dried candies better than the original

Have you seen the buzz about freeze dried candies? Maybe you’ve even had a chance to try some? I love selling freeze dried candies because the first time somebody tries one, suddenly their world is a little brighter than it was at the start of the day. That’s a great thing to be a part of.

Many candies are improved by freeze drying, and a few are actually better left alone. But there are a few types of candy that are so transformed that it’s a whole new experience. Here is a list of some that are indisputably better after freeze drying.

1. Skittles ®

Skittles are the best-known among all types of freeze dried candy, and for good reason: The sweet fruity flavors are all retained in freeze drying (in fact, some say they’re even enhanced), but the soft chewy texture is totally transformed into a light, airy, hard crunch! In the process, the interior of each candy piece breaks open the hard colored shell and bursts out of the crack that is formed. The freeze dried candies look like some kind of explosion has occurred.

For many who have tried them, freeze dried candy made from Skittles is far superior to the original form. Once we convert Skittles in the freeze drying process, they’re not really Skittles any more, so we call them Tixxlers™. They’re “guaranteed to tixxle your tongue.”

Skittles is a trademark of Mars Inc. No endorsement by Mars Inc. is expressed nor implied. Tixxlers is a trademark of Seven Oaks Market.

2 . Charleston Chews ®

Among all of the freeze dried candies, those made from Charleston Chews are my favorite. The soft and chewy originals are great, but freeze drying blows them up to about 3 times their original size, and at the same time transforms them into the light and crunchy texture typical of freeze dried candy. This light, crunchy texture varies from one candy to another, but the texture that results from freeze drying Charleston Chews is, to me, the perfect mix of light airiness and substantive crunch.

And let’s not forget about the chocolate. Possibly the saddest fact in the world of freeze dried candy is that chocolate cannot be successfully freeze dried. So you’re unlikely to find freeze dried chocolate bars, for instance. But the chocolate coating on Charleston Chews somehow miraculously survives the process, resulting in one of the few types of chocolate-containing freeze dried candy. If you’re a chocolate lover, though, check out our freeze dried chocolates (turns out it’s not entirely impossible after all).

For the sake of producing bite-sized pieces, we make our freeze dried candies from Charleston Chews Minis: the kind you get in the box at the theater. After freeze drying they look a bit like tiny footballs, so we call them Futbals™.

Charleston Chew is a trademark of Tootsie Roll Inc. No endorsement by Tootsie Roll Inc. is expressed or implied. Futbals is a trademark of Seven Oaks Market.

3. Milk Duds ®

These are perhaps a close second to my favorites. Like the Charleston Chews and little else, the chocolate coating on Milk Duds survives the freeze drying process. The Milk Duds chocolate comes out a little softer, so it’s possible you’ll get some on your fingers. But what fun it is then to lick your fingers clean!

The real star of this show is the combination of that chocolate flavor with the exploded caramel core. The caramel has a heavenly light and airy crunch. When you eat Milk Duds in their original form, the chewiness causes the deliciousness to be spread out over time as you chew them. But after freeze drying, the whole thing seems to dissolve in your mouth in an instant, so all of that marvelous flavor hits you at the same time. I think that may be the reason many people claim the freeze dried experience is even better than the candy in its original form.

The candy made from freeze drying Milk Duds is not the most appealing visually. We call them “Furbals™.” Don’t let that fool you though. If they look like fur balls, they taste like heaven.

Milk Duds is a trademark of The Hershey Company. No endorsement by The Hershey Company is expressed or implied. Furbals is a trademark of Seven Oaks Market.

4. Nerds ® Gummy Clusters

Nerds candies are great. Nerds Gummy Clusters are even better. Freeze dried candy made from Nerds Gummy Clusters are nothing short of amazing. The original candy is made from a cluster of the hard Nerds candies stuck to the surface of a little ball of gummy candy. But during freeze drying, that little gummy nugget blows up into a light and crunchy puffball about 3-5 times its original size, and the hard candies remain stuck to the surface. As incredible as it looks, it tastes even better.

The candy that results from freeze drying these Gummy Clusters looks a lot like a pink pin cushion, with the exploded pink gummy center forming the cushion and the hard candies looking like the colorful heads of pins pushed into the pin cushion. So we call them “PinKushions™.”

Nerds is a trademark of Ferrara Candy Company. No endorsement by Ferrarra Candy Company is expressed or implied. PinKushions is a trademark of Seven Oaks Market.

5. Peeps ®

I’ve found there are two kinds of people in the world: those who like Peeps fresh and pillowy soft, and those who like them after they’ve been opened and left to harden up a little for two weeks or so. Some might call these “stale Peeps,” but those of us in the second camp know that they’ve simply been properly aged, like fine wine.

Many people who like them aged think they are alone in their preference, but let me tell you: my research indicates that we are actually in the majority. Aged-Peeps-lovers of the world, unite!

But if you like them a little firmer, you should know that freeze dried, they’re like aged Peeps on steroids! They’re so firm they actually have a crunch – not a hard crunch like nuts or hard candy, but a delightfully light crunch that’s very much like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal. And you don’t even have to wait two weeks.

These candies are just a little larger, but otherwise they look pretty much like the originals. Nevertheless, because of the unique texture imparted by freeze drying, we call these delicacies “Crunch-Critters™.”

Peeps is a trademark of Just Born Inc. No endorsement by Just Born Inc. is expressed or implied. Crunch Critters is a trademark of Seven Oaks Market.

5.5 Roasted Peeps ®

What’s even better than finely-aged Peeps? Peeps that have been toasted over a campfire! Seriously, if you haven’t tried this, you must. Of course, just like roasted white marshmallows, they can become sticky and messy and get all over you, and that’s if they don’t progress to a giant flaming fireball that threatens to burn the camp to the ground. So we’ve found a way to solve these problems by first lovingly roasting the soft yellow bunnies to perfection and then freeze drying them. The result is not messy or sticky, and when we ship them out, at least, they’re usually not on fire. And they have the same magical light crunch that the un-roasted treats have (see above).

Yes, it’s gilding the lily a bit, but if you can take something great and make it insanely great, why wouldn’t you?

Peeps come in lots of different colors and flavors and shapes, but we use only the yellow bunnies, so we call the resulting candy “Campfire Crunch-Bunnies™.” They were invented by Seven Oaks Market, and they’re not available anywhere else on earth.

No actual bunnies are harmed in the making of these delicious treats.

Peeps is a trademark of Just Born Inc. Campfire Crunch-Bunnies is a trademark of Seven Oaks Market.

Other freeze dried candies

There are lots and lots of types of freeze dried candy that are also amazing, and for many people, they’re all better than the original. The list above is just for those that improve over the original in inarguable ways. You may find that you like one of the others better, so you might as well try them all.

Check out the entire assortment of what we have available.