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Valentine’s Day is almost upon us. If you haven’t already, it’s time to shop for all of the flowers and festive sweets to gift friends and loved ones. Typically, Valentine’s Day is associated with chocolate and roses, but if your valentine isn’t a chocolate fan, you’ll want to find something that honors the holiday and satisfies their sweet tooth all the same.
It seems like almost every confectionary brand scrambles to release some kind of seasonal pink and red Valentine’s Day candy for the holiday. But history has proven that making something heart-shaped doesn’t make it taste good. And while it certainly is cute, nobody wants to be gifted candy just to look at it. Avoid the duds on the shelves and give your valentine something that’s festive and tastes great.
We ranked 19 non-chocolate Valentine’s Day candies to help you select something truly special and skip any flavorless gimmicks. Speaking of flavorless gimmicks, the Great Value brand cherry jelly hearts came in dead last in our ranking. Our reviewer actually spit this candy out in the garbage almost immediately. They found the texture confusing and unpleasant and described the flavor as, “Syrupy, sweet, and fake-tasting.” These candy hearts are the pinnacle of “grandma candy” and are not something you’d ever want to use to represent your love and affection.
Get your valentine a truly sweet treat
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Honestly, this round of rankings was more of a battle for last place than for first. With almost ten of the items being barely edible, the better items on our list were a welcome surprise. The seasonal Valentine’s Day Haribos, SweeTarts, and Sour Patch Kids all found their way to the top of the rankings, but the Nerds Valentine gummy clusters took home the win.
But if you’re Valentine isn’t a chocolate fan, how about skipping the candy altogether? There are plenty of impressive Valentine’s Day recipes that are surprisingly simple to recreate and would wow any dinner date. Trader Joe’s also has a variety of sweet treats that aren’t candy that are a fitting Valentine’s Day gift, like chocolate croissants, wine-infused sea salt, and French vanilla coffee. Snag a couple of items and pack them together in some festive wrapping for a personalized and unique Valentine’s gift basket. And never underestimate the romantic capabilities of a good bottle of wine. Select a splurge-worthy bottle to share with your Valentine and indulge in the holiday of love. Whatever you do, don’t let it be as disappointing as the Great Value cherry jelly hearts.
