Sweet Ideas for Valentine's Day Gifts

I don’t care where your romantic tendencies lean, everyone likes a little chocolate on Valentine’s Day. If you’re the gift giver, forget about the cheesy sampler box and go for something that’s smaller but higher in quality. And let’s not forget that dark chocolate is good for your heart. Here are my favorite picks. Honey, I hope you’re reading this!

The folks at Peeled Snacks make some incredible dried fruit. I know that sounds like an overstatement, but their organic fruit is actually packed with flavor and isn’t sticky at all. When I heard that they had paired up with Vosges Haut Chocolat, the high-end chocolate purveyor, I knew they’d come up with something spectacular. They did indeed. Their Naga Mango Bombalinas combine dried organic mango with a dusting of sweet curry, which is then enrobed with dark chocolate. Each little bite has so much impact you’ll want to savor them one at a time. And the mango gift box ($29.99) includes five bags of Peeled’s delicious dried mango called go-Mango-man-go.

This little gem of a bakery makes some outstanding chocolates, as well as decadent baked goods. For Valentine’s they’re selling a wonderful gift box ($5) filled with a vanilla sugar cookie, a frosted sugar cookie, and a fudgy brownie—all shaped liked hearts. They also sell an amazing Salt and Pepper chocolate bar ($4.50) that’s a winning combo of semi-sweet chocolate, white chocolate, chili powder, and gray sea salt. Sounds a bit odd, but it’s delicious.

I’m a huge fan of Pilates. I also love ginger. But I never thought I’d see these two things merge. But they have—in the form of the Roll Like a Ball dark chocolate ginger truffle from Torn Ranch. The truffle is part of the Pilates Mind & Body Chocolate Set ($12), which includes chocolates inspired by other Pilates moves, like Teaser dark chocolate goji berry crunch.

OK, there’s really nothing light about these, but they’re so incredible I just had to include them. Each little bar is a combination of chocolate truffle and creamy caramel, blanketed with semisweet chocolate. But the pièce de résistance is the sea salt that’s sprinkled on top—black, pink, red, or white. Just those few grains of salt balance out the sweetness of the confection, leading to pure bliss. I take one bar and slice it into a few bites to share. You can hide the rest in your freezer until a craving strikes. A box of eight sells for $36.