2014 Holiday Gift Guide: Sweet Local Treats

The holiday season provides the opportunity to share meals and memories with family as well as many an opportunity to indulge a sweet tooth. So if you have a sugar lover on your list (or if that describes you) here are some locally found luscious treats to put on your shopping list.

2014 Holiday Gift Guide: Sweet Local Treats

Whether you are looking to add some sweet treats to a dinner party or to cater to your own sugar cravings, Elizabeth’s Moments of Joy has just what you need. They offer an array of dessert packages that include a combination of Twisted Scones, Whoopie Pies, a variety of cookie flavors and peanut brittle. The Whoopie Pie’s alone are enough to cause a sweet craving with flavors like Snickerdoodle, Red Velvet and S’More. I am hoping that someone makes sure a box of these are underneath my tree!

As a child, if someone would have told me that one day I would find an entire shop dedicated to all things ‘mallow I would have squealed a little girl noise and counted the days until I could drive to Gilbert to eat all the things! Thankfully, I now live just a short distance from Fluff It Gourmet Marshmallows and can get my fix just about anytime it strikes. You want smores? They have a Gourmet S’Mores bar that offers up more than 20 different s’more combinations. Looking for handmade flavored puffs? Like them covered in chocolate? Made into a cookie of sorts? On a stick? Pretty much any way you can imagine it, they can and have done it deliciously.

Need a beautifully decorated cake or cupcakes for your holiday event? Maybe some cake or pie pops are more your crowd’s speed. Rachel’s Bake Shop can whip up anything you can think of and make it beautiful and delicious. Rachel’s has a list of standard cake flavors but if you have a specialty flavor, they are more than willing and able to accommodate. Icing and filling options are seemingly endless. Custom cookies and edible images for cakes and cupcakes ensure that you’ll never run out of ideas for your dessert table!

No holiday is complete without that plate of pie to close out the celebration. Why not save yourself the elbow grease and order your pie ahead of time from One More Bite Bakery? Traditional flavors? They’ve got them. The more intriguing flavors, like the Elvis (chocolate, peanut butter and banana), Hall & Oates (chocolate bottom oat pie) and Peach Bourbon Bacon pies are sure to get your guests asking who made that amazing pie. The best part is that the pies come in various sizes, from pie pops to 9 inches and if you can’t quite decide on just one flavor you can opt in for a party pack with several different flavors.

The East Valley is full of sweet destinations and Pistol Whipped Pastry is one of the best. They like to take those special items from childhood that represent such great memories and reinvent them with a few delicious twists here and there. Their holiday pies offer up a little bit of familiar with an interesting spin. Cranberry Chess Pie, Bourbon Pumpkin Pie and Apple caramel Crumb, just to name a few, can be featured at your table this year. Their Marmalade Filled Sables would make the perfect addition to breakfast with out of town visitors and maybe even start a new family tradition.

What would make a better stocking stuffer than locally crafted confectionery treats? Indulgent Confections packs a robust amount of delightful flavor into such a small treat. Their eight different creations provide enough variety to please any palate. The Almond Clusters meld dark chocolate and fresh California almonds that impart a rich chocolate flavor with the crispness and texture of the small bits of almonds that pair perfectly with the silky dressing of chocolate. The Cinnamon Toffee Almond offering creates an addictive treat. You get the pure flavor of the almonds that are delicately kissed with sugar and cinnamon. It will be hard not to keep these to yourself!