Christmas is filled with classic candies, many that simply aren’t found outside of these months.
Brach’s Christmas Nougats are classics. The disk shaped, mostly circular candies are wrapped in clear cellophane with green triangles on a red band at the edges where the wrappers are twisted. They’re about an inch and a half around. The style highlights the look of the candy, which features a green triangle (Christmas tree) in the center of the white chew. There are little red bands around the edge as well. To make the pattern, the candy is constructed like a giant burrito, the triangular green piece at the center, a little red piece for the “trunk” and then the mass of white nougat is wrapped around that with the strips of red added at the end. Then the whole thing is rolled out into a long rope and sliced to reveal the design.
The base of the candy is called nougat and I admit that there is some egg white in there, but the texture isn’t quite nougat as far as I’m concerned. It’s not as chewy as a taffy, but not as fluffy as most nougats. So I’m just going to call it a chew.
They’re soft and easy to chew, not stringy or particularly sticky but could be considered clingy. They’re strongly flavored with peppermint, but it’s a clean flavor. The texture is mostly smooth, though there were some grainy bits of sugar now and then. They dissolve pretty quickly, so I found it easy to eat them one after the other. There’s a little hint of salt to keep them from tasting far too sweet. They’re fresh, most definitely, I’m sure that old ones get tacky and stiff.
I can see why these are a classic for the holidays. They’re a little on the bland side for me, not quite enough like true nougats and I didn’t care for the aftertaste from the artificial colors. They’re quite pretty and easy to share.
They also come in Wintergreen and Cinnamon (I haven’t found those in stores).
Related Candies
- Ritter Sport Peppermint
- Nestle Toll House Mint Holiday Gems
- Whoppers Sno-Balls
- Peppermint Peep Stars
- Nougat de Montelimar
I haven’t seen the Cinnamon Nougats on their own since 2007, when I reviewed them. I’ve looked for them the past two or three years, but I have only seen them in a mixed bag—peppermint, wintergreen, and cinnamon.
When I reviewed the Cinnamon Nougats, I made the comment that they reminded me of beads made of polymer clay, only edible.
These are my Grandpa’s favorite! They are classic.
Ha! I had just bitten into my first one of the season when this page opened up.
I don’t really like peppermint, but they remind me so much of my grandmother that I get a bag every year (along with a bag of Brachs Christmas hard candies that I leave out in a bowl so that they congeal into a solid mass of candy, also in memory of my grandmother).
I’m a huge fan of candies that are made with this way. It’s called millefiori in jewelry making and it can be emulated at home using polymer clay or marzipan.
The candies that I come actross are usually cheap sugar candies from Turkey of Estern Europe, but I don’t care. The pattern can be really elaborate and they are so pretty!
Anybody who sees the cinnamon bags (or even mixed ones) in stores needs to share the info with the rest of us. I’m checking every store I visit, but only peppermint and wintergreen so far.
Oh man. I don’t especially love these, but just looking at them gives me a blast of Christmasy feeling…almost as much as the scent of Krisp Kringle.
I am an unabashed lover of these! Totally addictive.
yes! classic! i had forgotten about these. i’m going to have to pick up a bag now.
love that seasonal candy.
Love these! It just isn’t Christmas without them. The fresh ones are really addictive!
I’ve actually had the cinnamon ones; Walgreens sold a bag with a mix of them during the holiday, instead of the peppermint ones I was looking for. Nothing too special about the cinnamon ones. A bit spicy, but they tasted an awful lot like the mint ones otherwise.
These tend to shower me with little bits that I find months later. And I can’t eat them then, either, because theyre too small and melty and sticky by then. But it isn’t christmas without a bag of christmas nougats.
I like the grainy chewy candies, so I appreciate the little surprise grainy nuggets of sugar in these. You can tease a bit of extra graininess out of these by a proper tongue massage.
My wife loves the peppermint nougats so much, she has since a little girl and her mom would share them with her. However, I have been looking everywhere, including many of the cities and towns surrounding Phoenix, but I cannot find them… Is there a shortage this year or late delivery to the southwest? The only places I have been able to locate them is on eBay and Amazon, but they are around $12 each! Is anyone else experiencing this? If so, is there any relief in sight? I really want her to have one of her favorite things that reminds her of her mother and her Christmases growing up, even if it is going to cost 4x more than normal, making her happy and comfortable is my number one goal, but if I am going to soon be able to make her 4x more comfortable by getting 4 bags at the local grocery store vs my options at eBay or Amazon, please let me know so I can spend the savings on other stocking stuffers and gifts.
I found just a couple of bags at only one store this year - they seem to have disappeared from all of my regular candy haunts.
anyone know where i can find this candy
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