Friday, January 23, 2009

See’s Cinnamon (Hearts & Lollypops)

See's Hot HeartsSee’s candy shops carry more than their distinctive boxed chocolates.

Usually for holidays they’ll have some other panned sugar candies. For Valentine’s Day this year the trend seems to be cinnamon flavor. So I picked up a bag of their See’s Hot Hearts and their Cinnamon Lollypops.

The Hot Hearts were a bit expensive, in my opinion, for a sugar candy. It was $4.50 for a 12 ounce bag of what are basically heart-shaped Hot Tamales.

But hey, the bag was pretty and included a real piece of ribbon on it and a thick plastic bag with pretty little red foil printed hearts.

While See’s makes their own chocolates and lollypops, I’m pretty sure they have their sugar candies specially made for them by an outside company. I was hoping my trip to the Fancy Food Show might shed some light on that, because, spoiler alert ... these were good and I think I might want some more after Valentine’s Day!

See's Hot HeartsThe candies are a deep red color, lightly glossy and almost an inch across at the widest part of the heart.

The candy shell is crisp and a little grainy. The jelly center is sweet and very cinnamony. The sizzle of these heart-shaped jelly beans is substantial.

The cinnamon flavor is both woodsy and fiery, capturing all of the great aspects of cinnamon.

Even though there’s a fair amount of food coloring in these (including Red 40), there’s no bitter aftertaste. Not that there ever is an aftertaste, since I don’t actually stop eating them.

Yes, I want to know how to get them all year long, or themed for other holidays, like Fiery Eggs for Easter or a Screaming Phoenix for Halloween.

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See’s has been making their own Lollypops for years. The flavors change from time to time, but lately they’ve been adding in their seasonal flavors.

See’s Cinnamon Lollypops are the same rounded block shaped lolly made from a hard caramel base.

See's Cinnamon Lollipops

The scent is odd. It smells like caramel and cinnamon. But the scent and the flavors are never completely integrated. They just exist side by side.

Mmm, toasted sugar and butter flavors. Then, wow, a pop of hot cinnamon. Then the mellow and sweet caramel.

I liked them, but not quite as much and not in the same way as the Hot Hearts. They last a long time, but the combo of boiled sugar and butter with cinnamon never quite meshed for me. Plus there was a bit of a bitter artificial color aftertaste on these.

The pops are a great, reliable candy. They’re only 70 calories each, but be warned, they’re not fat free. Not that fat is a bad thing, it’s pretty much necessary for a caramel. Their Butterscotch lollypop is still the best (and the Root Beer is the best of their seasonal flavors). I’ve picked up the other flavors for review twice ... but ate them before I could photograph them.

Related Candies

  1. See’s Pumpkin Spice & Root Beer Lollypops
  2. Cinnamon Fire Twizzlers
  3. See’s Hollow Eggs with Novelty
  4. Cinnamon Imperial Hearts
  5. Gimbal’s Lavaballs
  6. Chewy Lemonheads & Atomic Fireballs
  7. See’s Awesome Nut & Chew Bar
Name: Hot Hearts & Cinnamon Lollypops
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: See's Candies
Place Purchased: See's (Sherman Oaks Fashion Square)
Price: $4.50
Size: 12 ounces & 5.6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 99 & 100
Categories: Hard Candy, Jelly, Cinnamon, United States, See's, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:12 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I personally don’t care for cinnamon candy, but I do love Sees, and they’re reliably good quality.  And their seasonal stuff is always fun to try out; I discovered the St. Patrick’s Day potato a few years ago and absolutely love it!

    Your pictures make these red candies look so pretty, by the way!

    Comment by Lesley on 1/23/09 at 11:26 am #
  2. I love both See’s and cinnamon—can’t lose!

    Comment by Pam Walter on 1/23/09 at 2:18 pm #
  3. Those Hot Hearts remind of me ... Red Hots? I think they were also heart shaped, cinnamon, and I remember them being so full of red that my hands, lips, and tongue would be that color after eating them.

    Haven’t had or seen or thought about those in ages.

    Comment by Russ on 1/23/09 at 6:43 pm #
  4. I loved the See’s cinnamon pops. I bought some at Christmas time and absolutely loved them. They didn’t hit me with as smooth a caramel flavor as the regular pops do—I wasn’t even certain they were actually carmel-based! In any event, I’d buy them again.

    The root beer pops sound amazing. What season do they appear? I’ve not seen them before.

    Comment by Kim on 1/24/09 at 1:16 am #
  5. I love the Hot Hearts, but completely forgot about them. Looks like I will have to place a See’s order!

    Comment by emily on 1/24/09 at 10:38 pm #
  6. I’ve tried the root beer pops and never tasted anything like them since. Nice quality but a little strange eating soda flavored candy.

    Comment by Kim2 on 1/25/09 at 3:55 pm #
  7. Hot Tamales happen to be my favorite candy, so I really have no excuse not to try these fiery hearts.  I’ve tasted the cinnamon pops, pretty good. It’s funny how they keep the caramel base in all the seasonal pops, they should put Cinnamon flavored caramel pop somewhere on the package. It might turn people away but that is what they are. raspberry

    Comment by Kimberly on 1/26/09 at 6:41 am #
  8. I saw the cinnamon lollipops at a See’s seasonal kiosk during the Christmas season.

    Comment by Johnny Carruthers on 1/29/09 at 6:59 am #
  9. hi, i was wondering if you knew where cinnamon hearts first started? i have a couple of older friends that are born and raised in the states, and they have never heard of cinnamon hearts, it has me wondering if they are a canadian candy only.

    Comment by brenda on 2/10/09 at 6:15 am #
  10. My husband is addicted to the cinnamon lollpops.Since 2-14 he has bought every one he could find and now he can’t get them any place.
    SEE’S do you have any we can puchace, can’t wait untill Christmas!!!! PLEASE E-MAIL ME..You most have some someplace..

    Comment by Sandy Conklin on 3/27/09 at 3:38 pm #
  11. I too am addicted to the cinnamon caramel candy lollipops and I can’t seem to locate any….SEE’S I can’t wait for Christmas either….where can we can them?

    Comment by Linda Little on 2/04/10 at 6:57 pm #
  12. I would like to order this candy, but can’t seem to find it, even See’s web site are not even advertising this great candy. I would like to order some for myself.

    Comment by Saunddra Young on 2/09/10 at 7:55 pm #
  13. Cybele's avatar

    Saunddra - have you tried calling them? I was in their store in Southern California over the weekend and they had ample inventory of both the lollipops and the hearts. Sometimes they have stuff but don’t list it on their website.

    Comment by Cybele on 2/09/10 at 7:57 pm #
  14. I want to order cinnamon lollpops. let me know if i can order them.

    Comment by Antonia on 1/05/12 at 9:38 pm #
  15. looking for cinnamon lollpops

    Comment by jean gaviotis on 2/24/12 at 6:31 pm #
  16. cimmamon lollpops

    Comment by jean gaviotis on 2/24/12 at 6:49 pm #
  17. I love the cinnamon hearts.  Where can I get them now?

    Comment by Maggi Carnes on 3/24/13 at 1:38 pm #
  18. if you live in Canada they can be found any time of the year at Bulk Barn Foods.

    Comment by Mysty on 4/02/15 at 4:28 pm #
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