Treat Suggestions
If you’re anything like me when you’re doing your Christmas presents it’s never just one gift per person. I usually do a main gift, then throw in what I call sweet stocking fillers; little extras, usually sweets (candy) and chocolate. If you’re not a vegan and you’re buying for a friend who is vegan, it it can be a little overwhelming. You find yourself searching specifically for items marketed as vegan. This is a wonderful, and your friend will appreciate it but if you’re on a budget it can get a bit expensive. In this post I am going to share some of the main stream items you can find at supermarkets, and discount (pound) shops that I enjoy. There are items you can get but this gives you a good range for cheap, vegan stocking fillers.
**Disclaimer – These sweets are only Vegan in the UK. Many of them are not suitable for vegans if you are buying them in the US.
Sweet Stocking Fillers
I have tried to keep the price of these items at £1 or below but there may be a couple of items that might be a little over that. I wanted everything to be the sort of price that meant you could add things together to really make sweet stocking fillers. First up are the mainstream brands, these are usually only £1 a bag in UK supermarkets or bargain shops.
Yes, that’s right, here in the UK Starbursts, Skittles, Foxes Glacier Fruits and Mints, Cherry Drops, Refresher Choos, and Jelly Tots are all accidentally vegan in the UK. Jelly Tots are one of my favourite sweets. I have to be really strict with myself or I could happily eat multiple bags in one sitting.
These are some of my favourite poundshop (PoundWorld, Poundland, HomeBargains, etc) buys. Ruffle Bars are a yummy coconut based raspberry flavour bar they come in a multipack, I was worried about the texture because I thought they’d be gritty like a bounty bar but they’re love and smooth with a slight chewiness. They’re really yummy. The little Wawel Chocolate Mint discs remind me very much of American Peppermint patties. And Bonfire Toffee which (just because we like to confuse people) isn’t actually toffee but is hard-boiled sucking sweet.
Most supermarkets now offer a (reasonably) cheap own brand ‘milk’ choc bar, some with rice crispies, some with orange, and some just lovely creamy milk choc. You can usually find these in the stores free from section. *Side note: As part of their free from Xmas range this year Tesco have choc coins, and santa lollies as well.
They also offer lots of own brand sweet that happen to be accidentally vegan. Many of the sour pencil type sweets are good. The ones shown above are from Tesco but the same items from Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all are vegan as well.
The Sarelle Bars (only the dark choc version are vegan) I’ve shown here are available in the ‘foreign foods’ aisle in many large supermarkets (Asda, Tesco, and Sainsburys all do them), they taste like a dark chocolate Kinder Bueno. They are really tasty, and I would be ecstatic to find them as a sweet stocking filler.
These Mini Moo bars came from Sainsbury’s but you will also find them in Holland and Barrett shops, they come in a variety of flavours and are a great stocking filler for kids, as well as adults.
Aldi and Lidl don’t have these bars but they both do a lot of accidentally vegan dark chocolate bars, some flavoured some plain. I have to admit one of my favourite dark bars is this one from Lidl (in the red packet), it only costs 30p a bar, and it is wonderfully rich and creamy tasting, and not too bitter.
Did you see my round-up and review of accidentally vegan mince pies? You can find it here.
* I am not sponsored by or affiliated with any of these companies. The opinions given here are mine alone. I understand that some of the well known brands may not be acceptable to some Vegans due to company ownership, etc but for me cost is more of a concern.