Looking for a religious alternative to traditional Halloween candy? Beliefnet's panel of experts spent hours tasting and analyzing several spiritually-minded sweets, so you don't have to.
Sandy Candy: Bible Version
Where to buy: www.niftycandy.comConcept: "The original teach and eat candy treat"
Rating: You're in search of the perfect activity for a Christian Halloween party. Why not make big, holy Pixie Stix? A Bible Candy kit comes with large plastic tubes and several bottles of sugar in colors reflecting Christian concepts (blue for baptism, green for growth, red for Jesus' blood). Our panelists had fun layering the sugar and appreciated the "melt-in-your-mouth," non-granular texture of the candy, which they found "flavorful" and "not overly sweet." However, the fine-grained powder caused one panelist to "choke on the Bible."
The related site biblecandy.com offers scriptural recipes for layering your sugar: "'Our Father who is in Heaven'--Pour gold candy in your container which reminds us of heaven, where the streets are made of gold. 'Your kingdom come'--Pour purple candy in your container. Since Jesus is the King we use purple to stand for royalty."
In general, Sandy Candy was a winner on all fronts: taste, appearance, and entertainment value.
Scripture Candy Old Fashion Soft Mints
Where to buy: www.scripturecandy.comConcept: "Reaching the world one piece at a time"
Rating: Once you pop, you can't stop! These scripture-wrapped mints are downright addictive. Not too minty, yet soft enough to melt in your mouth. According to the maker, these mints were created to turn "a pagan holiday into something to glorify God."
Star of David Chocolate Pops
Where to buy: www.momnpops.com
Concept: Edible Star of David on a stick
Rating: We found this confection--available in white-on-dark and blue-on-white chocolate--creamy and very sweet, but high on the trans fats and low on chocolate flavoring. Still, it's definitely the best-looking certified kosher candy we've come across (and you can order either Dairy or Pareve).
Testamints
Where to buy: www.christiandollarstore.com
Concept: "A Cross on Each Mint, a Scripture Verse on Each Package, Providing Spiritual Refreshment"
Rating: Available in traditional mint flavors and fruit flavors, these candies are covered with bilingual biblical sound bites. The sour fruit candies are similar to Sweet Tarts, but a lot harder to chew. Our panel rates them as tasty. One panelist found the wintergreen mint to be superior to Life Saver's Wint-O-Green.
Bible Bar
Where to buy: www.logia.net and Christian bookstoresConcept: A nature bar based on a recipe from Deuteronomy 8:8. Includes wheat, barley, raisins, honey, figs, pomegranates and olive oil.
Rating: The perfect Abrahamic after-school snack. The panel liked that the bar was heavy on chunks of fig and raisin and found the texture much better than a Power Bar. Sweet and flavorful.
Ads for the bar note that it's "a highly effective appetite-regulator...a great way to control hunger pangs while still providing your body with the highest level of biblical nutrition."
Noah's Ark Gummi Animals
Where to buy: www.christiandollarstore.com
Concept: The traditional chewy favorite with a Genesis spin
Rating: Standard gummi fare in a variety of flavors, not too tart, not too sweet. We presume we should eat the animals in pairs.
Sweet Messages' Meltaway
Where to buy: Christian bookstores
Concept: Biblical messages on bite-sized meltaways
Rating: Our panelists' hearts melted thanks to these orange- and vanilla-flavored meltaways. Perfect single-serving size for trick-or-treaters. Also available from Sweet Messages: Bible Quiz Pops. Each lollipop label has "questions that will test your Bible knowledge! A great learning tool for children."
Halal Crispy Treats
Where to buy: www.HalalCrispyTreats.comConcept: For Muslim kids who celebrate Halloween (many families are opposed to the holiday on religious grounds), the snack favorite made with halal gelatin
Rating: Some panelists found this treat to be "Islamalicious"; a few felt there was "something slightly off" in the flavoring and cited a faint aftertaste. "As a fan of kosher marshmallows, I'm happy to see that Muslims are embracing marshmallows as well," a Jewish taster noted.
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