As Halloween draws near, Shari’s Berries have been very busy finalizing the 2011 Top 10 Spooky Treats for Halloween list. The competition has been fierce and we’ve already lost a couple of contestants to some gruesome and underhanded tactics of other nominees. When it comes to competitive strategy though, bloodthirsty and sinister conduct is almost a prerequisite for winning the highly coveted title of Spookiest Halloween Treat of 2011. So for those Halloween treats and gifts that have not yet met some grisly fate, the battle is on! As we await the judges’ verdict, we’re pleased to share with you the Top 10 contenders. Try some of our favorites for yourself and let us know your ruling!
The first contenders on our list are the rather demure and sophisticated Happy Halloween Truffles. The perfect gift for the Scaredy Cat at Halloween, these decadent dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white confection truffles come in an assortment of heavenly varieties including: Champagne, Mocha Valencia, Irish Crème, Kahlua, Raspberry and Rum to name a few. But don’t be fooled by these deceptively delightful chocolates – there is something wicked about anything this decadent.
Shari’s Berries Deluxe Hand-Decorated Halloween Cookies are almost too cute to be taken seriously as contenders in the Spooky Treats category. Unfortunately, there’s no prize for “adorably charming Halloween treats” this year, so based solely on the scary black box that they come in, they make it into our Top Ten list. Orange pumpkins, purple owls, white ghost faces and black “Boo!” cookies look great on the counter and are small enough that they tend to disappear one at a time without raising too much suspicion. Shari’s Berries 5 Piece Happy Halloween Cookie Bouquet features slightly scarier faces but alas, there was room for only one cookie treat in this year’s competition. Do jump on the cookie bouquet bandwagon though; the Halloween Cookie Bouquet is perfect for gifting or to be used as a centerpiece on the Halloween dinner table.
Invoke your Martha Stewart alter ego and offer guests a plate of deluxe Hand-Decorated Halloween Brownie Pops for dessert. These ooey gooey favorites make any Halloween dinner setting look like it’s been taken from a magazine. Halloween Brownie Pops are a hands down top contender in this year’s running. Perhaps the Brownie Pop is at an unfair advantage though. Brownie pops are already so popular at the moment. They are arguably the cookie’s biggest competition, making security a big issue for Brownie Pops this year. Shari’s Berries Spooky Brownie Pop designs include the Pumpkin; Mummy; Frankenstein; Dracula; Skull; and Black Cat.
The rules only allowed for one cookie treat in this year’s competition, but Mrs. Field’s found a loophole by offering cookie jars with their scrumptious cookies inside. We took it to the judges and they found that the added keepsake element tipped the balance. We couldn’t decide between the Mrs. Fields Haunted Mansion Cookie Jar and the Jack-O-Lantern Cookie Jar, so we’ve entered them into the competition as a duet. Honorable mentions go to the other keepsake entries: the Mrs. Fields Deluxe Halloween Gift Pail and the Mrs. Fields Halloween Pumpkin Tote.
Shari’s Berries can do anything with a strawberry, so it’s no surprise that their Hand-Dipped Halloween Berries are a top contender in the Top 10 Spooky Treats for Halloween competition. Kitted out in orange, black and brown, these mischievously delicious treats are only masquerading as a healthy snack. The assortment includes milk dipped with stripes, white dipped with dots and our faves, the orange jack-o-lanterns. They’d be on display for much longer if they weren’t so darn delicious.
This year, while preparing for your Halloween festivities and wrapping your Halloween gifts, spare a thought for the humble pretzel. This oft overlooked snack does pretty well on its own, but when dressed up for Halloween, the salty, crunchy party staple becomes must have Halloween fare. Shari’s Berries have taken the twisted pretzel and straightened it into a rod, topped it with candy and transformed it into something devilishly good. Halloween Caramel Pretzel Rods come topped with chocolate haunted houses and ghosts or dipped in caramel and milk chocolate and swizzled with orange confection, or dipped in caramel and white confection and decorated with Halloween sprinkles. Plain Pretzel Rods were a no show last year, but getting dressed up in candy helps anyone’s chances really, putting Shari’s Berries Halloween Caramel Pretzel Rods firmly in the running for Top Spooky Treat of 2011.
Next on the list are Shari’s Berries Hand-Dipped Caramel Apples, which come in Traditional flavors or the Candy Bar Collection. The ultimate symbol of temptation, a Granny Smith apple is covered with a thick caramel coating and then rolled in one of several toppings, including colorful M&M's® candies, Snickers® pieces, brown sugar and cinnamon or roasted pecan pieces. The judges found these to be so good, they commandeered most of them for a bout of traditional Halloween apple bobbing. Thankfully there were a few left for the final round of the competition.
Another cookie treat that got through to the finals on a technicality is the Jack-O-Lantern Cookie Cake. Technically just a giant cookie, the cookie cake has used ghoulish tactics (which we applaud) to muscle into the competition. Sneaking into the “cake” category to avoid disqualification, the judges turned a blind eye after tasting this big, delicious cookie… *ahem* we mean cake.
It was thought that the Top 10 Spooky Treats for Halloween should include a beverage nominee, and the Ghoul Fuel Mug and Cocoa Gift Set was a clear winner in its category. After a night of trick or treating, wickedly delicious orange hot chocolate warms the coldest hands on All-Hallows-Eve. Ghoul Fuel comes with marshmallows, a coffin tin and a high quality Halloween mug. Ghoulishly good! 
Our final contender rounding out our top gourmet gifts for Halloween, but by no means our least scary, is the spooktacular Jack O Lantern Candy Tote - an Orange and Black Felt Jack O Lantern Bag filled with Candy Corn, Halloween Spice Drops, Sour Jelly Pumpkins, Mello Crème Pumpkins, Thatcher's Caramel Popcorn, Pumpkin Marshmallow Peeps, and Zombies Chocolates. This ghoulish collection is enough to turn your sweetest little angels into gluttonous ghouls. Take the tote Trick or Treating – our judges love entries that are spooky AND functional!