Here are three treats made in the metro area that will satisfy your craving for something nutty, buttery, salty and sweet.
Dark chocolate pecan toffee
Julie Frazier launched Alpharetta-based Maybird Confections — named after her maternal grandmother — in 2019, with dark chocolate pecan toffee. We first were introduced to that signature toffee through a collaboration Frazier has with Atlanta craft chocolate maker Xocolatl. Then, Mayfair’s white gold pecan toffee was the winner in the confections category of this year’s University of Georgia Flavor of Georgia competition. Frazier produces about a dozen varieties of toffee, including a coffee version made with espresso from Johns Creek roaster Cloudland Coffee. The one we’re looking forward to trying next is her snickerdoodle variety — almond toffee coated, top and bottom, with caramel white chocolate, and then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
$12-$14 per 5-ounce bag, $18-$20 per 8-ounce bag. Available at Red Hound Gifts in Alpharetta and Duluth; Xocolatl at Krog Street Market; Cibo & Vino and Persian Basket Market, both in Johns Creek; Little Red Bird Gifts in Kennesaw; Casabella and the Local Exchange, both in Marietta; Mint Juleps Shop in Sugar Hill; Parson’s Gifts in Suwanee and at maybirdconfections.com.
Credit: Courtesy of Jocelyn Dubuke-Gragg
Credit: Courtesy of Jocelyn Dubuke-Gragg
Salty vanilla caramels
Jocelyn Dubuke-Gragg of Jardi Chocolates spends her days in her Chamblee shop, dreaming up luscious combinations for her chocolate bonbons, chocolate-covered nuts, chocolate bars and chewy caramels. We decided we needed caramels for fall, so we tried her old-school salty vanilla variety. They are creamy and buttery, with just enough salt to punctuate the sweetness — a combination based on traditional French salted butter caramels from Brittany. After vanilla, Dubuke-Gragg went on to create peach, mango chile, raspberry, French roast coffee and piña colada caramels. Each handmade caramel is about 2 inches long and half an inch wide, and the texture is melt-in-your-mouth perfect.
$18 per 15-piece container. Available at jardichocolates.com.
Credit: Courtesy of DesignBee Agency
Credit: Courtesy of DesignBee Agency
Sea-salt cinnamon pecans
Milton Toro of Atlanta-based Southern Local Nuts prides himself on offering delicious roasted nuts in a range of eclectic flavors. Toro has been roasting and flavoring nuts for more than 30 years, selling them at sporting and concert venues across the metro area. He started with cinnamon almonds, and now there are 14 flavors, including sea-salt cinnamon pecans and fire-on-the-mountain almonds. We ordered the sea-salt cinnamon pecans, which are his bestseller. The perfectly roasted nuts were inside a lightly salted cinnamon-sugar shell. The nuts came in the classic cellophane cones, and we can attest that these bags keep them crisp and flavorful to the last piece. However, you also can order the nuts in Mason jars.
Nuts range from $9 per quarter-pound cone to $25 per pound. Available at southernlocalnuts.com. Follow Southern Local Nuts on Instagram to find Toro’s “nut truck,” and see him doing the roasting.
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
