The Worst Holiday Chocolate Of 2024 Is Unfortunately The Cutest

Just like we eat with our eyes first, we tend to shop with them first too. There's something so special and exciting about holiday editions of otherwise ordinary and staple products. The festive versions are only around for a certain amount of time, so the impulse to buy them while we can is real. Holiday chocolates are shopping Kryptonite for many of us — they're just so darn cute! Not to mention, they make great stocking stuffers and charming small gifts. What's not to love? Well, if you're planning to buy R. M. Palmer's chocolate Rudolph this year, the answer is the flavor.

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Our writer and chocolate taster extraordinaire, Sara Klimek, tried and ranked the grocery store holiday chocolates of 2024 and found that the Rudolph-shaped treat by R. M. Palmer's is just the worst. This is quite the disappointment because the chocolate itself looks absolutely adorable — Rudolph is one of the most beloved Christmas characters, so if this chocolate actually tasted good, it would be perfect. But alas, it doesn't. It mostly just tastes overpoweringly sweet, lacking any distinct flavor of chocolate. This makes sense when we look at the ingredients, which list sugar as the very first one, meaning the sugar quantity in the candy is larger than that of any other ingredient.

The reason why R. M. Palmer's holiday candy doesn't taste like real chocolate

When it comes to R. M. Palmer, many consumers agree its chocolates simply aren't good due to poor flavor and a waxy texture. Even people who have a nostalgic love for these chocolates admit they're cheap and artificial. The reason for that is that R. M. Palmer's chocolate isn't actually chocolate — at least according to the FDA's definition. In order for a product to qualify as sweet chocolate, it needs to contain a minimum of 15% cocoa and cocoa butter (together also referred to as chocolate liquor). R. M. Palmer's Rudolph "chocolate" doesn't contain the two ingredients at all, which is why the package isn't allowed to call the candy chocolate; instead, it calls the poor Rudolph "milk chocolate flavored." Chocolate-flavored, or even chocolatey, are lucrative words used by companies trying to sell, shall we call it, faux chocolate.

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Now, we cannot leave you without a better alternative, can we? If you're still looking for the ultimate holiday snacking chocolate, Sara Klimek's #1 pick was Ghirardelli's holiday chocolate squares that you can snag on Amazon. Not only does Ghirardelli's make real chocolate, the brand also made the top five list in Tasting Table's other sweet ranking of 25 chocolate brands.

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