Best Food Holiday Gift Ideas 2018
Make your list, check it twice, then order an extra bar of chocolate anyway because you're bound to forget a gift for some extended family member or another. Here are 17 of our favorite snacks, cooking tools and kitchen essentials to help with your 2018 holiday gifting.
1. Double Good Popcorn (3 for $39)
Flavors like "Waddle You Do For Cookies?" (answer: a lot) and "Sergeant Salt & Pepper" manage to turn snacktime into a humorous affair. Plus, half of every dollar from this Chicago-based gourmet popcorn company goes towards funding sports for children with special needs.
2. New York Restaurant Print ($95)
Scrolling through former New Yorker editor John Donohue's site is bound to bring joy to anyone who's had even a single meal in New York City. Each museum-quality print pays homage to one of the city's eateries, from Al di La to Zenkichi. Donahue adds new drawings to the site weekly and even takes requests. Gift a Balthazar print to your boss to commemorate all those work lunches, surprise your other half with a likeness of the restaurant where you popped the question or, when in doubt, just get Chick-Fil-A.
3. Date Sugar Dark Chocolate ($10)
Dalloway Chocolate, the first bean-to-bar chocolate company in the country that's owned and operated by queer women, has added a new bar to its lineup. Made with antioxidant-rich date sugar and organic ingredients, this Brooklyn-made chocolate is the way to go for anyone seeking out a healthier (but still delicious) stocking stuffer.
4. Soom Pantry Sampler ($27)
While we're on the topic of dates—sister-owned Soom Foods just launched silan (date syrup) to home cooks, after a successful trial run with buzzy chefs around the country. Pair it with Soom's beloved tahini in a bundle of nutrient-dense staples that work for baking, cooking, or simply drizzling on everything from oatmeal to roasted vegetables.
5. Frankie & Jo's Pint Club (starting at $100)
The best gift of all is the kind that serves as a constant reminder of your goodwill. And that's exactly what will happen at the start of each month, when seasonal favorites from this plant-based ice cream shop arrive at your friend's door. This month, that included cured persimmon pudding, one of the best pints we've ever dug into—dairy or nondairy.
6. Blackbeard Cookware Set ($330)
We were ready to swear off all other pans after trying Crowd Cookware's innovative skillet, and now they've gone and done it again: This time with the Blackbeard Armada, a cookware set built entirely on crowdsourced requests. Should you need a sense of how people are responding, the Netherlands-based start-up reached its target Kickstarter goal within 12 hours,
7. DADA Gift Set ($59)
Give this snack box to your favorite coworker—that way, you're bound to benefit when snack hour rolls along. Once the crispy almond butter Brussels sprouts, spicy turmeric cabbage and chocolate truffles have all been consumed, the Surrealist movement-inspired container turns into a serving bowl (or desk organizer).
8. Bokksu Subscription (starting at $25)
This may not be the year you gift a trip to Japan to your little brother, but you can give him the next best thing by bringing the food to him. Bokksu's curated boxes consist of snacks sourced entirely from Japan: Think mochi, black sesame chocolate adzuki beans, crunchy matcha bars and more.
9. Cinnamon Spreadable Honey ($13)
Everything this Bare Honey spread touches turns to gold, whether it's toast, tea, oatmeal or ice cream. Do yourself a favor and order yourself a jar of the Minnesota company's sweet, warmly spiced honey while you're at it.
10. FINEX Dutch Oven ($300)
Just like its standard skillets, FINEX's deep-sided pot looks and performs like a family heirloom right out of the box. With its functional design, efficient heat distribution and flaxseed oil-finished surface, it's like the Rolls-Royce of cookware.
11. Ginger Root Maple Syrup ($17)
Even the sweetest person in your life can't hold a candle to Runamok's organic maple syrups, with flavors like pecan wood-smoked, bourbon barrel-aged and all the herbal infusions in between. This ginger one works just well in cocktails as is does on pancakes.
12. Ruby Truffle Collection ($15)
Swiss chocolate scientists are keeping millennial pink in the spotlight with ruby chocolate, the newest natural chocolate color in 80 years. This four-piece Vosges box of fruity truffles is one of the first places you can try it, and we have a feeling you'll be hooked.
13. Forma Cheese Grater ($80)
This aesthetically pleasing grater was "inspired by the natural formation of pebbles eroded over time by the action of water and sand," meaning the next time someone asks for cheese on their pasta, they'll also get a sprinkling of fine art.
14. Pearl Street Caviar (starting at $44)
Make someone in your life feel fancy without maxing out your credit card by giving them the joy of this Amur River-sourced caviar. The new Brooklyn company's goal is to take caviar "off the white tablecloth" and make it more accessible to all—not to mention sustainable, buttery and subtly sweet.
15. Copper Cow Coffee Bundle ($35)
Every time your Secret Santa makes coffee in the morning, they'll think of you with nothing but gratitude for the sweet jolt that these convenient portable kits bring. This hybrid set comes with two types of Vietnamese coffee (one with sweetened condensed milk, one without) and Thai iced tea.
16. Yohann iPad Stand ($149)
The latest technology deserves a design-forward pedestal to match. Each stand from this Swiss startup is made from a single block of wood and therefore completely unique, but all share the characteristic of being the perfect way to display a recipe in the kitchen safe from messy countertops.
17. Smokey Old Fashioned Kit ($25)
RAFT's winning combination of smoked tea vanilla syrup and barrel-aged bitters, both handmade in Portland, Oregon, make sure that the whiskey lover in your life is set up for success.
Double Good Popcorn
Flavors like "Waddle You Do For Cookies?" (answer: a lot) and "Sergeant Salt & Pepper" manage to turn snacktime into a humorous affair.
Date Sugar Dark Chocolate
Dalloway Chocolate, the first bean-to-bar chocolate company in the country that's owned and operated by queer women, has added a new bar to its lineup.
Frankie & Jo's Pint Club
Say the word, and seasonal favorites from this plant-based ice cream shop will arrive at your friend's door. This month, that included cured persimmon pudding, one of the best pints we've ever dug into—dairy or nondairy.
DADA Gift Set
Give this snack box to your favorite coworker—that way, you're bound to benefit when snack hour rolls along.
Bokksu Subscription
This may not be the year you gift a trip to Japan to your little brother, but you can give him the next best thing by bringing the food to him.
FINEX Dutch Oven
Just like its standard skillets, FINEX's deep-sided pot looks and performs like a family heirloom right out of the box.
Photo: Carly Diaz
Ginger Root Maple Syrup
Even the sweetest person in your life can't hold a candle to Runamok's organic maple syrups, with flavors like pecan wood-smoked, bourbon barrel-aged and all the herbal infusions in between.
Ruby Truffle Collection
Swiss chocolate scientists are keeping millennial pink in the spotlight with ruby chocolate, the newest natural chocolate color in 80 years.
Yohann iPad Stand
Each stand from this Swiss startup is made from a single block of wood and therefore completely unique, but all share the characteristic of being the perfect way to display a recipe in the kitchen safe from messy countertops.