A very happy sweet tooth

So there I was this morning at Walgreens, looking for something that used to be there and not finding it, when I happened upon their very long Easter candy aisle and laid my eyes upon these gems:

Anyone who knows me knows I love anything with vanilla flavoring. Snackwell’s sandwich cookies with the vanilla filling, vanilla Coke or Pepsi and, especially, vanilla ice cream. It probably wasn’t a good idea to go down the Easter candy aisle before having eaten breakfast, but I was actually looking for the egg-shaped vanilla Peeps that only pop up just before Easter. Walgreens didn’t have them, but they did have this:

Sugar-free Peeps! I found these especially appealing because they’re made with Splenda. Usually I don’t get sugar-free candy because I can’t digest it well. The sorbitol or malitol or whateveritol turns my colon into a high-pressure garden hose and all sorts of unpleasantness ensues, canceling out any good intentions for attempting to save a few calories. These are only 60 calories, however they did cost twice as much as their real sugar counterparts. The injustice of it all…

The ladies in my office are big on candy, and I’m fairly sure I’ve had every incarnation of the Hershey Kiss there is except for this one:

My vanilla radar spiked when I picked these up, and I was expecting something fabulous when I bit into one, but they were just so-so. Not bad, but not something I’d seek out again like the egg-shaped vanilla Peeps.

These, however, are worth their weight in gold:

At the beginning of every semester, my office distributes pounds and pounds of candy to returning students. The booty usually includes a variety of flavored Toostie rolls. I fell in love with the vanilla ones when I was pregnant and always wished I could find a bag of them somewhere. I’ll have to try to make these last for awhile.