There is a moment every November when you realize you have three dinners, a cookie swap and a neighbor's open house on the calendar, and you have not thought about a single host gift. Ethel M Chocolates would like to help with that. The small-batch Las Vegas chocolatier, now in its 45th year, announced its 2026 Holiday Collection in late October. It is already online, and it arrives in Ethel M stores on November 2.
The lineup leans hard into baking-season flavors, and the brand says the collection is made with no flavors or colors from artificial sources. Chief Chocolatier Mark Mackey put it this way in the announcement: "At Ethel M Chocolates, we believe the most meaningful holiday gifts are crafted with intention."
The one we would bring to dinner
The standout is the Baker's Collection, $36 for 12 satin crèmes in four flavors that read like a holiday cookie tray: Dark Vanilla Peppermint, Milk Cookie Butter, Milk Gingerbread and Milk Peanut Butter. It is the right size and price for a host, it looks polished without needing a bow, and it is the kind of box that gets opened after dessert and passed around the table.
If you want something smaller, the Holiday Favorites Sampler is $18 for five pieces: Pumpkin Spice, Pecan Pie, Fudge, Peppermint and Eggnog. It is a lovely teacher, coworker or "thank you for watering my plants" gift, and an easy way to taste the season before buying bigger.
For the chocolate bar person
The Holiday Luxe Library is $36 for a set of four chocolate tablets: Peppermint Bark Ganache in dark chocolate, Gingerbread Cookie Butter Caramel in milk, Brownie Batter Ganache in dark and Pecan Caramel Rapture in milk. For the friend who keeps a square of chocolate in her desk drawer for 3pm, this is a very good present.
The tins that stick around
Ethel M's collectible holiday tins are the gift that keeps living on the counter long after the chocolate is gone. The Cactus and Holly tins start at $45 and come in 16- or 32-piece sizes, with an assortment that includes Pecan Caramel Rapture and White Chocolate Peppermint Silk. The cactus is a sweet nod to the brand's desert home.
There is also the 24-piece Holiday Advent Calendar for $80, with truffles like Milk Chocolate Bananas Foster and Dark Chocolate Kona Bean Espresso tucked behind the doors, plus a Gourmet Hot Chocolate in a sapphire-blue tin for $30 and new Peanut Brittle Bars for $5 if you need stocking stuffers.
If you are in Las Vegas
Ethel M's Cactus Garden Lights return to Henderson, Nevada, for a 33rd year, running November 5 through January 3 with more than a million lights strung through the botanical cactus garden next to the chocolate factory. It is one of the sweeter ways to spend an evening off the Strip, and the tasting room has holiday hours from November 5 through January 1.
More from BCL
- DQ's New Holiday Blizzards Are Here: Peanut Butter Blossom Joins Peppermint Bark
- McDonald's Holiday Drinks Are Here November 3: Cookie Butter Lattes and Frosted Cranberry
- Dunkin’s Holiday Menu Starts Nov. 4: Cookie Butter Is Back and the Donutcracker Is Here
- Fishwife's First Advent Calendar Is 12 Days of Tinned Fish, and Yes, There Are Chocolate Sardines
Our take
Holiday chocolate is everywhere, but most of it is either drugstore-basic or very expensive. Ethel M sits comfortably in the middle: small-batch, genuinely festive flavors, and price points from $5 to $80 that make it easy to cover several people in one order. Buy two Baker's Collections now, stash one in the closet, and thank yourself in mid-December.
