You Should Salt Your Cheap Candy

You may have heard that different things are happening , and these things make me feel some emotions. For the past few days I’ve been eating my feelings and those feelings have been a combination of salty and sweet. I popped cups of peanut butter in my mouth (for energy), but paused from time to time to salt them (for joy).

If you salt a candy – or something like that – it will not only become salty, but also taste better. Salt enhances the taste present in everything you eat, tames bitterness, cuts through cloying, and offers a resting place for your palate when it needs a break from candy, which in turn makes you want to eat more candy. Sprinkled with cheap candy, it smooths out “cheap” flavors by taking them away, and if you’re using salt in flake form, it adds a bit of crunchy texture.

If this idea seems too wild for you, consider that many confections, whether licorice, chocolate or caramel, come pre-salted; then relax and try something cheap. This is good.

I’ve tried salted Red Vines, Twix bars, peanut butter cups (both Trader Joe’s and Reese’s), mini Hershey’s, and chocolate chips, all of which have been enjoyable experiences. (Our associate editor, Joel Cunningham, is also a big fan of Kit Kat salting, if you want a different opinion than mine.)

As for the salt itself, I recommend something coarse. My favorite lollipop salt is Maldon flake salt, but coarse kosher salt will work too. If your candy doesn’t have a particularly sticky surface, consider cutting or breaking it in half and then dipping the exposed portion into a small pile of salt. (You can also lick it to stick to something, but this is frowned upon in polite society.)