Jelly Beans Aren't Just For Easter Anymore

When I was little, jelly beans were found in most stores at only one time of the year and that was during the Easter season. The choices were very limited, typically the regular assorted bag of flavors and colors or bags of spiced jelly beans. Today, there is vast array of jelly bean choices along with some unusual flavors. And you can find jelly beans all year long on the store shelves or via the Internet. The most popular year-round jelly bean is probably Jelly Belly™. They come in dozens of colors and flavors such as the pretty multi-colored tutti fruiti flavored ones to the surprisingly delicious buttered popcorn ones, to the intensely flavored jalapeño Jelly Belly™ jelly beans.

Jelly beans are definitely not just for Easter anymore. One of my favorite things to receive is a bag of jelly beans that announce the birth of a baby. I’ve received little bags of either pink or blue jelly beans announcing “It’s as Girl” or “It’s a Boy.” They’re cute and something that’s a little different than the chocolate candy bars many people hand out for new baby births and certainly not as bad for your health as the cigars that new dad’s used to routinely hand out when their new baby was born.

Jelly beans are also a popular favor to hand out at weddings. While jelly beans can be part of an elegant table setting or a sweet treat for guests. I recently attended a wedding where white and red jelly beans (it was a Valentine’s Day wedding) were wrapped in tulle with a tag attached that had the couple’s name and the date of the wedding on it. The small parcels were given to the wedding guests as a tasty memento of their wedding day.

You can utilize jelly beans when making desserts and cakes too. My favorite treat to make at Easter is jelly bean nests. I melt white chocolate and then stir in chow mein noodles. Before the mixture hardens, I spoon it onto waxed paper and form it into little nests. I then fill the “nest” part with several jelly beans.

Jelly beans are a fun way to decorate a cake. You can use jelly beans to create a flag for Independence Day; a pumpkin or black cat for Halloween; a tree for Christmas; a heart for Valentine’s Day or even spell out someone’s name in jelly beans. My friend likes to put jelly beans on her children’s birthday cakes each year, using jelly beans to put their age on the cake.

Jelly beans can have a practical use too. Many ice cream parlors put a jelly bean in the bottom of a sugar cone before putting ice cream in it to prevent leaking as the ice cream melts. As a bonus, there’s a sweet treat waiting at the bottom of the cone.

Jelly beans can also be part of a game at a birthday party, wedding shower, or baby shower. Fill a nice jar with jelly beans (example: use pink, blue, and white jelly beans at a baby shower) and have everyone guess how many jelly beans are in the jar. Whoever has the closest guess wins the jar of jelly beans. Or, you could give out another prize, saving the jar of jelly beans for the guest of honor.

So, even though many of us associate jelly beans with Easter, there are many fun and interesting ways to use them all year long. And if you are a jelly bean lover who just wants to have them around all year long, maybe put them in a jar on your desk like President Ronald Reagan did on the 1980’s so a couple of jelly beans to satisfy your sweet tooth are never far away.

Jelly Beans - It Wouldn't Be Easter Without Them

When I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, jelly beans showed up once a year. I was always certain of finding jelly beans in my Easter basket. And as far as I knew, there were only two kinds of jelly beans – ones made by Brach’s that were always in my Easter basket, and some off-brand that my Aunt had at her house and that I hated. Like many people my favorite color of jelly bean was red, or cherry flavored, and it still is. My second favorite flavor when I was little was the black or licorice flavored jelly beans. I still like the black ones a lot, and since nobody else in my house likes the black ones I get those all to myself!

Today, there are numerous types and brands of jelly beans available to tuck into Easter baskets for a sweet treat. The brand most recognizable today, besides the ever popular Brach’s™ jelly beans is probably Jelly Belly™ jelly beans. In my opinion, Jelly Belly™ jelly beans first gained widespread national recognition when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. He was a jelly bean lover and always kept a jar of Jelly Belly™ jelly beans on his desk and on Air Force One for a sweet treat and quick energy boost. He was quick to offer handfuls of his jelly beans to his guests and Cabinet members. I remember watching news stories talking about President Reagan’s jelly beans and what brand they were. Suddenly it seemed everyone was intrigued by these miniature jelly beans in flavors that went beyond the few traditional ones found in most bags of jelly beans.

I first tried Jelly Belly™ jelly beans in the 1980’s and I have to admit I was hooked on them right away. There is a wonderfully intense flavor packed into each one of those little jelly beans. One reason is that I love red jelly beans, and Jelly Belly™ is the only manufacturer I know of that sells red jelly beans in bulk and in individual bags. This means that if I’m in the mood for red jelly beans I can have a whole bag of them!

In our house we have some favorite Jelly Belly™ flavors. We like the root beer, cream soda, cinnamon, buttered popcorn, pina colada, and cherry flavored Jelly Belly™ jelly beans. There are many other flavors too. I think the current official count of flavors is 50. Some of those 50 flavors, such as the jalapeno flavored Jelly Belly™ jelly beans are a little too daring for my taste buds though.

The Bertie Bott's Jelly Bellies™ which are also called the Harry Potter™ jelly beans by many people, offer flavor choices such as earwax, dirt, and earthworm. The thought of eating those makes me shudder. If you’re wondering if they really taste the way their names suggest, Jelly Belly™ says on its web site that Bertie Bott’s™ jelly beans are true to their names. If you’re curious about what other people think about them, do an Internet search. You’ll find online postings from people who have tried the Bertie Bott’s Jelly Bellies™. Some people enjoy some of the Bertie Bott’s™ flavors, such as the grass flavored ones. Some of the other flavors, such as the “vomit” ones, were typically described as tasting “nasty.”

Jelly Belly™ isn’t the only brand or kind of jelly bean available. There are numerous kinds. Brach’s™ is probably the brand most often seen on the store shelves at Easter (and throughout the entire year in the candy aisle of many stores). Brach’s™ candy company also makes yummy jelly beans that taste like some of the flavors of Smucker’s™ jam.

In addition, there are jelly beans that taste like Starburst™ candy along with spiced jelly beans, mini jelly beans, speckled jelly beans and some very good tasting sugar free jelly beans. One other thing to note: if you’re searching for jelly beans and you see pectin jelly beans, that’s just another term for the normal jelly beans you see on store shelves.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that each manufacturer makes each color the same flavor. You many love the taste of the purple jelly beans (grape flavored) made by Brach’s and may think the purple jelly beans by Gimbals™ are grape flavored too but they’re not, they have a boysenberry flavor.

Jelly beans are often found in cute gift containers at Easter time and can even be found tucked inside hollow chocolate Easter eggs. And jelly beans are a popular item to tuck in plastic eggs for Easter egg hunts.

The most popular place to put jelly beans though is still in an Easter basket. After all, what’s an Easter basket without jelly beans in it?