Candy and Candy Bars

I am looking for candy to add to my teenage nieces' Christmas gifts. I don't want anything that can be picked up at any chain store, but something hand made. I was thinking a nifty bar of some sort. Tips?

Thanks!

The Irish Store in Oak Park has a lot of cool candy bars from the U.K.

For some crazy-ass sweet-sour-hot items, no store has a better collection than Dulcelandia.

Oo, they have Lyle's Golden Syrup, too!

Fresh Farms has lots of Kinder varieties as well as other foreign candy options (e.g. Canadian Smarties).

If your preference is homemade then Chow.com runs a feature before Halloween every year providing recipes for candy bars that you can use as a starting point to make your own.

Hannah's Bretzel has artisanal chocolate bars and some European offerings.

Amy's Candy Bar on Damen near Wilson has some unusual candy options as well as her homemade caramels.

At this year's One of a Kind Show, I was turned on to Mayana Chocolate by the fine folks at Puffs of Doom. Not being much of a lover of crowds (yet, ironically, I was in throngs of people at the show), I made my way through the specialty foods row to the Mayana chocolate booth. It was packed. I sampled one or two things (no idea what at this point) before buying a box of chocolates and the assortment of candy bars. Mr. X and I split the Kitchen Sink bar (Peanut Butter, Pretzel, Milk Chocolate, Crispy Rice, Fleur de Sel Caramel, 66% Custom Blend Dark Chocolate) the other night. Fantastic. Good background story on the company as well. I'm not sure where they sell locally, but there is mail order.

http://www.mayanachocolate.net/

Definitely check out Katherine Anne Confections. Worth the money!!