For Christmas (how was that 7 months ago?!) my boyfriend very kindly gifted me a chocolate selection box from The Vegan Kind, chock full of dairy free, honey free, gelatine free sweet treats to enjoy.

I hid the box from myself so it wouldn't get devoured in the festive frenzy, and I've slowly eaten and savoured the contents to share my thoughts on them properly. Willpower level: warrior.

Clarana Colourful Chocolate Beans

Call me strange, but I don't actually like normal Smarties. If you do, you'll love these, because they're honestly almost the same! The chocolate and sugar shell had the classic taste and feel, and the only difference I could find was that these come in more muted colours.

There are hundreds in the bag, and I feel like these would be really good for dairy free or vegan kids' treats or lunchboxes, and they'd also be great for decorating cakes.

The Fabulous Free From Factory Fudgee Bites

Amazing. Buy them now. I don't know how they make fudge without condensed cows' milk but by golly, they've done it! The filling is almost identical to Cadbury's fudge but with a toastier flavour coming in at the end, alongside the kick of sea salt to offset the sugar rush.

The chocolate coating around them was also lovely, it wasn't too dark and still melted well as I ate the fudge. Definitely a winning combination and one I will buy and recommend.

Bean And Pod 'Honey'comb

This was absolutely delightful, 10x better than a Cadbury Crunchie. The dark chocolate complemented the super sweet honeycomb, and the vanilla in it shone through. I recommend letting it sit out overnight so it gets all chewy and even more delicious. If you need a gift for a vegan friend, order two of these- one for them, one for you!

Mummy Meagz Chocolate Orange Rocky Road

The tagline of 'not dusty, chalky, or chewy' initially put me off this bar a bit. That's the very least I expect from my treats, and should be a given, not what you advertise with, but then I read that the lady behind the brand- Mummy Meagz- had found that many vegan bars were exactly that, and she wanted to buck the trend.

The bar was very sweet, and the chocolate coating was surprisingly creamy. The marshmallows studding it were not chewy like non-vegan ones, but they were still delicious. The white chocolate chunks were generous but a bit sickly for me, and there were plenty of crunchy biscuit pieces in the mixture too.

Overall the bar was just too sweet for me, I would prefer a darker chocolate and stronger orange flavour, but it was almost identical to a non-vegan version which will be exactly what some people want.

Rhythm 101 Praline Bar

If you like praline, you'll love this. It tasted exactly like I was eating a Thornton's chocolate, and the quinoa added a nice crispy texture. Praline isn't my favourite, so I wouldn't buy this again, but I did still enjoy it as a sweet treat.

Peakz Salted Caramel Squares

I expected these to be dry like cocoa Shreddies, but I was happily surprised to find that they are Shreddies coated in a generous layer of chocolate, which was dark but sweet and not too bitter. I didn't detect a caramel flavour, but there were little pieces of salt which complemented the coating.

I probably wouldn't buy these again because I prefer to either have a healthy snack or a treat, and these fell in between for me, but I did enjoy them.

Montezuma Peanut Butter Truffles

It's peanut butter truffle time, peanut butter truffle time! At first I hated these, because the chocolate is darker than my soul. They did grow on me, and the depth of the chocolate meant that they were rich without being sickly, but I'd still choose a milky, sugary Reese's cup over them.

The Vegan Kind selection box has something for everyone, and it's a really easy, accessible way to find new vegan and dairy free chocolates, whether you're fully cruelty free, lactose intolerant, or just love trying new things. Just a few clicks and one payment and a whole box is picked for you and sent to your door.

Alongside the seasonal chocolate boxes, The Vegan Kind also offer vegan lifestyle and beauty boxes, and The Vegan Kind Supermarket, where you can stock up on new-found favourites.

What's your favourite vegan treat?

My family will tell you that I'm something of a Haribo fiend, hoovering up every new release I can find, and harbouring a not-so-secret love for Tangfastics, so when I learned that the Haribo vegetarian line was growing and I could enjoy my fruity sweet treats with a clear conscience, I almost jumped for joy!

The items in this post were sent to me for honest review.

In the range we have Spaghetti Zing, Rainbow Strips, Jelly Beans, Funny Mix, Giant Strawbs, and Giant Strawbs Gone Mini that are in treat size bags, perfect for your little ones. All of the line is gelatine-free so suitable for vegetarian and Halal diets alike, but be aware that most contain beeswax so are not vegan friendly.

All the packets are labelled as vegetarian to make them easy to grab when you're shopping, and in the case of the non-vegan ones, the beeswax is clear in the ingredients rather than being listed as an E number. The Haribo Rainbow Strips and Spaghetti are vegan friendly.

While we're discussing ingredients, let me tell you that the Funny Mix has been revamped to include real fruit juice, and it shows. The mix is made of ice cream cones, strawberries, and my favourite, the cola bottles. They have such a vibrant, tangy flavour that's just like drinking a Coke with plenty of lemon.

My second favourite was the Haribo Spaghetti Zing. I'm a sucker for sour sweets, and both the coating and spaghetti itself were tart. I could happily eat a whole bowl of this! 

I also really enjoyed the jellybeans, which had peach, marshmallow, raspberry, blackcurrant, popcorn, and candyfloss flavours under a sweet sugar shell. I couldn't tell a huge difference between flavours, with them all tasting like raspberry ripple ice cream to me, but the texture was spot on. 

Unfortunately the texture for the Strawbs and Funny Mix wasn't great. While Candy Kittens have managed to recreate the classic chewy texture of gelatine sweets, the Haribo vegetarian range is much softer and tends to get stuck in the teeth, which is the only downside to these treats for me. 

Haribo gelatine-free sweets can be found in supermarkets now. Which pack will you pick?