The Food Advent Calendars That Are Actually Worth Buying

During the holiday season, most of us are so focused on buying gifts for other people that we don’t spend enough time treating ourselves. An advent calendar is an especially festive way to surprise yourself with something nice every single day in the month of December, and it’s even better when that treat is a tasty little snack.

Advent calendars have been around since the 19th century, but their popularity has exploded in recent years. With that popularity has come a dizzying array of new advent calendars, stuffed with so much more than just the little morsels of chocolate that many of us remember from our childhood. Instead of settling for a lackluster drugstore option stuffed with waxy chocolates, opt for one of these actually good advent calendars. But note, many of the year’s most popular advent calendars have sold out quickly, which means that you’ll need to act fast if you want to score one.

Bonne Maman advent calendar

• $45

Prices taken at time of publishing.

This French jam company’s advent calendar is a perennial favorite, and for good reason. It’s reasonably priced, packed with 24 different flavors of jam and honey, including pineapple-ginger and lemon-yuzu, and you get to reuse all those adorably tiny jars all year long. 

• $45 at Bonne Maman

Compartes gourmet chocolate advent calendar

• $110

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Los Angeles chocolatier Compartes’s advent calendar is both indulgent and visually stunning. This year’s calendar is “garden-inspired,” and boasts beautifully decorated bonbons in flavors like raspberry-rose and peanut butter banana. 

• $110 at Compartes

Bokksu Japan Wonderland advent calendar

• $175

Prices taken at time of publishing.

At $175, Japanese market Bokksu’s advent calendar is definitely on the splurge side, but it’s also packed with 41 different snacks, cakes, and cute trinkets, all imported from Japan, to open throughout the month of December. 

• $175 at Bokksu