Photo courtesy of Askanya Chocolates

Vegan chocolate is the perfect present for a friend or family member who's vegan or has dairy allergies, and these selections would bring the wow factor to any celebration. Recent vegans who miss dairy-based candy bars will love the milk chocolate bars made with almond milk or oat milk. There are lots of dark chocolate choices, too.

With special festive flavors, gorgeous gift packaging and ethically sourced ingredients, many of these chocolates are also perfect for displaying in gift baskets or stuffing in stockings.

Photo courtesy of Lagusta's Luscious

Lagusta's Luscious is a small, charming chocolaterie with a focus on vegan, ethically made artisanal chocolates. Their Winter Wonderland Box showcases the wonderful flavors of the season. It includes cranberry orange caramels, apple caramels, peppermint white chocolate bonbons, hazelnut sugar plum bonbons and more.

They also offer a holiday bark thats 65% chocolate with white chocolate leaves and swirls, tart cherries, mint sugar and candied citrus fruit.

The shop also had a Festival of Lights Collection that included Hanukkah treats such as hand-piped dreidels, gelt and latke bonbons.

Photo courtesy of Vosges Haut-Chocolat

The vegan truffle collection from Vosges Haut-Chocolat offers a fun variety of decadent flavors. Forest Raspberry Rose, I.G.P. Piemonte Hazelnut and Sicilian Blood Orange sound sophisticated, and each one has a one-of-a-kind taste.

Each truffle is made with early-harvest Mediterranean olive oil and 72% cacao dark chocolate. Additionally, the Forest Raspberry Rose has raspberry rose gele, Bulgarian rose water and raspberry powder. Theyre all about pure and delectable ingredients. These gourmet chocolates are made with minimal sugar because fruit is used as a sweetener.

Photo courtesy of Pascha

White chocolate was something that vegans used to just do without if they didnt know how to make plant-based versions at home. Pascha has perfected the vegan white chocolate bar. Its just right for holiday snacking, baking and creating gingerbread houses. It has a rich, creamy flavor, and its made with a rice milk base.

Paschas white chocolate bar is organic, certified vegan and made without the top 8 major food allergens. (Those allergens include nuts, dairy, soy and wheat.) Pascha also makes two rice-based baking chips that go well in many holiday cookie recipes.

Photo courtesy of No Whey! Foods

From their Hanukkah chocolate treats to their Christmas advent calendar with a different chocolate for 24 days, No Whey! brings a lot of joy and chocolate to the holiday season. One of their popular treats is the milkless peppermint bark with its blend of vegan milk chocolate and vivid, refreshing peppermint.

Since No Whey! is a vegan company, all their chocolates are dairy-free. Their holiday signature truffle collection is full of festive flavors like "milk" fudge, Grand Marnier, raspberry, coffee and salted caramel. For stocking stuffers, the Christmas lollipop collection features chocolates on a stick that are shaped like a gingerbread man, a reindeer and Santa Claus.

Photo courtesy of La Maison du Chocolat

Those who love dark chocolate and fruity confections will spark to La Maison du Chocolats vegan gift box. The French chocolate maker is known for its silky, smooth chocolates, and its easy to see why with these treats in five different flavors.

Raspberry, passion fruit, lemon, orange and blackcurrant chocolates are included in this gift box. They have a delectable long fruit finish and a creamy texture. Most have a dash of coconut milk chocolate for added sweetness and softness. The ingredients are simple and the taste is pure.

Photo courtesy of Chocolate Inspirations

Chocolate Inspirations loves to go all out for the holidays. Although the company doesnt exclusively make vegan treats, they bring vegans along for the festive fun. Among their seasonal vegan treats are gourmet vegan chocolate covered caramel corn, a double peppermint bark and truffle bars.

The vegan artisan toffees, brittles and chocolate barks are all beloved treats during the winter months. Their vegan cinnamon toast toffee is perfectly infused with cinnamon and dipped in dark chocolate before being sprinkled with a cinnamon sugar blend. And the cinnamon sugared pecans are salty pecan halves that are coated in the special Chocolate Inspirations cinnamon sugar glaze.

Photo courtesy of Theo Chocolate

The Nutcracker Brittle from Theo Chocolate is a yummy seasonal treat. It has hazelnuts, as well as sweet and crunchy brittle pieces mixed into the 55% dark chocolate bar. Its finished off with a pinch of salt that makes the flavors really pop. Another holiday is the peppermint crunch bar that's a combination of organic peppermint oil, delectable brittle and dark chocolate.

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Photo courtesy of Goodio

Goodio is a chocolate company that aspired to accelerate positive change with its chocolates. Its Winter Glow chocolate is a delightful chocolate bar with 50% cacao thats handmade in Finland. Other pure, simple ingredients include coconut flakes, cinnamon and cranberries. The gourmet chocolate bar is then topped with mulled wine crystals for extra scrumptiousness.

Photo courtesy of Real Mushrooms

You may not think that mushrooms and chocolate are a natural pair, but they go together wonderfully for a treat thats healthy and delicious. This Real Mushrooms chocolate bar is 75% dark chocolate, and it has ingredients to support the immune system. As a plus, this chocolate bar is non-GMO and made from ingredients that are certified organic.

Photo courtesy of Wei of Chocolate

Wei of Chocolate is known for their melt-in-your-mouth chocolate treats in rich, creative flavors. Some of their flavors that are a perfect fit for the holidays include the Peppermint Dark Chocolate bar that is 68% cacao and the Sacred Body Dark Chocolate that is 72% cacao. Their candy is organic and vegan, and its made from ethically sourced cacao.

Photo courtesy of Cocomels

Cocomels vegan caramels are tastier than any traditional ones with dairy. Now the company also makes a variety of delicious chocolates, and their seasonal gift boxes and special flavors are popular presents at the holidays.

Their toffee gift box has crunchy, tasty coconut milk caramel toffee bark pieces that are covered in rich dark chocolate. Their holiday gift box of chocolate-covered caramels is filled with creamy coconut milk caramels that are covered with 70% dark chocolate and then finished with sea salt.

Photo courtesy of That's it.

That's it. recently launched a line of vegan chocolate truffles that are made with minimal, organic ingredients. Their dark chocolate date, dark chocolate fig, dark chocolate banana and dark chocolate raisin flavors are all made from fair trade-certified cacao. Theyre all made from four basic ingredients: fruit, organic unsweetened chocolate, organic sugar and organic cocoa butter.

Photo courtesy of UNREAL

If you love and miss M&Ms, UNREALs dark chocolate crispy gems and dark chocolate peanut gems are great alternatives. UNREAL has a vegan variety pack that includes those in addition to almond butter cups and peanut butter cups.

They come in convenient bags that close easily for quick snacking. The brand is known for not using any sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners, and they use 51% less sugar than leading candy brands.

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Photo courtesy of Askanya Chocolates

Askanya Chocolates offers mini dark candy bars that are ideal stocking stuffers. Their beautiful, artful packaging hints at the pure, delicate chocolate taste within. Theyre made with natural and ethically sourced ingredients like cacao, lime, artisanal cane sugar and orange.

Chocolate bar flavors include Minuit, Bouquet Vert (lime chocolate) and Soly (orange chocolate). In addition to being vegan, all their chocolates are gluten-free and soy-free.

Photo courtesy of Charm School Chocolate

The coconut milk chocolates from Charm School Chocolate are creamier and more delicious than any dairy-based milk chocolates. The coconut milk chocolate bars and confections are great as stocking stuffers and gift basket treats. Their vanilla bean white chocolate wows with its flavor that comes from Madagascar vanilla beans, and the caramel malt bar is a creative sweet treat.

Photo courtesy of Gigantic!

The Gigantic! Double Dark Mint candy bar is a special-edition holiday flavor. Its made with fair trade dark chocolate and plant-based coconut milk caramel for an authentically sweet taste. The chocolatey caramel filling and crunchy cacao nibs with refreshing mint flavor notes make a uniquely delicious bar.

Photo courtesy of Taza Chocolate

One thing that new vegans are afraid of sacrificing are good, old-fashioned candy bars. Happily, there are a a lot of milk chocolate alternatives, and its hard to find one thats as delicious as Taza Chocolate's milk chocolate bars that have an almond milk base. Theyre flavorful and fulfilling, and theyre sweetened only with pure coconut sugar.

Taza Chocolate's almond milk chocolate bars come in three flavors: Crunchy Cashew, Quinoa Crunch and Classic. Theyre fun for gift baskets and stockings!

Photo courtesy of Hu Kitchen - Whole Foods

Hu Kitchen makes a variety of chocolates, including a gift collection thats sold exclusively at Whole Foods Market. Some of their festive bars include Hu Kitchen Pumpkin Spice Dark Chocolate and Hu Kitchen Gingerbread Dark Chocolate. Other popular flavors that are also often enjoyed at the holidays are the Cashew Butter + Vanilla Bean and the Hazelnut Butter.

Photo courtesy of Sjaak's

Sjaak's creates a variety of holiday-themed chocolates that are mouthwateringly delicious and fun. Their festive snowballs are made with vegan white chocolate thats filled with almond butter then rolled with coconut flakes. Their Santa-shaped vegan milk chocolate lollipops make ideal stocking stuffers and nobody will miss the dairy when eating this creamy, vegan milk chocolate. The holiday gift boxes of Sjaak's chocolates are great standalone presents, too.

Photo courtesy of photo courtesy of Rabbit Food Grocery

Go Max Go candy bars are a wonderfully indulgent treat for when you miss traditional milk chocolate candy bars. They have artfully recreated (and sometimes improved upon) the candy bars that most of us grew up on. However, all their candy bars are made from plant-based milks and are completely vegan.

If you miss Reeses peanut butter cups, try their Cleos peanut butter cups. Mahalo bars are an easy substitute for Almond Joy candy bars. Similarly, Go Max Gos Jokerz is better than the Snickers bar you remember. Snap! is a creamy rice milk chocolate bar that tastes a lot like a Crunch bar.

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Delicious chocolate treats that make it easy to go vegan this holiday season - USA Today 10Best