Beach Sweets - Find tasty treats on the Seacoast

Barrels and bins packed to the brim with salt water taffy are a staple of Seacoast candy shops, many of which have deep roots in tradition and family values. Find out where to satisfy your sweet tooth when you visit the beach, plus which treats are the most popular and which are the best for a hot summer day on the sand.

Huckleberry’s Candies

Huckleberry’s Candies in Hampton is one Seacoast shop with an assortment of salt water taffy, and owner Caren MacAskill knows all about the colorful sweet’s history.

“In 1883, a New Jersey candy store was flooded in a major storm and the entire stock of taffy was soaked with salt water,” MacAskill said. “Not long after, a young girl came into the store and asked for some taffy. As a joke, the owner, David Bradley, told her all he had was ‘salt water taffy’ and the name stuck.”

MacAskill stressed that despite the legend, there’s no seawater in the taffy we see today.

“There is both water and salt in salt water taffy, but no actual salt water,” MacAskill said.

Huckleberry’s Candies offers 20 different flavors of taffy. The most popular, MacAskill said, are strawberry lemonade, watermelon, and peanut butter. In MacAskill’s eyes, you can’t beat the classics.

“We really enjoy plain old vanilla,” MacAskill said. “It really hits the spot.”

Huckleberry’s sells taffy year-round and features a pick-your-own option during the summer for those who want to customize their goodie-bag. Patrons can mix their taffy selections with a wide variety of other candies as well.

“We have a wide variety of fun summer-themed candy and chocolates including gummy lobsters, gummy sharks, chocolate sand dollars and chocolate lobsters,” MacAskill said. “With so many people taking vacations during the summer, getting a sweet treat just makes it all the more special.”

Those in the market for homemade sweets can hand-pick chocolate candies at the store.

“We make a good portion of our chocolate items on site: clusters, barks, peanut butter cups, nonpareils and most of the molded items, like the chocolate bunnies at Easter and the Santas at Christmas,” MacAskill said.

Even during the hot summer days, patrons won’t have to worry about their chocolate melting.

“We have multiple melters that keep the chocolate at the perfect temperature. This is important to make sure the chocolate has the best snap and shine.”

Sweet Hannah’s

Sweet Hannah’s opened in 2011 with the goal of enriching the Hampton Beach boardwalk with a nostalgic selection of sweets.

“We’re really an old-fashioned candy store,” said Marc Lane, co-owner of Sweet Hannah’s. “We don’t necessarily carry stuff like Hershey’s bars; we tend to go for the old-school stuff, the stuff you can’t find normally.”

Sweet Hannah’s models its operation on the ideals of family vacations. They carry the sweets that people may not find in their day-to-day lives. “Nostalgic candies like taffy and fudge are something people don’t get to indulge in every day, but it’s something they’ll go for when they’re on vacation,” Lane said.

Among these novelty candies is a large selection of salt water taffy with unique flavors like apple pie and root beer float.

“Watermelon taffy is probably our best seller,” Lane said. “Our other top sellers are probably cotton candy, strawberry, peanut butter and banana.”

Sweet Hannah’s also offers a pick-your-own option, and patrons can mix and match their taffy with over 150 different types of candy.

The store also hand makes its own fudge if you’ve had your fill of taffy.

“Traditionally we have about 32 flavors of homemade fudge,” Lane said. “Due to Covid we’ve had to strip that down a bit.”

The shop also offers freshly fried doughnuts, and it brews hot and iced coffee daily for those who need a less sweet pick-me-up during a day in the sun. 

Swell Willey’s

Established in 1913 and keeping tradition alive, Swell Willey’s in Salisbury offers an assortment of homemade ice cream, fudge, popcorn and peanut butter cups. 

“Our peanut butter cups are a signature item,” said Ally Amorello, general manager at Swell Willey’s. “There’s so many people from all over that drive here for them.”

Available in milk, dark and white chocolate, they are far from a Reese’s cup, Amorello says. Swell Willey’s receives orders from distant states like Florida and from patrons who live hours away, a testament to the quality that homemade candy possesses.

“I think quality is really important in a small business,” Amorello said. “People will take that extra drive because they know it’s good.”

Swell Willey’s also makes homemade ice cream for those who want to cool down on a hot summer day. Amorello says their most popular flavor by far is their orange creamsicle soft serve.

“It’s been a staple item at Willey’s for over 50 years,” Amorello said. “A lot of people come to our store just for that. … We even get people asking for it in the winter.”

Though candy and ice cream are the hot-ticket items at Swell Willey’s, Amorello says the store is more than the sum of its parts.

“Yes, we sell candy and ice cream, but it has a lot more meaning than that,” Amorello said. “Last year we had a limo pull up. It was the man’s 95th birthday and he insisted on coming to the store to buy candy because he always went here as a kid, and he bought his own kids candy here.”

Amorello says a lot of people stop by the store and buy candy for people going through tough times.

“Just the fact that this is a part of making someone feel better is what I enjoy the most,” Amorello said. “It means something to people.”

Along with tradition and a good remedy for the blues, Amorello believes candy is the perfect capstone to a day at the beach.

“You go to the beach and you get some candy for the ride home, or as an after-dinner treat,” Amorello said. “I think it’s really just a family thing. I hope that never goes away.”

The Candy Corner

Established in 1999 on Ocean Boulevard in Hampton Beach, The Candy Corner understands the sentimental nature of a candy shop.

“It’s a nostalgic thing,” said Kristen Statires, a member of the family-owned business. “When I was growing up as a kid there were always stores that sold taffy, fudge and caramel corn.”

Statires said candy shops have always been an essential part of any beach, whether it’s “down in the Jersey Shore, Cape Cod, or New Hampshire of course.”

Statires said family vacations at the beach and candy shops go hand in hand.

“Families are always vacationing at the beach and kids love candy so it’s a great place for that.”

The Candy Corner offers fudge, caramel corn, nuts and candied apples, all of which are made on site.

“We make six to seven pounds of fudge at a time, and we carry a lot of different flavors,” Statires said. Notable flavors include cookies and cream, peanut butter, penuche and chocolate, a classic flavor that Statires said is the most popular.

Free samples of the fudge and other candies are allowed if the variety of flavors seems daunting.

— Shane Jozitis