IF you can’t indulge yourself with a chocolate a day at Christmas, then when can you?
And the good news for those who’ve been waiting all year to open their advent calendar, the selection for 2023 is better than ever.
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From traditional milk chocolate to vegan and white chocolate options, there really is something for everyone.
Just make sure you are getting what you paid for.
“In previous years, people have reported problems with chocolate advent calendars, from missing days to poor value for cash,” explains consumer expert Martyn James.
“Don’t be fooled by packaging that suggests a bigger surprise than what the calendar contains – check how many grams of chocolate you’re actually getting and decide whether you are happy to spend the money.”
Read more on advent calendars
Lynsey Hope has tested the top ones and reveals her favourites below.
Cadbury Chocolate 3D Advent Calendar
- £13, asda.com
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We loved the unusual tower design of this calendar, which is full of child-friendly chocolate options.
It includes treat size bars of all your Cadbury favourites, including Curlywurlies, Chomps, Buttons, Freddos and Fudge.
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- TASTE: 10/10
- FUN FACTOR: 10/10
- VALUE: 6/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 8/10
Tony’s Chocoloney Countdown Calendar
- £13, waitrose.com
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Tony’s is experimental with its flavours and you get a variety of individually wrapped minis in this large calendar.
Chocolate lovers won’t be disappointed with the array on offer including milk salted caramel, dark milk pretzel toffee and milk honey almond nougat.
The white raspberry popping candy was a huge hit.
All ten flavours are created with Fairtrade chocolate so this is a great eco-choice as well as being amazingly tasty chocolate.
- TASTE: 9/10
- FUN FACTOR: 9/10
- VALUE: 9/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 9/10
Lindt Teddy Augmented Reality Advent Calendar
- £12, lindt.co.uk
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Not only do you get a delicious Lindt milk chocolate each day in this calendar, but scan the QR code with a smartphone and you can watch as the famous Lindt teddy springs to life in 24 heartwarming Christmas adventures.
It’s the ultimate advent calendar for children and is topped off with a delicious 100g Lindt Teddy.
- TASTE: 10/10
- FUN FACTOR: 10/10
- VALUE: 9/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 10/10
M&S Colin the Caterpillar Advent Calendar
- £6, ocado.com
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Filled with Colin-themed milk chocolates and a whole bag of festive mini Colin faces for Christmas day, you can’t go wrong with this M&S calendar featuring its now famous character.
The advent calendar is quite large if you are short on space but the chocolate is good quality and delicious.
- TASTE: 10/10
- FUN FACTOR: 9/10
- VALUE: 10/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 10/10
Nestle Quality Street Advent Calendar
- £10, johnlewis.com
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As you’d expect from a leading chocolate brand, this Quality Street advent calendar is deliciously impressive.
Behind each door is a wrapped chocolate, toffee or fruit creme and it’s all packaged in a classic-looking calendar in Quality Street’s signature purple colour.
A box with a similar amount of chocolates would only cost you £3 so you are paying over the odds for the festive novelty factor, but I really enjoyed this calendar.
- TASTE: 9/10
- FUN FACTOR: 7/10
- VALUE: 8/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 8/10
H!P Oat Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar
- £10, johnlewis.com
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If you are dairy free or vegan, you can still countdown to Christmas with this delicious oat milk chocolate calendar.
It contains 24 squares of chocolate in four flavours including salted caramel, creamy and smooth, gingerbread and orange.
It’s plant-based chocolate that actually tastes good, though I would have preferred a little more variety.
- TASTE: 7/10
- FUN FACTOR: 6/10
- VALUE: 6/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 6/10
Maltesers Reindeer Advent Calendar
- £2.50, asda.com
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Cheap and cheerful, the kids loved these little Malteser chocolate reindeer.
They felt festive and tasted delicious, and whilst not over indulgent compared to some others, it was enough to give the kids their chocolate hit through December.
- TASTE: 7/10
- FUN FACTOR: 7/10
- VALUE: 9/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 8/10
Divine Seriously Smooth Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar
- £5, divinechocolate.com
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Filled with smooth milk chocolate hearts – the same every day – so less variety than most but the chocolate is tasty and it is Fairtrade.
It’s quite small, maybe I’m greedy as I would have preferred a bit more to get me through each cold December day.
There is 85g worth of chocolate in the calendar and you could buy a 90g bar for £1.90, so you are paying more for the novelty factor.
- TASTE: 7/10
- FUN FACTOR: 5/10
- VALUE: 7/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 6/10
Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar
- £10, sainsburys.co.uk
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You can’t go wrong with the lovely Dairy Milk chocolate chunks in this calendar.
There are also caramel chunks, Dairy Milk Jingly Bells and a Dairy Milk Winter Wonderland Bar for Christmas Eve.
Luxurious and felt like chocolate for a tenner.
- TASTE: 10/10
- FUN FACTOR: 7/10
- VALUE: 9/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 9/10
Hotel Chocolat The Advent Calendar Truffles for Two
- £27.50, hotelchocolat.com
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Loved the sharing aspect of this luxury calendar.
It feels expensive but it’s not bad value when you consider there are two identical luxury chocs a day, all of which were good quality and delicious.
There were eight chocolates on rotation and I would have preferred something different each day.
If there’s one you don’t like, you get it three times.
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Flavours include Gingerbread Praline and Raspberry Rush.
- TASTE: 8/10
- FUN FACTOR: 7/10
- VALUE: 8/10
- OVERALL SCORE: 8/10
