A Comprehensive List of Must-Try Australian Lollies You Can Get Delivered to Your Door

But sadly, there are a few treats I can’t recreate in my kitchen here in the USA; those perfectly processed and prepackaged confectionery, Australian candies. Or—as I call them—lollies. 

Whether you grew up munching on Skittles or sucking on Jolly Ranchers, there are always a few of those special sugar-packed treats that remind you of childhood. And there’s something about this time of year when we’re preparing all our favorite holiday foods that made me miss them that little bit more.

So I decided to order them all the way from the land down under.

Naturally, I’ve decided to take my colleagues at America’s Test Kitchen along with me to revisit a few of these delicious (and most likely unfamiliar) Aussie goodies. They were mostly a hit, but one particular sweet caused some fairly heated debate.

In the words of this iconic Aussie chocolate bar, “it’s the way it shatters that matters,” and that slogan isn’t as true of anything as much as this delectable treat. This bar has a shatteringly crunchy honeycomb center, covered by two layers of creamy milk chocolate. Simple and perfect. These chocolates were first produced in Australia in 1913, and are still a favorite of many true-blue Aussies.

Isn’t he just adorable? Well, this Aussie icon is even more delicious than he is cute, with a sticky, surprisingly substantial lashing of caramel in the center of each koala-shaped piece of chocolate. Each one might only be about the size of your index finger, which makes it easy to eat (many) more than just one.

Don’t be fooled by the sporty kid on the can—this is no healthy snack, but it is a versatile one. This malted chocolate powder, most commonly mixed in with milk, can either be enjoyed as a cold Milo on a stifling hot day in the sun, or you can snuggle up with a hot Milo on a slightly less sweltering Australian winter morning. 

But ask any homegrown Aussie and they’ll tell you the real way to enjoy Milo is piled high on a few scoops of vanilla ice cream for a crunchy, malty, chocolatey topping that is simply unrivaled here in America.

Much like his friend Mr. Caramello Koala, Freddo Frog is a hero among Australian children for his small, sweet, and milky chocolates. A simple treat of solid chocolate that’s nostalgic for its froggy shape more than anything else, Freddo has certainly earned himself a place in every Aussie’s heart.

Just like you never forget your first love, you never forget the first time you were proposed to with a Cheezel ring. These cheesy, creamy, and pleasantly salty ring-shaped chips will remind you of the flavor of Doritos, but it’s the puffed texture of each piece that really makes them what they are.

Like chomping down on cheddar-flavor air with a wispy crunch, there’s simply no other cheese chip like Cheezels.

One thing Australian lollies do right is their ability to make you believe you’re eating a piece of fresh fruit—but better. In the case of the Cherry Ripe, where a creamy cherry and coconut filling is encased in dark chocolate, you’ll find yourself sitting among an orchard of fresh, juicy cherries, biting into each one with the surprising bittersweet layers of chocolate.

Musk sticks are elongated star-shaped candy sticks (similar in texture to grainy fondant) that have a light, floral flavor.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to have Musk Sticks shipped to the U.S., so I went with the next best thing: musk-flavored Life Savers, which at least allowed me to demonstrate the flavor to my friends and colleagues.

And this is where things start to get controversial.

“Musk” itself may sound familiar to you as a kind of perfume that was popular with our grandparents’ generation, and that’s exactly what inspired the flavor of this Australian confection. It may be why one ATK test cook described the flavor as “the inside of a granny’s purse,” and another noted that it “tasted like an Abercrombie and Fitch store in the Nineties.” You can see their full reactions in the video below.

I, for one, love Musk Sticks. The soft, taffy-like texture and subtly floral flavor is pleasantly nostalgic for me, but it appears as though Americans are not quite as fawning about this particular candy. It’s safe to say I wasn’t particularly popular around the office for the rest of the day.

No matter what, my love for my homegrown treats was thankfully sated thanks to some cross-continental lolly delivery, and hopefully has inspired you to try a few for yourself (go on, try a Musk Stick or two, if you can find them).