Photo: Num Nuts
Discover how to shop local for delectable last-minute holiday gifts.
The holiday season gets so hectic that sometimes we might forget someone on our list. With teacher gifts, stocking stuffers, hostess gifts and more, we sometimes end up needing more than what we initially bought. In such situations, it’s necessary to stock up and even keep extra gifts on hand. We reached out to three small businesses that have brought sweetness to Edina over the years.
Nutty and Witty
Num Nuts began in Chika Griswold’s home kitchen based on her need to find clean, healthy snacks for her new health journey.
“I would look for mixed roasted nuts and I would never be able to find something that I really liked,” Griswold says. “I thought ‘How hard could it be to make it?’”
Once she prepared her first whole nut mix, she would take it to parties as something to share, and she received great feedback. Her friend, Jamie Carl, asked if she could sell it in her boutique, now called Serge + Jane.
Flash forward to 2024, Griswold and her husband, Jeff Griswold, operate in a shared commercial kitchen in Plymouth, selling the Original Recipe Mixed Nuts, offering subtle hints of maple and rosemary; Nut Gravel, with crunchy texture; and Cocoa Gravel, with texture and a semi-sweet chocolate flavor.
Num Nuts
Facebook: Num Nuts
Instagram: @num.nuts
Simple and Sweet
Nancy Kluge had her aha moment in the late ’60s at a University of Wisconsin–Madison football game. Right before the game, her husband’s aunt, Norma Benninger, hosted them for lunch. Benninger always had some homemade sweet treat for the meal. That year, she prepared little chocolate-covered toffee candies.
Photo: Aunt Norma’s Toffee
“She served it to us, and I loved it,” Kluge says. “I asked her for the recipe … and that was it.” She then began making the toffee for neighbors and friends, bringing them as a hostess gift to most parties. “And it just sort of over time snowballed,” she says.
Her husband, Richard Kluge, retired in 2005 and said to Kluge, “If you keep making this candy and giving it away, you’re going to cost us a lot of money … Why don’t you think about selling it?”
That’s when Aunt Norma’s Toffee was rolled into action. After selling the toffee at various holiday boutiques in Edina, Kluge takes orders over the phone and via email.
Aunt Norma’s Toffee
612.723.0079; auntnormastoffee@gmail.com
Traditional and Special
Janna Kleineman’s husband, Dan Kleineman, also encouraged her to start her business, Sprinkle It Sweets Shop.
“I have always loved treats and sweets. I have a really big sweet tooth,” Kleineman says. “I love when things look visually really exciting … and makes you say, ‘Wow. That’s so cool!’”
Photo: Sprinkle It Sweets Shop
Sprinkle It Sweets Shop was born in 2023 through Kleineman’s passion for baking and making different recipes. Her tool belt has a wide range of baked goods, including chocolate-covered chocolate sandwich cookies, pretzels and marshmallows, and crispy treats.
Kleineman’s favorite tool is her edible printer, which prints custom photos and designs that are placed on her creations.
She enjoys the reactions of customers when they pick up orders. “They’re so excited because it’s something different,” she says. “You really don’t go into a store and find these things offered to you [because] they’re very, very custom. It’s a nice little niche that I can fill when somebody wants something that’s really perfect for their event.”
For the holidays, she offers a variety of baked goods, including Christmas and Hanukkah options. Her specialty is coming up with different cookie designs and putting them together in a wrapped box, working with chocolate and creating treats that lend themselves to being decorated.
Sprinkle It Sweets Shop
561.315.8920
Instagram: @sprinkle_it_sweets_shop
