From pureed black garlic to spicy satsuma jam, here are 12 Southern-made products to try out in your kitchen this January.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Pecan milk creamers
A good coffee or tea creamer provides richness and can balance the tannins in tea and the bitterness of coffee. Austin-based PKN makes nondairy milk from our favorite nut and offers unsweetened pecan milk creamer and a sweet vanilla version made with monk fruit extract. These are creamers that not only lighten, but add rich, nutty flavor. These creamers and the company’s pecan milk are made with the smaller pecan pieces that might go unsold, helping support Southern farmers and reducing waste.
$14.99 per 2-pack sampler. Available at pknpecanmilk.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Whipped honey with lemon
Ted Dennard founded Savannah Bee Company in 1999, sourcing honey from around the world and packaging it in beautiful containers suitable for your table and elegant enough for gift-giving. Their whipped honey is our new favorite. The creamy texture is perfect for spreading on toast and easy to drop by the teaspoon into your favorite hot drink. We’re loving the subtle citrus finishing notes in the whipped honey with lemon.
$19 per 12-ounce jar. Available at savannahbee.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Sweet barbecue sauce with a little spice
The signature sauce from Dallas, Georgia, PR’s Premium BBQ Sauce starts with house-made ketchup and hot sauce, is sweetened with brown sugar and molasses; has plenty of garlic and onion for punch; and includes ancho chile and ground mustard for just the right level of spice. The “PR” honors Jerome Huddleston’s dad, “Prince Ruby.” Five years ago, Huddleston and his sister Marilyn Reeder started bottling their dad’s 75-year-old secret recipe so people could enjoy it at home.
$12.95 per 16-ounce bottle. Available at prspremiumbbqsaucenthings.com
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Credit: Handout
Beef bone-based Sunday sauce
Making Sunday sauce is a time-consuming tradition in many Italian families. Tomatoes, garlic and beef bones simmer for hours, and the resulting sauce is served over pasta or used in soups and stews. Kristen Pipitone founded the Atlanta-based Sunday Sauce Company to offer beef bone marrow-infused tomato sauce inspired by the recipes of her grandparents and great-grandparents. We’ve been enjoying the rich, beefy original 76 sauce, and there’s a spicy version as well.
$36 per pack of 2 (24-ounce) jars. Available at Lucy’s Market, Savi Provisions in Inman Park and thesundaysaucecompany.com.
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Credit: Handout
Chocolate chip cookie mix with peanut powder
PB2 in Tifton offers powdered nut butters, natural peanut butter, protein powders and pantry baking mixes like the one we’ve just tried: chocolate chip cookie mix with peanut powder. With the addition of oil and an egg, the mix produces crisp, crinkled cookies with plenty of chocolate chips. There’s just enough peanut powder that you know it’s there, but not enough to overwhelm the chocolate. We found these cookies appealed to both the chocolate fans and peanut butter fans in our crowd.
$11.99 per 1-pound jar that makes 20 cookies. Available at www.pb2foods.com.
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Credit: Handout
Pureed black garlic
Camille Davis will tell you she has always loved garlic, but when she was introduced to black garlic, she was instantly intrigued. She founded Lawrenceville-based I Love Black Garlic to share this product, which is made by aging fresh garlic for several weeks. The process turns the raw cloves black, mellowing the flavor and increasing their antioxidant content. Use the puree as you would fresh garlic or visit the website for dozens of recipes to inspire your cooking.
$18.99 per 7-ounce jar at Avondale Estates Farmers Market; $22.99 including shipping at iloveblackgarlic.com.
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Credit: Handout
Handmade caramels
Jerrod Smith is a corporate attorney turned candymaker. He and his team at Memphis-based Shotwell Candy Co. make every batch of Tennessee toffee and almost two dozen caramel flavors by hand. The original salted caramel is a customer favorite, but we couldn’t resist trying the chocolate peppermint crunch and hand-crushed espresso caramel as well. These are luscious, creamy, soft and chewy caramels, with bits of Celtic grey salt, peppermint candy or Ethiopian coffee adding just the tiniest bit of texture.
$12.95 per 4-ounce box of 16 caramels. Available at www.shotwellcandy.com.
Credit: Amy Forbes
Credit: Amy Forbes
Hot sauce made with datil peppers
John Forbes has been making hot sauce since 2005. In 2024, he opened Suwannee Sauce company in Jacksonville, Florida, to share his hot sauce with the world. It’s ketchup- and vinegar-based, includes carrots, green and red peppers and other seasonings, and gets its heat from datil pepper mash. We’ve been putting the original flavor on everything we’re grilling and stirring it into scrambled eggs, enjoying the smoky tang it brings without overwhelming heat. There’s also extra-spicy Double Datil Down sauce as well.
$9.95 per 5-ounce bottle. Available at suwanneesauce.com.
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Credit: Handout
Peppermint-dipped marshmallows
Jocelyn Dubuke of Jardi Chocolates launched Atlanta Candy Kitchen in 2024 to offer traditional and nostalgic chocolate treats in what she calls “elevated” versions. For example, her handmade vanilla bean marshmallows have more substance than the grocery store marshmallows you’re probably familiar with, and for winter, she’s dipped and drizzled them in minty dark chocolate, then sprinkled them with bits of peppermint candy. They are perfect to enjoy by hand or add to a cup of hot chocolate.
$5 per package of 5 marshmallows. Available at atlantacandykitchen.com
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Credit: Handout
Grilled pineapple jerk hot sauce from Tennessee
Hot sauces come in many iterations, but Buffalo Soldier, a grilled pineapple jerk sauce from Harmacy Hot Sauce in Cookeville, Tennessee, is the one you need when grilling season heats up. Owner Homero Gonzalez combines two hot peppers with pineapple, scallions, lime, brown sugar and traditional jerk spices to make a sauce with a sweet heat that works with chicken, beef, pork and even tofu.
$14.99 per 9-ounce jar. Available at harmacyhotsauce.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Spicy satsuma jam from Louisiana
Sara Levasseur of New Orleans-based Jamboree Jams offers an innovative line of a dozen jams and marmalades in flavors like blackberry with purple basil and peach rose geranium. There are three satsuma jams on her list right now, including spicy satsuma jam that gets its heat from habanero peppers. It’s the company’s bestseller. This chunky jam is as perfect for pairing with cheese as it is for glazing almost anything you’re grilling.
$14 per 9.5-ounce jar. Available at jamboreejams.co.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Starling purple sweet potatoes
Chances are good you’ve had lots of orange sweet potatoes recently. But what about purple sweet potatoes, like the starling purple sweet potatoes from Row 7 Seed Co.? These aren’t ube, the purple yams you might know from Filipino or Japanese cuisine. They’re purple sweet potatoes bred at North Carolina State University and grown by a network of organic farmers. They roast and mash like the sweet potatoes you’re familiar with, but they are subtly sweeter and very aromatic.
$2.99 per pound. Available at Whole Foods Market until early March. Information: row7seeds.com.
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