It’s gift-giving season, and Oprah Winfrey’s list of Favorite Things in 2025 is helping you make a holiday list before you check it twice. Among the dozens of travel hacks, beauty remedies and cozy winter wear are three of Oprah’s Favorite Things made in Dallas.
The most delicious among them is Kate Weiser Chocolates’ Lil’ Carl four-pack, a $28 set of edible snowmen that melt over a warm stove to reveal dark chocolate and marshmallows inside — the ingredients to make a few cups of hot cocoa.
Weiser has been making artsy bonbons in Dallas for more than 10 years. Carl the Snowman first landed on Oprah’s Favorite Things list in 2018. The success of this seasonal treat — part family activity, part holiday drink — has turned it into such a sought-after Christmastime item, Weiser’s team plans to make 150,000 Lil’ Carls in the Garland facility.
New this year, the company added a pink “peppermint snowlady” called Carla that comes painted in light pink. She’s available in Lil’ size and regular, like Carl.
Restaurant News
Carl the Snowman has been a staple on Kate Weiser’s holiday menu for years. In 2025, a smaller version called Lil’ Carl made Oprah’s Favorite Things.
Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer
“I’ve been wanting to expand our Carl family for sometime now, so adding a cute, pink peppermint version was a natural fit,” Weiser said via email.
A mention in Oprah Daily “feels amazing,” she said, because “we’ve had a tough couple of years.” Some small businesses in the food industry in Texas are struggling right now, according to the Texas Restaurant Association.
“My team deserves all the credit for handling this massive order and working together to get all these Lil’ Carl’s out to families all over the country,” Weiser said.
“We are just thrilled!”
Related
Also on Oprah’s Favorite Things is the Mini Mahjer Complete Game, a $150 kid-friendly guide for those who want to learn to play mahjong.
The game “is complicated and can be intimidating,” notes Oprah’s website, “and this simplified and shortened starter game helps teach everyone from the age of 6 to 106 how to play.”
The Dallas-based company was founded by Marian Brisch and Kristin Erwin, two moms and businesswomen who thought the popular trend in mahjong could extend to families.
Related
Mini Mahjer hit seven-figure sales in its first year, according to D Magazine.
The third Dallas company on Oprah’s list is Coco & Dash, the Dallas Market Center design studio selling a set of two Savoy House Rechargeable Half-Moon Mini Lamps for $178. (Use code OPRAH for 20% off.) Each lamp has a marble base and brass-plated shade. Oprah’s site says they can tuck against a flat wall or work as bookends.
“It’s portable, rechargeable and full of personality,” Coco & Dash posted to Instagram.
Oprah’s Favorite Things in 2025 includes 112 gifts. Find the full list at OprahDaily.com. Oprah Daily’s Holiday Edition lands on newsstands Nov. 11, 2025.