Two L’s Creations opens in Alabaster, offers freeze dried twist on old favorites

Published 4:49 pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024

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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Those with a sweet tooth looking for a new twist on iconic snacks don’t have to look any further after the opening of Two L’s Creations in Alabaster.

A ribbon cutting for Two L’s Creations was held on Tuesday, March 26 in commemoration of the business’s new store at 7895 Highway 119, suite 11 in Alabaster. The veteran-owned business features a variety of freeze dried sweets and more.

“We had a good turnout for the grand opening and we’re still fairly new, so (we’re) getting the word out,” Owner Carmen Shyken said. “It’s been good.”

Two L’s Creations specializes in providing customers with a diverse array of items that have been freeze dried—adding a unique twist to the texture of people’s favorite candies and snacks.

“With the freeze drying process, it’s a machine that you use to do it and, in the process, it will pull out 99 percent of the moisture that’s in the candy,” Shyken said. “So, anything gummy is more like an airy crunchiness, so it doesn’t stick to your teeth. We have a whole salt water taffy wall—the salt water taffy is more of a meringue texture.”

The freeze drying process also sometimes enhances the flavor of the particular candy. Shyken and her husband work together to create all of their goods in store.

According to Shyken, the business’s five most popular freeze dried items are Skittles, Nerds clusters, Jolly Ranchers, peach rings and Lemonheads.

In addition to the significant selection of candies to choose from, Two L’s Creations has started serving other freeze dried variations, including fruits, vegetables and ice cream.

“We carry over 100 varieties of different candies,” she said. “That’s our main focus, we just kind of branched out into a little bit more healthier options (to) have a little bit of something for everybody.”

When a customer walks into Two L’s Creations one of the first things they will see are the three different sections of freeze dried goods to choose from—with a wall completely dedicated to Skittles, another to chocolate and another to saltwater taffy. Towards the back of the store is a section for fans of gummy candies as well as an area for Airheads and Laffy Taffy.

In addition to their own creations, the business also offers peanut butter from Medders Family Farm, 3D printed objects and leather earrings from KCJ Designs.

“We’ve partnered with a couple of local businesses to try to get exposure to them, offer multiple things (and) little gifts (to) pick up here and there along with the candy and stuff,” Shyken said.

Two L’s Creations came about after Shyken purchased a freeze dryer to preserve items from her garden. After finding success selling freeze dried goods at Medders Family Farm and losing her current job, she decided to go all in.

“We did that first event and I was like, ‘Well, maybe I’ll just do this and see how this goes,’” she said. “It kind of just snowballed from there.”

Two L’s Creations is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to purchasing right from the store, the business also offers delivers from its website to all 50 states at Twolscreations.com.