Halloween Candy, Ranked Once and for All
Eighteen candies a US household actually hands out or gets handed on Halloween night, ranked by what each is worth in the bag afterwards. Vote yours up. Three tests, applied in that order: does it survive a week at the bottom of a pillowcase, is the small format the same candy or a lesser version of it, and how many can you eat before it stops being good. Ties go to whichever one you'd tell a friend to grab. All eighteen link the maker's own product page; nothing here needed the encyclopedia fallback, though Snickers was probed on both arms before it landed on its own. The order line names whatever size the maker's page lists, since that's the page being linked, and the fun-size version is the same recipe unless an entry says otherwise. Left out and worth arguing about: Jolly Rancher, Milk Duds, Tootsie Pops, Dum Dums, Smarties, Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales, cut for room rather than quality. Also out by scope: chips, pretzels and savory snacks, which have a list of their own.
Twix is #1 on “Halloween Candy, Ranked Once and for All”.
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Twix
Ratio is the whole argument. Cookie, caramel, chocolate, and Mars's own page says the combination had to come in two, while the ingredient panel runs milk chocolate first, then enriched wheat flour. Shrink the thing to handout size and nothing shifts: the biscuit still snaps, the caramel still pulls. TWIX Caramel Full Size Candy Bar, 1.79 oz is the reference point, and the small one tastes like it.
TWIX Caramel Full Size Candy Bar, 1.79ozA TWIX Chocolate Bar offers such an awesome combination of crunchy cookie, delicious caramel and creamy chocolate, that it had to come in two. After all, Two is More Than One.https://www.twix.com/products/chocolate/twix-bar-bars - 2
Kit Kat
Crispy wafers coated in smooth milk chocolate, which is close to how Hershey's page puts it, and the geometry does the rest. Break a finger off and every bite is identical to the last, which is exactly what you want from something eaten in the dark on a sidewalk. KIT KAT Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, 1.5 oz is the full one; the two-finger snack size is the same recipe at a smaller count.
KIT KAT® Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, 1.5 oz1.25 USDTake a break and enjoy the delicious original combination of smooth milk chocolate and light, crispy wafers in a KIT KAT® bar. Buy your favorites online today.https://www.hersheyland.com/products/kit-kat-milk-chocolate-candy-bar-1-5-oz.html
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Snickers
Peanuts sit second on the ingredient panel, ahead of corn syrup and sugar, and that is why the thing eats like food while its neighbors eat like dessert. Roasted peanuts, nougat, caramel, milk chocolate, per the maker's own wording. It holds its shape in a warm bag and you can put away four without flinching. SNICKERS Singles Size Chocolate Candy Bars, 1.86 oz is the plain original.
SNICKERS Singles Size Chocolate Candy Bars, 1.86 ozYou aren't you when you're hungry. That's why there's SNICKERS Full Size Chocolate Bars. Packed with roasted peanuts, nougat, caramel and milk chocolate, SNICKERS Candy handles your hunger so you can handle things that don't relate to hunger at all.https://www.snickers.com/products/chocolate/snickers-singles-size-chocolate-candy-bars-186-oz-bars - 4
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Best single mouthful in the bowl, no argument. What costs it is everything after the first one. The salt-to-chocolate balance is tuned to the standard cup, and Hershey publishes the same product at 2.8 oz as a King Size because scale flatters it, so the miniature is a lesser version and three in a row is the ceiling. REESE'S Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, 1.5 oz is the two-cup pack everyone pictures.
REESE'S Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, 1.5 oz1.25 USDThe classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter, REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups are the perfect companion for movies, sports and parties.https://www.hersheyland.com/products/reeses-milk-chocolate-peanut-butter-cups-1-5-oz.html
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M&M's
Shell-first candy, and the shell is why it survives the pillowcase. Mars's page dates the milk chocolate version to 1941, and the sugar coat has been doing the same job ever since: nothing melts, nothing sticks, nothing arrives fused to its wrapper. Sharing Size Milk Chocolate M&M'S, 10 oz is the bag to buy, and the fun-size pouches are that same candy counted out into handfuls.
Sharing Size Milk Chocolate M&M'S, 10.0oz | M&M'Shttps://www.mms.com/en-us/mms-candy-flavors/milk-chocolate-mms-10oz/ct2140-p.html
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Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar
Break off a piece is more or less the instruction printed on Hershey's own page, and the scored rectangle is built to obey it. That faintly sour, tangy note divides people, and it should, because this is the baseline American chocolate that everything else gets measured against. HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, 1.55 oz is the standard slab; the snack-size version is the identical recipe in a smaller rectangle.
HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, 1.55 oz1.79 USDIndulge in the timeless taste of HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Bars. Perfect for savoring or sharing, our classic bars bring joy to every bite.https://www.hersheyland.com/products/hersheys-milk-chocolate-candy-bar-1-55-oz.html
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Starburst
Apple juice from concentrate sits in the ingredient panel, which goes some way to explaining the rounded sweetness behind the four flavors the page names: strawberry, cherry, orange and lemon. Gelatin gives the chew its resistance. Pink is the good one and everybody knows it. STARBURST Original Fruit Chews Candy, Single, 2.07 oz is the stick, and the two-piece packs are the trick-or-treat unit.
STARBURST Original Fruit Chews Candy, Single, 2.07 ozWith STARBURST Original Fruit Chews Candy, there are endless ways to enjoy the individually wrapped chewy fruit flavored squares you know and love. Let the flavors of strawberry, cherry, orange, and lemon STARBURST guide you on a delicious adventure that will be Different Every Time. Unwrap and shape it, share it, squish it, stack it, and love it.https://www.starburst.com/products/candy/starburst-original-fruit-chews-candy-single-207-oz-chews - 8
Skittles
Carnauba wax and hydrogenated palm kernel oil are right there on the panel, and that's the shell you chew through before any fruit shows up. Sugar first, corn syrup second. Engineered candy that doesn't pretend otherwise, and it holds up for months. SKITTLES Original Fruity Candy Single Pack, 2.17 oz is the standard rainbow; the small pouches hold roughly a handful each.
SKITTLES Original Fruity Candy Single Pack, 2.17 ozEvery pack of SKITTLES Original Fruity Candy gives you the chance to Taste the Rainbow, with a variety of fruit flavors almost too good to be true. Flavors include strawberry, lime, grape, lemon and orange.https://www.skittles.com/products/skittles-original-fruity-candy-single-pack-217-oz-skittles-chewy - 9
Sour Patch Kids
Tartaric acid sits next to citric acid on the ingredient panel, which is the double sour, and it's why the coating stings in a different register from a plain lemon drop. Invert sugar keeps the body soft. The brand's own page sums the run up as sour then sweet, which is exactly the sequence. SOUR PATCH KIDS Soft & Chewy Candy, 8 oz bag is the format; red is overrated, blue is the one.
Sour Patch Kids | SnackworksSOUR PATCH KIDS Soft & Chewy Candy packs all the classic flavor into a mischief-filled soft candy. SOUR PATCH KIDS chewy candy is a wholly delicious sweet treat that's SOUR. SWEET. GONE. Each baghttps://snackworks.com/products/sour-patch-kids-soft-chewy-gummy-candy-8-oz/ - 10
Milky Way
Barley malt extract turns up in the ingredient panel, and that is the entire personality: the nougat reads faintly of malted milk rather than plain sugar. Caramel over the top, milk chocolate around the outside, nothing crunching anywhere. MILKY WAY Milk Chocolate Fun Size Candy Bars, 10.65 oz Bag is the October format, and the little bars keep their shape better than the singles do.
MILKY WAY Milk Chocolate Fun Size Candy Bars, 10.65 oz BagTreat yourself to a distractingly delicious, delightful chocolate experience of MILKY WAY. Made with creamy caramel and smooth nougat, enrobed in rich milk chocolate in smaller fun size bars.https://www.milkywaybar.com/products/chocolate/milky-way-milk-chocolate-fun-size-candy-bars-1065-oz-bag-minisfun-size - 11
Butterfinger
Read the maker's own words and the coating is chocolatey, made with cocoa, a careful choice of adjective that tells you plenty about how the thing is built. Inside is the flaky peanut layer that shatters into shards and lodges in your molars for the rest of the night. Worth it. The original Butterfinger bar is the one to take; leave the ice cream spin-offs alone.
ButterfingerThere’s nothing like the crispety, crunchety, peanut-buttery taste of Butterfinger.https://www.butterfinger.com/products/butterfinger - 12
Almond Joy
Whole almonds rather than chopped ones, per Hershey's page, and the almond on top is structural instead of decorative, something to bite against before the coconut goes soft. Which it does, sooner than the chocolate around it gives up. This is the bar people claim to hate and then quietly eat. ALMOND JOY Coconut and Almond Chocolate Snack Size Candy Bars, 4.8 oz, 8 pack is the box to hand out.
ALMOND JOY Coconut and Almond Chocolate Snack Size Candy Bars, 4.8 oz, 8 pack0 USDIf you dream of coconut candy wrapped in a rich, chocolatey coating, get this 6-pack of ALMOND JOY Snack Size Candy Bars. Individually wrapped and indescribably delicious.https://www.hersheyland.com/products/almond-joy-coconut-and-almond-chocolate-snack-size-candy-bars-4-8-oz-8-pack.html
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Whoppers
Malt is the flavor and the texture at once: the center collapses into powder instead of chewing, which is either the appeal or the dealbreaker, with very little room in between. Hershey's page pitches WHOPPERS Malted Milk Balls, 1.75 oz as the bag for people who want a handful, and that is the correct dose. Any more and the roof of your mouth gives up.
WHOPPERS Malted Milk Balls, 1.75 oz1 USDA smaller bag for those who just want a handful of WHOPPERS. Get your malted milk ball fix in a snack sized package that's great for any time of day.https://www.hersheyland.com/products/whoppers-malted-milk-balls-1-75-oz.html
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Nerds
Two compartments, two flavors, one box: the maker's page bills them as dual-flavored, and the divided theater box is the format that made the brand. Sugar gravel, essentially, since nothing in there can melt, stale or fuse, so it will still be good in March. What it cannot do is hold you past half a box. The strawberry and grape NERDS theater box is the pairing to hunt for.
https://www.nerdscandy.com/nerds - 15
3 Musketeers
Egg whites appear in the ingredient panel, and that is the whole trick: air beaten into sugar until the bar weighs almost nothing for its size. Mars calls it fluffy and for once the marketing adjective is accurate. 3 MUSKETEERS Singles Chocolate Candy Bar, 1.92 oz is the full-length version. Kids trade these away first, which tells you roughly where it sits.
3 MUSKETEERS Singles Chocolate Candy Bar, 1.92 ozFor a satisfyingly whipped up, fluffy chocolate treat, look no further than 3 MUSKETEERS Candy Bars. Simply unwrap and enjoy, or incorporate it into your favorite dessert recipes.https://www.3musketeers.com/products/3-musketeers-singles-chocolate-candy-bar-192-oz - 16
Airheads
Perfetti Van Melle holds the trademark, according to the notice at the foot of the page, which surprises people who assume this is a homegrown American invention. The chew is taffy stretched thin enough to fold in half, and it stays pliable in a cold house. Take a Green Apple Airheads bar over the rest; White Mystery is a gimmick that occasionally pays off.
Airheads - Airheads Candyhttps://www.airheads.com/candy/airheads/ - 17
Tootsie Roll
First made in 1896 by Leo Hirshfield, an Austrian immigrant, and the panel still leads with sugar, corn syrup and palm oil before it gets anywhere near cocoa. That explains the waxy chew and the faint fruit note hiding behind the chocolate. Take the original cocoa Tootsie Roll, not the vanilla or fruit ones. It survives a February coat pocket, which is more than most bars manage.
Tootsie Rolls - TootsieAs the iconic treat that launched America’s favorite candy company, Tootsie Roll, offers a perfectly-balanced cocoa taste, lined with a subtle, fruit-flavored undertone—all incorporated into a delicious treat.https://tootsie.com/products/tootsie-rolls/ - 18
Brach's Candy Corn
Honey is genuinely in there, since the panel lists it along with confectioner's glaze, which is shellac. The maker calls the flavor honey-forward and that is fair enough. It will outlast every chocolate bar in the bag. The trouble starts at the fourth piece, when the chalk-into-grease texture arrives and the bowl turns into a dare. Brach's Classic Candy Corn is the tri-colored original.
Brachs Make Moments Sweeter | Classic Candy Corn | Brach's CandyEnjoy Brach's Classic Candy Corn, America's favorite fall treat. Made with a honey-forward flavor, it's perfect for snacking, baking and Halloween fun.https://www.brachs.com/products/candy-corn
How this list was ranked
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