I posted a version of this Top Five/Bottom Five THREE whole years ago, which feels like forever in blogger time.
And, since ’tis the season, I figured it was high time we revisited a very important topic: Halloween candy.
Specifically, the best of the best… and the treats that have absolutely no business taking up valuable space in a trick-or-treat bag/pillowcase.
On a recent Walk and Talk with Kristen, we devoted a significant amount of time to weighing the relative merits of different Halloween treats. On some things, we were in 100% agreement (Tootsie Rolls get two thumbs down from both of us); on others (Twizzlers and Nerds Gummy Clusters) not so much.
I told her I had a blog post all drafted about this topic, and we decided it would be fun for readers to be able to compare and contrast our thoughts. So make sure you click on over to Kristen’s blog to read her take on this particular topic.
Without further ado… today, I’m ranking the best and worst Halloween candy, and I have some VERY strong opinions.
TOP FIVE HALLOWEEN TREATS
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I know peanut butter treats are tricky because there are so many allergies, and I don’t ever buy these to hand out… but I always manage to sneak a few out of the kids’ loot bags when they’re not looking. I mean… it’s PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE IN FESTIVE SHAPES. Can I get an Amen? I also feel like the festive shapes have a better ratio of peanut butter (more) to chocolate (less) than standard Reese’s Cups.
2. Strawberry Twizzlers. Not Nibs. Nibs are disgusting. Not cream-filled Twizzlers… also disgusting. NOT the pull-apart rope Twizzlers; those are horrific. Plain strawberry Twizzlers. And because no one else in my family really likes them, they’re all mine! (Pictured: I eat Twizzlers 1-2 times a year—Christmas and sometimes my birthday. I receive a giant package each Christmas, binge an obscene quantity of artificial flavour and colouring within 24 hours, and then do not crave/want/buy Twizzlers for another year.)
3. Butterfinger. More peanut butter for the win + all-around flaky deliciousness. Yum. I love me a Butterfinger. And, at least where we trick-or-treat, they are rare, which makes them feel extra special and delicious.
4. Peanut M&Ms. Not regular M&Ms. Not caramel-filled M&Ms. Peanut M&Ms. I feel the need to be very specific here because all M&Ms are most definitely not created equal. Also, quite clearly, I have a thing for peanuts.
5. Ketchup chips. I rarely buy ketchup chips and basically only eat them at Halloween. They’re delicious, but mostly I think I love them because
- they’re relatively uncommon at Halloween, because everyone seems to opt for *sob* regular chips
- they remind me of my childhood, when people were more sensible and handed out far fewer regular chips.
Bonus: If I stretch things a bit further to candy more generally, I do really enjoy Albanese Gummy Bears (10x better than Haribo; sorry, not sorry) and, occasionally, a handful of Fuzzy Peaches.
BOTTOM FIVE HALLOWEEN TREATS
- Kerr’s Molasses Kisses. Who buys these!!?? More importantly, who actually eats these!!?? The only positive thing I can say about this candy is that it tempts absolutely no one in my family—because we have functioning taste buds!—so all that sugar goes straight in the trash. But what a waste. I think these might be a Canadian-only product, and I’m ashamed on behalf of my entire country for their existence. [I just looked up an old news article; clearly this candy is divisive!]
- Tootsie Rolls. Ditto the above. Gag me. What ARE they? Chocolate? Taffy? No one knows, and yet they continue to get handed out in giant quantities every October 31. (I usually try not to yuck someone else’s yum. For the Tootsie Roll lovers out there, you do you.)
- Candy apples (or really, any apples on Halloween). Candy apples make no sense to me. The coating is hard and cracks into sharp little pieces that cut the top of your mouth… and then the apple underneath is inevitably soft and mealy. I cannot wrap my head around the appeal. More generally, I fully appreciate the health benefits of apples, but after several hours bouncing around in a pillowcase alongside REAL CANDY, they’re going to emerge as mushy pulp. I can pretty much guarantee there is not a single child getting dressed up for Halloween hoping to receive an apple (even a Honeycrisp). If you want to be health-conscious, hand out toothbrushes! Someone in my neighbourhood does this—she’s a hygienist—and I LOVE it. She also hands out candy, but I appreciate the attempt to offset the “sugar bugs,” and it means I have to buy one less toothbrush.
- Plain/regular chips. Self-explanatory. I save them all and give them to my dad in a giant gift bag at Christmas. He is literally the only human I know who gets excited about plain chips. Doritos? Ketchup? Excellent choices. Plain chips? Do you hate fun????
- Skittles. Waxy, fake-tasting, and without a single redeeming quality. (I feel almost equally strongly about Starbursts. Gag me.)
Remember to check out Kristen’s feelings about candy (she opted to focus on non-chocolate items). Here are a few of our text exchanges over the last few days while she was out doing reconnaissance for her post…
“I feel like this is a way to ruin chocolate.” Hahaha!
Only in the last few years did I learn that American Smarties (the equivalent of our Rockets) are not at ALL the same as Canadian Smarties (most similar to M&Ms, but with a crunchier coating; I am not a fan, but they are BELOVED in Canada)!
And then one final picture from Belle’s haul a few years ago. Things of note:
I spy:
- Coffee Crisp (unique to Canada)
- Rockets (American equivalent is Smarties)
- SO MANY BAGS of regular chips (because the people handing them out clearly hate children and treats and fun)
- Doritos (those people like children, treats, and fun)
- Smarties (the Canadian version)
- Haribo Gummies (not nearly as good as Albanese)
- A full-sized Butterfinger bar
- Some of those dreadful Kerr’s Molasses Kisses (which might have tasted good back in Laura Ingalls’ time on the prairie but have no place in the modern treat bag).
- Rope twist Twizzlers (blergh)
- Starbursts (ick)
- Skittles (whyyyyyy???)
- Mini Reese’s shapes (yes, please!)
Okay! It’s your turn!
- What are your top five/bottom five Halloween treats?
- What’s the strangest thing you or one of your kids has ever received on Halloween? My kids love getting full-sized bars; when I was a kid, sometimes I got cans of pop (such a treat!), which never seems to happen now! They’ve gotten pencils, notebooks, stickers, and toothbrushes.
- Is there a Halloween treat you absolutely LOVE that everyone else seems to hate? Or something wildly popular that you cannot understand the appeal of?
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[…] Her post is set up as a Top Five, Bottom Five format, with her five most favorite and her five least favorite, and I will follow her lead. 😉 […]
Argh- my carefully written comment got eaten.
Top 5: tootsie rolls, plain m&m’s, twix, milky ways. Haribo twin snakes, but only one or two. I’m not really a candy person.
Bottom: anything with nuts, coconut , or fruit. Nerds. Those dips which get v colored powder everywhere.
My kids have gotten some cute 3D printed bugs.
I love tootsie rolls- my kids save them for me. Especially the ones that are longer- cigarettes shaped. I can’t buy them myself . Lead me not into temptation!
You know, I really need to give Twix another try. I NEVER eat them, but I know a few people who rank them as their favourite chocolate bar.
More Tootsie Rolls for you, mean less for me. Zero temptation for me!!
Fun Dip??? I forgot about those. Yes, my kids sometimes get those in their Halloween loot bags.
Hahaha. Love this post. I just came by to say that the Peanut M & M variety is the best, hands down. None of the others come close imo. 🙂
Also, while in NS this summer, my son loved Lay’s Ketchup potato chips. Alas, I don’t think they have found their way over here yet.
Have a great day!
We are in total agreement re. the M&M’s!
Ketchup chips are sooooo good. I love ketchup as a condiment and it’s so delightfully tangy. Have you tried All Dressed chips? I think those might be an only-in-Canada product, too? And Ruffles (or President’s Choice) make a GREAT All Dressed. Also very tangy.
So interesting!! In the US I feel it’s pretty uncommon to see chips handed out at all! Is this just my area??
I think I remember this from previous discussions that mini bags of chips are a much more “Canadian” thing.
If it wasn’t regular chips, I’d be all for it. But the kids get so. many. bags. of regular chips. Sigh.
Darn it, I was IN CANADA recently, and it didn’t even occur to me to stop at a store and try ketchup potato chips. RATS!
I’ll trade you my Twizzlers (gross) for your Tootsie Rolls (yummy)
Hmm. Top 5 for me would be:
Cheetos (chips aren’t really a thing we give out in the US, though perhaps I’ll try it this year instead of candy)
Peanut M&Ms – when you’re right, you’re right. These are the best variety and the only one I ever buy.
Peanut Butter Cups – I don’t actually like the different shapes, I like the little edges of the cups, and find the other shapes have too much PB.
Snickers – Again with the peanuts. Yum.
Almond Joy – but not mounds. I guess I feel like a nut.
Bottom 5 – I don’t eat much candy, but I do like a lot of it, so this was more difficult. Mine are:
Starburst
Skittles
Candy Apples (I have never seen anyone give these away, thankfully. I remember when I had my braces removed, I was so excited to try a caramel apple, and it was mealy gross. I remembered liking them before I got my braces, but then again, I was 9 when I got them on and 14 when I got them removed.
That banana Laffy Taffy looks disgusting.
Candy Corn – I actually kind of like this, I think…but it’s been decades since I’ve had it, so I THINK the really fake flavor and gross texture would turn me off now. Maybe.
Add it to your Next Time in Canada list. They’re so good (IMO).
Ha! I agree that I like the little edges of the cups, too, but I still stand by the fact the ratio of PB/Chocolate is better in the holiday shapes.
I’ve never had an Almond Joy, and that’s not a bar we have in Canada (I don’t think?)
Candy corn—thankfully—is also not really a thing in Canada. I’ve had a few pieces a few times and it is NOT for me. But I know some people cannot resist it.
I had never had Albanese candy before I moved to Florida, but when I was in Newcomers here, one of the women was an Albanese and always donated a basket for the monthly giveaways! I’m not a huge gummy fan, but they are better than Haribo for sure, and have you tried their chocolates? Yum!
Confession, I do like plain potato chips, but only as a side, not just on their own. I don’t remember chips being given out for Halloween when I was a kid: don’t they get crushed by the candy in the bag?
I haven’t! I didn’t know Albanese made chocolate.
My dad LOVES regular chips. His favourite by far, so you’re in good company 🙂
There’s quite a bit of air in the bags (you get like… 5 chips total), but yes sometimes they do get crushed. I wish they would do away with regular chips completely on Halloween!
Okay! I very, very sadly don’t eat candy anymore, but I was a HUGE candy eater as a kid, so I do have opinions. First of all- as a kid I definitely had preferences, but I would eat anything with sugar- some of the more weird things I remember were Lemonheads, Red Hots, and… i think they were called Mary Janes? I wonder if those were similar to the molasses kisses you’re talking about (do they still make Mary Janes? Does anyone else remember them?) While I would eat everything, my favorite things were pretty much any kind of candy bar- Snickers, Three musketeers, Mounds, Almond Joy, Heath bars… there wasn’t a candy bar that I didn’t like. There was ONE candy that I disliked, and that was Skittles. The fact that I didn’t like them is saying a lot, because I literally ate everything else There’s just something WRONG with skittles- there’s a weird taste that shouldn’t be there.
People rarely give out bags of chips here for Halloween. But I will say that I like plain potato chips because they are SALTY AND DELICIOUS.
One last thing- I mentioned it on the blog recently, but when I asked my daughter what candy we should give out on Halloween she said Smarties and candy corn. SHE IS OBVIOUSLY INSANE. (She doesn’t like Reece’s either, so… someone put her taste buds in backwards).
I’ve never heard of Lemonheads OR Mary Janes.
I’ve never had a Three Musketeers, Mounds (does that have coconut?), or Almond Joy.
I think Heath bars are like our Skor bars???
Agreed 100% on the Skittles. I don’t like a single colour/flavour and the texture is horrible. So sticky and fake.
Wait, do they sell candy corn in little packets for Halloween??? Whyyyyy??
Smarties & Pez remind me if baby aspirin.
I’ll take any kind of chocolate
Ollie’s Bargain outlets have Albanese candy.
I like Tootsie pops but Tootsie rolls,meh.
My kids get Tootsie pops, too! I’m a hard no on all suckers!
We had a neighbor who gave out cash! Back in the 1950s it was a dime to each kid. It would be a whole lot more now. He didn’t have to shop. He didn’t have to figure out what to do with leftovers. He didn’t have to worry about allergies. He just gave us something we were thrilled to have.
A dime! Love it. Yes, with inflation, I think it would need to be a lot more in this era.
And then you could get what you wanted in terms of penny candy. I think it’s genius. And what a great point about not being stuck with a lot of leftovers to eat/throw out.
So much I have never heard of: Twizzlers, Kerr’s Molasses Kisses (I love the flavor of molasses!), Albanese whatevers, Haribo, Laffy Taffy, ketchup flavored chips, and I never heard of anyone giving out chips for Halloween.
We weren’t allowed to trick-or-treat as kids, and the only candy that ever made it into our house was Bit-O-Honey. Severe deprivation. And we get zero trick-or-treaters in our widely spaced rural neighborhood. There is one neighborhood of normally spaced houses in town, and they get slammed. Except now many of the homes are vacation rentals, so maybe not so much anymore.
Always have hated candy corn, anything that is supposed to taste like banana, and all fake fruit flavors, except berry flavors. I went through a phase (several decades ago—been in recovery now for awhile…) where I consumed large amounts of berry Skittles. (Sorry Elisabeth, I did think they were good, and confess to enjoying Starburst in spite of the fake fruit flavoring.) Most fake fruit flavors bring to mind pediatric medicines.
As an adult, I discovered peanut butter M&Ms —holy guacamole, those are stunningly awesome, despite using milk chocolate. Like Reese’s Pieces, which are also stunningly awesome. The only time I am really tempted is when I stop for gas on a long road trip and go into the stop-and-rob to use the facilities. I try to tame that roaring sweet tooth with coffee and a small squirt of flavored sweetener when in those precarious situations.
I asked this question on The Frugal Girl: what in the world is put in spicy hot candy to make it so firey?
Tootsie rolls must be made out of wax, sugar, and brown food coloring.
Just remembered: See’s candy whatever awesomeness comes on a stick is irresistible! Carmel? Coffee? Chocolate? It’s like a lollipop but a little bit dent-able with one’s teeth.
Clearly chips must be a Canadian thing (maybe even a Maritime thing)? It’s VERY common. My kids will get several dozen mini bags of chips, I’m sure.
Some of those spicy hot candies are SO hot. I do like them occasionally, but never go out of my way to have them, that’s for sure.
My personal favorite is snickers. And most other chocolate candy- Reese’s, Milky Way, Twix, Kit Kat. Yum!!
My kids usually get a lot of hard candy and Twizzlers, and none of us like those. I get it- it’s cheaper to buy!! We throw so much of it away that I actually offered to my kids this year to not go trick or treating, and instead go to a store on November 1 and buy discounted candy that they’ll actually enjoy. I’m not sure if they’ll take me up on it though…
Are Milky Way like Mars bars?? I can’t remember.
I know of a local dentist who will pay kids money (by weight I think) for candy they bring in to his office.
I like your idea, but I can see why the kids aren’t as keen. But there is a lot of waste since so much of the candy isn’t liked by everyone. (We try to give away our discards—regular chips and Tootsie Rolls, for starters—to people we know who really like them.)
Oh gosh, it’s been so long since I had a child’s candy haul to choose from, it’s hard to remember what I would take as my “tax”.
I’ll eat a Tootsie Roll, but definitely not something I would go out and buy – and, it would have to be the last thing in the treat bag. But give me a Reese’s Cup (any shape) any day and I am definitely a happy camper. Same for Almond Joy, Snickers, almost anything with chocolate really. I had a Milky Way Dark(?) or Midnight (?) a few years ago that was heavenly. Have I seen it since? Nope. Maybe this year.
Chips are not a thing that people hand out for Halloween here; so I can’t even imagine it.
I don’t think we have Milky Way in Canada… I wonder if we have an equivalent up here?
We also don’t have Almond Joy’s. I need to take myself to a candy store the next time I’m in the US!!
On your next vacation, you really should visit Pennsylvania. Specifically, Hershey (home of Reese’s), for endless chocolate choices and Hanover, about an hour away which is the chips and snack food Mecca (with outlets!!!) Utz and Snyder’s of Hanover are truly vacation worthy stops. And yes, people in Pennsylvania pass out chips and pretzels for Halloween.
Sign me up!!!
Pretzels aren’t something that get handed out here, but I most certainly would love to find a bag of Snyder’s in a treat bag!
Chips are quite common for us (I live in Manitoba). My favourites are twix, wunderbar, peanut m&m’s, and ketchup chips. Salt and vinegar chips too.
I do not like candy, but tootsie rolls, skittles, nerds, gummy whatever, Kerrs are all on the no list.
Every year my kids get these tiny candy looking burgers. I have no idea where someone gets those.
I had no idea rockets are called smarties in the US. So interesting.
Yes! My kids also get those burger gummies. I’ve never seen them in stores. Where do people buy them???
They still make Mary Jane’s. I don’t see them locally but have seen them at Cracker Barrel and the Vermont Country Store.
I’m woefully behind on blog comments but I had to comment on this post! I love how varied people’s tastes in candy are! There are a lot of candies that I can’t have since they have gluten (like twizzlers – which I don’t like in the first place so there’s no loss there!) but I won’t include things I can’t eat as that is kind of cheating.
Top 5: Reese’s PB Cups, peanut butter m&ms, Nerd gummy clusters (I know you don’t like these!), Laffy Taffy (give me alll the artificial banana flavoring!), and snickers.
Bottom 5: Butterfingers (I like them in theory but don’t like how they stick to my teeth), peanut m&ms, rolo’s (because of the sticking to my teeth thing), almond joy, Mounds.
I am completely oblivious about what candy has gluten in it, but this is a great reminder to me that it is hidden in lots of places (same with pork products; I know someone who had an allergic reaction to marshmallows because they have gelatin in them).
Agreed about the sticking to my teeth (I feel the same way about Crispy Crunch… which, is that just a Canadian chocolate bar)? Still, I LOVE peanuts/peanut butter too much to not love Butterfingers.
I’ve never had Almond Joy OR Mounds. But I don’t love coconut heavy things, so I think I’d be a hard pass.