37 Best Halloween Candies Ranked

Booze Food Power Rankings

It’s time for another list of 37 great (or not-so-great) things! We’ve already covered 37 must-eat foods in Minnesota (which I should very much update), 37 best chips, 37 best Minnesota State Fair Foods… We can even get ahead of ourselves and talk about the 37 best Christmas light displays in Minnesota. But with Halloween sneaking upon us, it’s time for the 37 best Halloween candy options.

37. Junior Mints

Who asked for these? Where are the senior mints? Why is it only ever seniors that hand out Junior Mints?

36. Whoppers

The only thing worse than a Whopper from Burger King is whatever the hell these things are. They should be great, malt powder and chocolate? Sounds awesome. In reality though? Hard pass.

35. Baby Ruth

One of the oldest candy bars around and they all taste like it.

34. York Peppermint Patty

These are better than Junior Mints, and every time I eat one I enjoy it more than I expected I would. But the truth is they still suck.

33. Bottle Caps

Powdery, a little sweet. A good way to mix the bag up but nobody is going out of their way for these.

32. 3 Musketeers

Yeah, no thanks.

31. Mr. Goodbar

A couple of candy bars on this list I ONLY eat during the Halloween season. I’ve never once in my life purchased a full-sized Mr. Goodbar because why would I?

30. Mounds

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. Your feeling towards coconut will change the status of this candy bar entirely. I happen to like it.

29. Blowpop

The thing about these suckers is they could be good. The sucker part is solid but the gum is SO freaking awful that it ruins the entire experience.

28. Hershey Chocolate Bar

Is this chocolate bar tasty? Sure. Is it anything to be proud of? Not really.

27. Caramel Apple Suckers

We’re getting controversial early here. I love the idea of these suckers much more than the actual sucker. The caramel lacks flavor and rips the roof of your mouth apart. The green apple part of the sucker is awesome but is 90% gone by the time you get through the caramel.

26. Krackle Bar

This is another one of those candy bars that I would never buy on its own. I’ve never once had a full-sized Krackle Bar because the crunch bar already exists. However, it’s a pretty solid option.

25. Hershey Cookies and Cream

I would say this is a much better option than the regular Hershey bar, but I only listed it a few spots above. So I guess I’m not saying that.

24. Nerds

It seems like I’ve grouped all the hard sugar candies together. Nerds are a candy I’m never super jazzed about until I open one of those little boxes and remember how good they are.

23. Sweet Tarts

I’m surprising myself with this ranking. I love Sweet Tarts. They’re sweet, they’re tart. What’s not to like? But there are roughly 22 Halloween candy options I want more.

22. Jolly Ranchers

However, this ONLY counts if they’re those long, thin jolly ranchers. The regular Jolly Rancher is great but does not count as one of the best Halloween candy options. You can get those anytime.

21. Trolli Sour Bites

I want to like these. Gummy, sour candy is pretty much my favorite. Based on that alone, these are solid. But truthfully, they just aren’t that awesome.

20. M&M’s Regular

Top 20. Here we start to get into the best of the best of the best, sir. M&M’s have strong Minnesota connections and comes in strong as one of the best Halloween candy options out there.

19. Snickers

An arguably low ranking for one of the Halloween candy staples. But I don’t love Snickers outside of Halloween time and I don’t love them during, either. Even so, the fun-size Snickers is addictive. Anything other than the fun-size Snickers can be thrown in the trash.

18. Butterfinger

Ah yes, the Troy Williamson bar. Butterfinger recently changed their recipe and what they did in doing so was make their candy bar worse. I still love them, I’ll still eat them, but it’s not the same.

17. Crunch Bar

Thanks to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Crunch bar will always hold a special place in my heart. Much better than the Krackle Bar, but still worse than 16 other of the best Halloween candy options.

16. Peanut M&M’s

Whereas the peanuts in Snickers only make the candy bar worse, the peanuts in M&Ms make them so much better. Peanut M&Ms are an all-time best Halloween candy option.

15. Starburst

There’s something about the Halloween Starbust that is fantastic. The little two-pack feels like you’re opening a Christmas present. Will you get two pinks?!?! Or get screwed with two yellows. You never know until you know.

14. Twizzlers

Twizzlers are an elite candy year-round. But both the single-serve Twizzle OR the chubby two-pack Halloween Twizzler are some of the best Halloween candy options you’ll find in the bag. I don’t care what my friends say.

13. Reese’s Pieces

I cannot believe I’ve ranked these this low. I may lose a bit of credibility here.

12. Airheads

Airheads were SO close to cracking the top 10. They literally couldn’t be closer. Every airhead tastes the exact same. They’re all always a little stale. But it doesn’t matter, they’re incredible.

11. Skittles

I may be one of the few people that prefer the green apple skittle to the lime skittle but that’s a different topic. Skittles are tremendous.

THE TOP 10.

We’ve made it to the elite class. The best Halloween candy options are available. The holy grail. Who will take home the crown? Let’s find out.

10. Laffy Taffy

Plenty of debate on which flavor is the best. We all know banana is the worst. No debate that Laffy Taffy belongs in the top 10 best Halloween candy options.

9. Milky Way

The Milky Way was created in Minnesota and is just a better option than Snickers. Snickers bars are always rock hard. Milky Way bars are not. They’re better.

8. Almond Joy

I love Almond Joys but this is very dependent upon your feeling on coconut. I’ll understand if you think this is a crazy high ranking, but remember, I wrote the list. And that means I’m right.

7. 100 Grand Bar

I love the idea of these candy bars so I’ll happily eat them, but they also always taste like they’re 42-years-old. Still, they’re great.

6. Dots

I’m told some people think Dots suck. How does it feel to be wrong? The small box of Dots is fantastic. I can house about 50 of them, probably. Maybe. Absolutely.

5. Sour Patch Kids

First, they’re sour–then, they’re sweet. As PJ Fleck might say, they’re elite. Sour patch kids are the best gummy options available during Halloween.

4. Twix

You don’t know if you’re getting a left Twix or right Twix in the single-serve Halloween version, but if I’m being honest I can never tell the difference. I’m starting to think it’s all a marketing ploy.

3. Kit Kat

With only two bars (one kit and one kat, if you will) versus four in the regular-sized version, you can eat 15 of these, and it still feels like you’ve eaten less than 1 regular-sized sharing. Halloween Kit Kats were almost the best Halloween candy option but we all know what’s coming next.

So I had a really hard time between the next two. Ultimately I stand by my choice because what I put as #1 is MY favorite Halloween candy… and this is my list. But I strongly considered doing two number ones. You don’t have to like what I did, but I did it anyway.

2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (the #1 option if you prefer chocolate over gummy)

I don’t care if you’re going for the pumpkin shared cup or the regular cup, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are undeniably the best the second-best Halloween candy. If you’re one of those freaks that dislikes peanut butter and chocolate, I don’t have time to tell you how wrong you are. If you have a peanut allergy, I can only say I’m sorry. As I’ve mentioned earlier in this list, sour and gummy is my favorite but even knowing that Reese’s is #1 without my own bias. So if you want this #1 on your list, that’s fine. I’m sorry to those I’ve hurt, I hope you can understand.

1. Sour Punch Twists (But keep reading, there’s more!)

These little individual wraps of sour sugar are the only candy I physically have a hard time stopping eating. I literally will plow through the entire bag of 45 with ZERO regrets. I can’t buy them because I can’t help myself. Sour and gummy are already my favorite but these Sour Punch Twists have NAILED IT. The Sour Punch straws are already a fantastic candy but these ones are better. I can’t get through one of these lists without bringing up Tom Brady, and if gummy candy is your thing, these are the Tom Brady of Halloween Candy. GOAT.

That’s my list. My 37 Best Halloween Candy options. Did I miss any? Do you think I’m an idiot? Tweet me! @NickLewis37

Other Options!

These aren’t candy. These are things I want to see handed out for Halloween. Make it happen.

1. Raising Cane’s Chicken Strips

Imagine walking up to someone’s house and they just have a party platter of chicken strips and Cane’s toast. You thought full-sized candy bars were cool? Not anymore. Upgrade your Halloween offerings. A house giving out chicken strips is the kind of house I want to trick or treat at.

2. 7th Avenue Pizza

Forget the Twix Bars and M&M’s. Imagine the joy on everyone’s face if you just threw a frozen pizza in their bucket. It’s a brilliant thing. Halloween is usually cold enough to keep the pizza frozen long enough until you get home. Then there’s something to offset all the sugar. Wow this is a good idea. But if you’re going to give out frozen pizzas, you may as well give out the best one.

“Did you just give me a frozen pizza?!”

You’re god damn right I did, Timmy.

3. Michelob Golden Light

We have a 21+ option here but this is something I hand out at our house for Halloween. I need a weird amount of attention, so we hand out full-sized candy bars and Goldies. No shock, our house is rather popular. Adult trick-or-treating is a fantastic activity and it requires a fantastic beverage to go along with it.

Happy tricks and or treating.

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