Peanut butter cups take first place in our ranking of the best Halloween candy. The other nine spots took longer, and the order is purely the Editors’ opinion. Disagree loudly, ideally with a Kit Kat in hand.
We ranked the best Halloween candy on one test. Picture a bag of each in a trick-or-treat bowl, then note which one your hand reaches for first. Price, nostalgia and how well a candy survives a pillowcase all counted.
Our top 10 best Halloween candy picks
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Salt, sweet and soft chocolate in one bite, and the fun size gets the ratio right.
- Kit Kat. It snaps cleanly, and you can share it, which makes it the most sociable bar in the bowl.
- Twix. The cookie layer gives it a crunch that plain caramel bars lack.
- Snickers. It is the most filling option here, so it works as a pre-party snack.
- Peanut M&M’s. They travel well, since the shell keeps them from melting in a warm pocket.
- Sour Patch Kids. This is our top non-chocolate pick, sour first and sweet after.
- Milky Way. It is soft and malty, and we think it deserves more love.
- Butterfinger. The flaky center splits the room, yet the fans are loyal.
- Starburst. We like the pink and red ones best, although every pack seems to hold too many yellows.
- Tootsie Pops. They last the whole walk home, and the chewy center still feels like a reward.
The overrated bar
Now for the controversial part. We think the plain milk chocolate bar is the most overrated candy in the bowl. It is fine. However, it does nothing that the bars above do better, and it has no crunch, no filling and no salt. On a night of choices, plain is the one we pass over.
The candy corn question
No candy divides a room like candy corn. So here is each side, as fairly as we can put it.
The case for. Candy corn tastes like October and nothing else. It looks the part, with its orange, yellow and white stripes, and it barely costs anything. Also, it only shows up for one short season, which keeps it special.
The case against. For its critics, it tastes mostly of sugar and wax. The texture is neither chewy nor crisp, and it sticks to the teeth. Above all, people rarely pick it when a peanut butter cup sits next to it.
We will not settle it here. Instead, we suggest a small dish on the side for the believers, away from the main bowl.
An allergy-aware bowl
The best Halloween candy is the kind every kid at the door can eat. For that, the Food and Drug Administration is the source to follow. Its food allergies page lists nine major food allergens. They are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Sesame joined the list on January 1, 2023.
Several FDA points apply directly to a candy bowl. First, food labels must declare those major allergens, so read the ingredients and the “contains” line on each bag. Second, the FDA says advisory lines such as “may contain” are not required by law. A missing warning, then, does not mean a candy is safe for someone with an allergy.
Third, the agency says it has received many reports of undeclared milk in dark chocolate products, and it calls dark chocolate a higher-risk food for people allergic to milk. That makes it a poor choice for a child with a milk allergy, even when the wrapper looks safe. The FDA also lists candy among the five food types most often involved in allergen recalls.
Here is what we suggest. Set out a second bowl with candies you have checked against those labels. Keep every wrapper on, so parents can read them at the door. Then a parent can say no without a fuss, and every child still leaves with something.
How to stock the bowl
A good bowl mixes textures, so aim for a balance. Put two or three chocolate bars next to something sour and something chewy. That way, the kid who hates chocolate still finds a favorite.
Think about size too. Fun-size bars fit small hands, and they keep the bowl looking full for longer. Finally, skip anything loose or unwrapped, because parents will rightly toss it. If you follow those rules, any of our 10 picks will make the best Halloween candy bowl on the block.
Before the doorbell rings
Buy a little more than you think you need, because the good stuff goes first. Also, set the bowl where the porch light hits it, so kids can see what they are choosing. After the doorbell stops, our guide to what to watch in October has picks for the couch. For more hosting ideas, browse our Food & Drink section.
By midnight, the last thing left in the bowl tells you a lot. Our bet is that it will not be the best Halloween candy. It will be one lonely, plain milk chocolate bar.