Top 10 Favorite Halloween Candy

Halloween, that time of the year when we dress our kids up in the cutest store bought costumes, and we send them out into our neighborhoods to beg for candy that we don’t really want them to eat in the first place. I know, you are saying to yourself that I must really hate Halloween, or maybe I am just the Scrooge of October. I really do love this time of the year, and all the fun things associated with Halloween. I love carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. I love the decorations, and trying to scare your family and friends. How could you not love our little neighborhood kids dressed up as Star Wars Characters, or White Winged Fairies, or even Little Devils?

I am just pointing out the after effects of this chocolate lovers holiday - all the left over candy. I think that most parents let their kids indulge in their candy collecting victory for the following few days, then they try to hide the stockpile little by little. We only let our son have a few pieces a day, and by the second week, he is back to his usual treat of Goldfish or Peanut Butter Ritz Crackers. Still, I remember the days of trick-or-treating and the different types of treats we would accumulate. Here are my Top 10 favorite types of Halloween candy.

1. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It didn’t matter if it was one or two in a pack, that for me was the Holy Grail of Halloween Treats. And you had to eat the ridges first, before you could get to the peanut butter center.

2. Snickers. Yes, Snickers Satisfies. I still think that this is the most sought after candy when you dump out your trick-or-treating bag. Many other types of candybars try to achieve their status, but all fail in comparison.

3. Hershey Bars. Not the little miniatures, but the real rectangular, flat, milk chocolate wonder that lead the way to the Mr. Goodbar, Krackle, and Crunch bars.

4. Hot Tamales. I was never a Mike and Ike guy, I liked the hot spicy flavor of Hot Tamales. I guess when it all comes down to it, you either like cinnamon or mint. As for me, I will take cinnamon, and I will take my Hot Tamales.

5. M&M’s. Plain or Peanut, it doesn’t matter. These gave you both quality and quantity in one little package. I would trade all of my candy corns and a few lollypops for the melt-in-your-mouth, not-in-your-hands taste of M&M’s.

6. Caramels. Those little cubes of confection that would adhere to your teeth like super glue. The most difficult part of eating caramels was just getting them out of the wrapper. Maybe that is why they created so many candy bars that just covered the caramel with chocolate. Call them what you want, I will eat them all.

7. Smarties. The little rolls of compressed sugar in the clear wrapper. I first thought you had to unwrap them and eat em one at a time. As I grew older, I realized that even though they came in different colors, they all tasted pretty much the same. Just peel the wrapper and shove them all in at the same time. Now that is smart.

8. Tootsie Pops / Blow Pops. I always liked the tootsie pops, since they came in different flavors. Having 3 siblings, I could barter with them to get my favorite flavors in return for the orange ones that I didn’t really like. Blow Pops added the magic of gum when you finally broke through to the center. This was a great feature, until I got braces in the 8th grade. Now, I can’t even look at them.

9. Milky Way. Is it just a fancy 3 Musketeers bar with caramel? Possibly. It still is far superior to the 3 Musketeers, and Mounds or Almond Joys just are not even in the same league. Who thought that kids would like coconut or a big almond in their candy anyway? Why don’t you just dip a green bean in chocolate, you would have the same result.

10. New Candybars. I just lumped them all together, since I couldn’t single out one specific type. I must say, the 100 Grands, Take-5, Nut-Rageous, and others are awesome. There is just something about a peanut butter filled pretzel, surrounded by caramel, and wrapped in milk chocolate that just makes me want to bust out a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and have at it.

Did I miss any of your favorites? Are there any that you just couldn’t stand? I never could figure out why people like candy corns. To each their own, I guess. I hope you had a Happy Halloween, and I also hope you enjoyed this post.