As Halloween approaches, you’ll probably find yourself eating a little, or a lot more candy. Each year about 300,000 tons of candy is bought by Americans, that’s about 6 six Titanics. Candy comes in all different shapes, sizes, tastes and textures, but do some of the big names live up to the hype? To find out, I tried five very popular Halloween candies. 

The Hershey Bar

When it comes to chocolate, the Hershey bar is just about as simple as it gets. Hershey bars are pretty much chocolate in the form of a rectangle that you can find at any gas station or grocery store. But somehow, it tastes like pure joy and gives you a warm feeling inside.

The chocolate is smooth, rich and creamy, and it might literally melt in your mouth. It gives you an unexplainable urge to eat another and another and maybe just one more. However, at the end of the day it is just chocolate, no weird and cool flavors, no interesting textures, and no fun surprises. With that being said, I would still hands down recommend this classic that will leave you smiling every time.

Skittles

As far as candy that tastes somewhat healthy goes, it doesn’t get much better than Skittles. Skittles are a vibrant tasting, non-chocolate solution to your late night Halloween stomach aches.

Every color of Skittle has a little bit of its own taste, making it so that you never get bored while you’re eating them. Also a lot of Halloween treats are chocolate and feel kind of heavy, but Skittles feel light and give you a break from the same old chocolate. However it’s not all butterflies and rainbows for the Skittles. I often found that if you shoved too many into your mouth at once, they kind of turned into gum and took a long time to swallow. Although you might have to eat them slowly, Skittles are a great option and give you a break from the chocolate ache.     

Kit Kat

Speaking of breaks, who could forget about the Kit Kat. In London in the mid-1700’s, Kit Kats referred to a pie that was made with lamb. They went through a long string of evolution before they became the crunchy, chocolate goodness that we now know them as.

Everything about the Kit Kat is iconic, from the catchy slogan, to the snapping of a bar, and even the cringe of someone biting into it like it’s one piece of chocolate. Kit Kats have a great tasting chocolate shell that you would expect out of the Hershey brand, but they put a fun spin on it by adding the crunchy inside. I honestly can’t think of a bad thing about the Kit Kat because the textures just work so well together. As the kid standing next me in line said “Dad, I want a Kit Kat.”

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

Next up is yet another classic pairing from the Hershey company, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.Whenever I think of good food combinations, peanut butter and chocolate isn’t first on my list, or really even on the list at all, but the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup definitely makes me think twice.

The smooth peanut butter works perfectly with the crisp, but fragile outer shell and the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter is perfect. The only complaint I can think of is that sometimes the wrapper peels off a little bit of the chocolate, but if you were really that desperate, you could just lick it off. Other than that, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is a great pairing of flavors that leaves you mouth watering. 

M&Ms

Last, but certainly not least, are M&Ms. Named after their creator Mars & Murrie, M&Ms were originally made for soldiers to use in their rations because they didn’t melt during hot days. Although similar in shape in size to the previously mentioned Skittle, M&Ms have a much different taste and texture.

M&Ms have a rich and creamy chocolate filling that seems to coat your entire mouth. Also, due to the amount that they put in each bag, M&Ms will probably last longer than the five seconds that it takes to gobble down a Reese’s. M&Ms aren’t my favorite, but I can’t think of anything negative to say about them because they’re a really well rounded candy that delivers every time, no matter what the occasion.