The best and worst non-chocolate candies
I was talking to my friend Elisabeth the other day, and the subject of Nerds gummy clusters came up (she hates them, I love them.)
Then we got to talking about other non-chocolate candies we either love or hate, and I said to her, "I should write a blog post about this!"
And she told me she already had one in her drafts. Ha. Great minds think alike. So, we agreed we should both publish one on this Very Important Topic.
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. 😉
Top Five
1. Nerds Gummy Clusters
These come in a pink bag and a blue bag, and I prefer the blue bag because they are slightly more sour.
I don't know what it is about these candies, but they are oddly enjoyable to me. Normally it is not hard for me to limit my candy consumption, but woo, I can eat a lot of these in one sitting if I am not careful. 😉
2. Skittles (but only the orange, lemon, and lime)
I almost always prefer citrus flavors in candy, and this holds true for Skittles. If I could just have the orange, lemon, and lime ones, I'd be a happy camper.
For a while, they changed the green ones to an apple flavor, and I felt that was a serious downgrade; I will always be Team Citrus.
3. Sour Patch Kids (but only the orange and lemon)
I have a coworker who swears that all Sour Patch Kids taste the same, but I beg to differ. The ones I enjoy are the orange and lemon flavors (again with the citrus!); all the rest of them are either "meh" (green and blue) or "yuck" (the red ones).
I know the green Sour Patch Kids are supposed to be lime-flavored, but for some reason, these ones don't appeal to my citrus-appreciating heart.
4. Hot Tamales
I can eat so many of these; the spicy burn is very addictive.
They used to make a Hot Tamales variety that had three different levels of spice, and I loved those!
5. Atomic Fireballs
Continuing with the spiciness...we used to sometimes get these as kids, and I still like them! When I was a kid, I think my young tongue was a little more sensitive, and I thought these were crazy hot and I could barely keep them in my mouth; I'd have to take breaks by holding the fireball between my front teeth.
But to my middle-aged tongue, they seem only mildly spicy, and I never need a break.
Bottom Five
1. Twizzlers
I actively dislike these. The flavor is terrible, and the texture is dry but also kind of oily and kind of hard.
Blech.
It is absolutely no problem for me to resist eating these.
Side note: in my candy-photographing quest, I came across these, which I imagine to be horrifying:
A Twizzlers texture plus a chocolate flavor? Yuck.
2. Smarties
Elisabeth says their Canadian Smarties are more like our M&Ms, so I would probably like those. But to me, American Smarties are like eating a piece of chewable medicine, and I disliked them even as a kid.
In fact, they remind me a little of my childhood chewable Tylenol, which I also hated.
(Dishonorable mention: I give SweetTarts a thumbs down for all the same reasons I give Smarties a thumbs down.)
3. Tootsie Rolls
These almost taste like chocolate, but not quite, and their texture is questionable.
Not at all tempting to me!
4. Banana candy of any type
I'm cheating a little bit here, because this is not a specific brand, but: I hate banana-flavored candy.
I love bananas, but banana flavoring is a whole different animal, and it tastes awful to me.
Now-and-Laters, Laffy Taffy, Runts, jelly beans...if there's a possibility it's banana and not lemon, I'm out.
5. Candy Corn/Pumpkins
I know candy corn is a classically polarizing candy, and I do fall on the "dislike" side of the spectrum. I find the pumpkins (which I think are made of the same ingredients) to be even worse, largely because they are so overwhelmingly sweet.
I also don't think they have enough of a flavor; the whole experience is too much like eating straight sugar.
I have occasionally enjoyed candy corn in a sweet/salty snack mix, but that's really the extent of my appreciation.
What are your top five/bottom five? And for the purposes of this exercise, no chocolate is allowed!
P.S. Click here to see how Elisabeth's top five and bottom five compare to mine. 🙂
All time favorite: jelly bellies! They have to be jelly belly and not any other jelly beans. The sour variety is excellent as are the fruity flavors. Miss me with the buttered popcorn, licorice, or chocolate flavors!
Twizzlers/nibs.
Swedish Fish
Sour Patch Kids
Gum drops
Bottom 5:
Black licorice in any form
Gummy bears (too rubbery)
Agree on the Smarties and Candy Corn!
Taffy
Also banana jelly bellies are a NOPE for me! I love their citrus flavors though.
We must have the same kind of Smarties in Britain and Denmark as they do in Canada! And agreed on apple Skittles, although I love the other flavours.
Top 5
Skittles
Werther's Original toffees
Any kind of salted caramel toffee
Fudge squares
Dr Sloosen Fruit sweets ( I think that's the name and can only find them in Denmark)
Bottom Five
Marshmallows
Anything banana flavoured
Anything spearmint
flavoured
Liquorice Allsorts
Anything coconut flavoured
My niece in Switzerland says their Smarties are like M & M’s.
I liked our kind of Smarties as a kid, not anymore!
Yes, they're a lot like that! I think your Smarties are like our Refreshers in the UK (ie, fizzy). I liked them a lot when I was younger but probably wouldn't now.
For shame, I forgot my top non-chocolate candy! Sherbet lemons!
https://oldestsweetshop.co.uk/products/sherbet-lemons-429?srsltid=AU7gw4VB1C4Ya33WTDBiuG2HSnQHg6Pgxe3v1ELB8zK9myNgH32PAHky
My number 1 fave is Haribo gummie bears, or any Haribo gummie. I am addicted. Love, love Australian licorice and licorice all-sorts. Growing up, I loved Twizzlers, but now they just taste like plastic. I also like Hot Tamales, and also the Mike and Ikes.
I am pretty much a sugar addict, so find it hard to say "no" to non-chocolate candy. Except I am not fond of anything sour, and prefer fruit flavors to citrus. I agree with most of your dislikes, except I will eat Tootsie-rolls if they are put in front of me. One that I have always hated since a kid is Circus Peanuts. They have a strange after-taste to me.
Sorry, Nerds are the devil's candy. Did you ever have the nerds rope? My kids love them. I wish to send them back to their infernal home.
The only non chocolate candy I like are Haribo twin snakes. Slightly sour, slightly sweet. But I'm not really into gummy candies.
Tootsie rolls are chocolate and delicious. But to each their t own!
Is a nerds rope kinda gummy on the inside? Or is it more like a Twizzlers texture? I've never had one.
Gunmy, but not so sticky that the nerds stay adhered really well. I find the little rocks scattered on the floor. I try to have the kids eat them outside.
gummy
they’re good. sour.
I also like jelly beans if I can stand in front of candy and choose the flavors.
post next week on chocolate?
I read that banana-flavored things don't taste right because the flavor is based on Gros Michel rather than Cavandish bananas. Cavandish is what we buy now; Gros Michel is the older variety that was driven out by Panama Disease in the 1960s.
I'm not sure I believe it, given how much effort food companies put into creating flavors. I mean, just look at Pringles and Fritos.
Forgot to include this.
White chocolate is not chocolate. This is the hill I will die on.
Thank you for the banana explanation. This fake flavor has always been a mystery to me, even as a kid.
I will die with you on the white chocolate IS NOT CHOCOLATE hill! It contains nothing of cacao beans. It is fat, sugar, and some sort of weird nondescript flavor.
It contains cocoa fat but not cocoa powder. It's a fine dessert for those who like it just don't call it chocolate.
White chocolate might not be chocolate but I still love it!
I dont like non-chocolate candy generally but the two I can think of are regular nerds and smarties. Everything else is in the nope! category.
I’ve read the same thing about the flavor being based on the other variety of bananas. It seems to me that the flavor is the same as it was in the 1950s so I’d believe it.
I'll have to excuse myself from this discussion. IMHO, no non-chocolate candy is worth eating...which is why, back in the days when DH and I participated in trick or treat, I used to get those detestable Dum Dum pops so I would stay out of the candy! (For the past several years, however, the number of trick or treaters on the street has been in single digits and occasionally zero. So I just put out all the front lights on Halloween night and hole up in my office at the back of the house.)
Even though I like a number of non-choc candies, I agree with you that if it's not chocolate it's (probably) not worth eating.
I sometimes like
- old fashioned jelly beans (not the jelly belly-like ones)
- roasted marshmallows
- sugar babies
- soft caramels, especially with cream centers (but not bulls-eye brand)
And small amounts of
- toffee
- vanilla tootsie rolls warmed to body temp
- bulls-eye candies, warmed to body temp
- candy corn
- butter mints
Where do Rice Krispie treats fit? If they're candy then they're top of my list.
Dawn reminded me; maple sugar candy is definitely top 5. It's the exception to the "if it's not chocolate then why bother?" rule.
Slo-pokes - hard to find these days. Any Milk Duds sibling and I got always went to Dad. I'm still appalled I did not appreciate Hershey's Dark.
Now I have a strange mental picture of someone warming vanilla tootsie rolls and bullseye candies in their armpits.
Front pocket, in my case.
Black jelly beans are the best. I don't eat any of the other ones.
We always have more than enough because I would feel like uber bad if we ran out of candy - what a bummer for a child. If low turnout, I will take it to the polling place - voters (or their children) or the volunteer fire persons get it.
I will never understand why Rice Krispie treats are so freaking good, but they are (the homemade kind. I dislike the packaged ones because they have some kind of off-flavor to me.)
Carmels! Love them
Kristen, we would do well together after trick or treating if we were to swap candy. I'd gladly give you all of your favorites should they end up in my haul.
In no particular order since I have to get to work, my non-chocolate faves are:
Annie Organics, or whatever the brand is, gummies in little packages. I am counting those as eligible. They are soft, delicious, and expensive. Albanese (sp?) brand gummies are good too.
Werther's caramels.
Trader Joe's sour gummy candies.
That's it. Can't even think of 5. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate please.
Have a great day, people!
Oh boy! I am a sugar addict from birth it seems. Let's see if I can narrow it down:
Top 5
Mike and Ikes
Hot Tamales
Nerds/Nerd Clusters
Sugar Babies (really anything caramel including milk chocolate covered salted caramel/100 Grand Bars/Milk Duds)
Maple Sugar Candy - yes, it's pure sugar and I LOVE it!
Incidentally, I love Smarties and have to have at least 1 bag of Candy Corn every year.
Bottom 5
Black Licorice anything
Banana flavored candy
Tootsie Rolls
Any peanut butter/nougat type candy
Any licorice except red vines and the thin strawberry licorice
Fun fact, my significant other of 18 years likes to tell people "when I met Dawn, she thought Mike and Ikes were one of the 5 food groups." I used to buy 5lb bags of those and Hot Tamales from Costco regularly. I still to this day, buy a box of each before any trip.
This was so fun to do with you, Kristen! (And we need to eat Sour Patch Kids when we get together because the ONLY ones I like at the red ones.)
Thankfully, candy corn is just not a thing in Canada. I've had a few pieces a few times and I just do not get the appeal. Blergh.
It's funny you talk about your smarties (our "rockets") tasting like chewable medicine. When I was a kid, I would save these candies and a friend and I would pretend we were doctors/nurses and we always used the rockets as medicine!!
I saw someone mentioned Mike and Ike's and I DO like those. Not enough to ever go out of my way to eat them, but I take them when we travel sometimes because they don't get sticky like a lot of other candy.
You and I would have a seriously terrible time sharing candy! LOL! I willingly pass on most non-chocolate candy. I don't like sour at all, and Skittles (and Starburst!) are just about the worst candy ever! However, Tootsie Rolls will always make my Top 5, and the chocolate licorice isn't bad either! I'm with you on MOST banana candy or banana flavored anything, really. But the banana Laffy Taffy are yummy. I also am in the minority who love candy corn and Peeps and even black licorice! Good and Plenty are yummy!
Honestly, though, I will always choose Peanut Butter M&Ms or Hershey's chocolate, and I'm a happy camper!
I went to a sweetshop which sold American sweets and tried a tootsie roll and a can of Tab, and disappointing doesn't begin to cover it!
Generally I don't like a lot of American candy. I liked Nerds as a kid but haven't had them in years.
I totally agree! I have never been able to understand why tootsie rolls were ever popular. Their cherry flavor is alright, but if they stopped production forever our family wouldn’t be disappointed lol
Tab??? Yuck!! If you want diet soda, there are MANY better! My favorite is Cherry Coke Zero. As for Tootsie Rolls, we'll have to agree to disagree. 🙂 Although, I spent 6 weeks in Australia a few years ago, and I found the candy to be very disappointing. I assume we just get used to what's available to us!
I tried it because my favourite author at the time (Meg Cabot) said it was her favourite drink!
Hey Kristen, we share some similarities in candy likes/dislikes. I'm not a huge candy eater, but here are my Top 5, in no particular order.
1. Sour Patch Kids
2. Ginger Chews (I DO buy and eat these regularly!!🤌🤌🤌)
3. Mike and Ike's
4. Gummi Bears/Worms
5. SweeTarts (and their jellybeans)
Bottom 5 (in no particular order)
1. Circus Peanuts
2. Candy Corn/Pumpkins
3. Black licorice/jellybeans
4. Swedish Fish
5. Banana-flavored candy
I try to avoid artificial colors so my top 5 include caramels and Hi-Chew Minis. I have recently been eating Bubs which mostly have natural food color. I do like Starbursts but haven't eaten any recently. Not 5 I realize.
I really dislike candy corn and Skittles. Again, not 5.
Thanks to a sickly childhood full of ear and allergy medication, I have a STRONG aversion to plain bubblegum flavor (ear infection medicine), grape (Dimatapp), and cherry (too many to name). Any candies with those very fake/chemical flavors are immediately right out.
I'm also a big citrus candy fan, likely because of the above! 😛 Lemon Starbursts rock, and I'll join you at the Hot Tamales table. Caramel-covered candy apple suckers were a childhood favorite.
I love anything lemon flavoured! I used to love Citrus Polos as a kid and Fruit Polos (I believe they're called Lifesavers in America) but they were discontinued:(
Pfew, I do not know ANY of the sweets, neither the US nor the CAN ones - although the smarties/rockets are available by another name (but I do not like them).
I do like the creamy taste of fudge on occasion and the best way to keep away from temptation is to read the label. I will generally keep away from products with hardened palm oil, eliminating 98% of sweets, probably. That said, if I buy a coffee somewhere and it is served with a cookie and a sweet, I will eat those. The 80/20 rule applies here too; I will just not buy for eating at home or while travelling.
OK, once you eliminate chocolate as a choice, clearly I prefer chewy/gummi candy. No sour or hot candies for me please, and I really dislike the smell of Wint O Green lifesavers! That said–
#1 Wiley Wallaby Classic Red licorice: soooo much better than Twizzlers which to me are hard and waxy. omg–real ingredients vs fake!
#2 Haribo Gummi bears originals
#3 Necco wafers except the purple ones: a taste of childhood and just a 2 or 3 pieces is enough
#4 Werther's Original: love the melt factor
#5 Dots: the chewy kind in the yellow box, not the button type
Beth, I assume your name means you are in SE Pennsylvania?? I am from Berks Cty, and Necco Wafers were a STAPLE in our family. (We live in the deep south now, and I don't see them as much down here.) I LOVE the chocolate Necco wafers. How do you feel about Wilbur Buds?? I still prefer Hershey's but Wilbur Buds are a sentimental favorite.
Top 5:
1) Dots
2) Gobstoppers
3) Mike & Ike
4) Hot Tamales
5) Twizzlers, only red
Bottom 5:
1) Laffy Taffy
2) Pop Rocks
3) anything black licorice
4) Smarties
5) Necco Wafers
Chocolate is the best and can be eaten every day. Nothing non-chocolate can. And, clearly, Kristen and I need to split our candy hauls.
Best:
Maple sugar candy
Skittles - purple & red, will suffer the others
Starburst - red & pink, won't suffer the others so I don't buy them. But, I just discovered that they make a pink only bag which is very dangerous.
Runts - especially banana
Nerds - regular only, especially the grape/bubblegum box
Worst:
Tootsie rolls - NOT chocolate
Candy corn
Twizzlers
Sweet Tarts
Anything sour
There's a favReds bag bag for starbursts as well. Very handy for Valentine's Day treat bags!
Ooh! I haven't seen that one yet!
I am aging myself here but I still call Starburst by their old name Opal Fruits in my mind!
I don't eat candy any more (I know, I must not be human! 😉 But I always wish I didn't have a wheat allergy so I could once in a while indulge in black licorice, which I always liked, even as a kid. I never got to try salted licorice, either! As a teenager I tried aniseed balls for the first time in England, and adored them. Never could find them in the States.
When I was a kid we went to Hershey, Pennsylvania and they were handing out samples of a new candy--chocolate licorice! I remember liking it and looked for it in vain in the drugstores for years.
Hershey Chocolate Licorice is WONDERFUL! It shows up in stores here a couple times a year.
Skittles are acceptable with a wheat allergy (my daughter has celiac). Unfortunately, peanut M&Ms are no longer celiac safe 🙁 But, three musketeers bars are generally safe (although candy manufacturers do say that during high throughput seasons (Halloween, Easter) their gluten free capability might slip.
Sadly, I'm also allergic to corn, and corn syrup is in SO many candies...
Thank you for this important survey -- So many of these candies our kids loved-- but for me, I love butterscotch candies. Age and stage however limit my indulgence -- no need to break an aging tooth or dislodge a crown to enjoy hard candy or caramel.
Top 5:
Albanese gummy bears
Werther's Original toffees
Starburst - red & pink
Sugar Babies
Payday bars
Bottom 5:
Twizzlers
Skittles
Black licorice in any form
Swedish Fish
Sour Patch Kids
So a WILD thing I've discovered with Candy Corn (which to be clear, I am very strongly on side "BLECH") but you can use them to make a three ingredient Butterfinger dupe https://infinetaste.com/candy-corn-butterfingers-a-copycat-recipe/
which is quite good (not quite as good as the OG obviously, but when you consider where it came from...)
One of the secretaries at my school used to make a fall candy mix, which was merely equal parts of candy corn and salted peanuts. It was surprisingly good, and addictive.
Yes! I like this, too!
We make one with popcorn, candy corn and Little Debbie chocolate peanut bars Really good!!
I make these every year for my dear 95 yo quilting mentor. I only use the best chocolate and make them thin. I also use powdered peanut butter to up the Butterfinger flavor. Bags of candy corn are $.25/ea!
Also, I will take all the tootsie rolls from anyone who dislikes them. I know they are the cheapest candy known to man but for some reason I'm obsessed with them!
Me too, Ginger! I LOVE Tootsie Rolls. I know they're not "chocolate", per se, but I will eat them any time, any place, although I prefer the big ones you can generally get at gas stations, candy shops, etc. But only the "chocolate" ones--not the weird, fruity ones. LOL
lemon heads, pop rocks, sweet tarts ropes apple flavored, nerds gummy clusters, smarties, black forest gummy bears are the ones I like ish. I don’t need any. I like chocolate candy!
My son likes skittles and mike and ike’s. off to dentist tomorrow
I forgot jelly beans but only if I pick flavor.
I’m on Day 21 of Whole 30 and not even craving chocolate which is crazy since my period is due.
This is so fun to think about!
Top five non-chocolate candies:
1. Wiley Wallaby Classic Red Licorice (It is DELICIOUS. It is juicy, while I find Twizzler's to be waxy. This is the only candy I buy IF I buy candy.)
2. Starburst Strawberry flavor
3. Skittles (all classic flavors EXCEPT grape.)
4. Lemonheads
5. Mint Nonparels (remind me of my grandma)
Bottom five non-chocolate candies (I'm not even sure if some of these exist anymore!):
1. Necco wafers
2. Bit-o-Honey
3. Air Heads Xtreme
4. Candy Corn
5. Tropical Skittles
I’m with you on the banana flavored candies. No thank you! Not a fan of smarties either, but it didn’t make my bottom five. I love almost any gummy fruity candy with a bit of sour. It’s hard to narrow it down to only five. I also seem to be the odd person who loves black licorice. Australian varieties are the best.
Top five:
- Chewy Lemonheads. They recently discontinued these and am at a loss.
- Wiley Wallaby Black Licorice
- Sour Straws
- Sour Jelly Bellies
- Laffy Taffy
Bottom Five:
- Peanut Butter Chews
- Hard or Chewy Caramels
- Tootsie Rolls
- Non-fruit Jelly Bean Flavors
- Banana or tropical anything
Wow - I thought Tootsie rolls were universally loved! More for me! They have so many different sizes and thicknesses and I love them all.
I haven't seen anyone mention Paydays. I think that's my favorite non-chocolate candy bar.
I love Hot Tamales, Smarties, and Peeps (no weird flavors though).
I like the minty Lifesavers - they used to have a spear-o-mint flavor that was the absolute best, but they stopped making it, so now my favorite is the wint-o-green.
Red Vines are way better than Twizzlers.
I prefer harvest corn to candy corn (it was called Indian corn in my youth and has the quasi-chocolate bottom layer), but I could forego that whole type of candy.
Ooh, I like Lemon Drops too,
Someday, eat Wint O Green in the dark. If you bite them with your mouth open, other people can see actual sparks!!
I love Payday bars. And if you mix the candy corn with salted peanuts It tastes just like a Payday! Remember the fruity flavored Toostie Rolls?
I am laughing out loud. The only one you mentioned I would even have in my house is the candy corn/pumpkin: as a decoration in a candy dish. You could pay me to eat any of these candies! (and I'd never let me grands eat any of those!) Such terrible ingredients to put in your body! But, really - no judgement, you eat whatever you want! Give me chocolate - but only real cacao and slightly sweet 70% HU are my go-to. Haha
Oh, nice job on excluding chocolate, that makes one dig a little deeper!
Top 5:
Bit O’Honey
Sweet Tarts (only the citrus, I’m with you on that aspect)
Smarties (no shock, since I love Sweet Tarts)
Red Vines - like twizzlers, but actually good.
Caramels - I love caramel, and those little individual ones are great. I forgot about them when I commented on Elisabeth’s post. As a matter of fact, all of these lost out to chocolate treats in my comment there, but I might eat these first if given an option.
Bottom 5:
Twizzlers. So gross. I’m a Red Vine gal.
Candy Corn
That banana thing looks like it would be gross
Skittles
Jolly Ranchers - so gross
I really dislike skittles and Starbursts. The day fruit and texture of both just are a big no. Funny most of your worst are ones I like, except 100% agree with you on no to laffee taffee and amy banana flavor. Absolute best though are Werthers caramels.
I love fruit candy & generally prefer it over chocolate. Watermelon Sour Patch, regular Sour Patch, Skittles, Starburst. I do love the Hot Tamales as well.
Kristen, have you tried the Watermelon Sour Patch? I wonder if you'd like those - they are all the same shape/flavor.
I clicked to the post your friend wrote, and we are not similar candy people. 😉 I cannot understand the love for Twizzlers.
Top 5:
-Black licorice (so many haters here! But I agree that different brands taste very different, try Panda 😉 Also salty licorice
-Soft caramel, especially salty caramel
-Peanut butter bars (the weird brittle kind, no chocolate)
-Cow tails (very specific to the mid-Atlantic I think)
-Starburst soft kind, strawberry flavor
Bottom 5:
-Any cherry flavored candy
-Dots
-Necco Wafers
-Sweethearts
-Dum dum lollipops
Ohhhh, cow tails are also a favorite! Or, the Goetze's Old Fashioned Caramel Creams--sooo good! (I'm from SE PA!) I also love black licorice! We can have a Good-n-Plenty and Cow Tails party! 🙂
Julia, that would be a fun one! I first learned about the cowtails at my local Amish Market, but when I googled the Goetze candy company I learned that it is from Baltimore MD! Fun little tidbit.
I don't necessarily seek out non-chocolate candy, but here are some thoughts. I do enjoy candy corn and candy pumpkins. I love mixing them with roasted peanuts for a sweet and salty treat.
Top 5 (ish):
Licorice (esp. black licorice)
Lemonheads
Cowtails
Any sort of caramel or toffee or butterscotch
Sour candy
My dislikes are vast, and I don't normally choose candy for my sweets; it's just not worth the calories to me. I don't like cinnamon candy nor banana flavored candy. I absolutely detest valentine's day candy hearts and similarly Necco Wafers. I don't understand the appeal of gumdrops and hard candy.
Top:
Hot Tamales
Nerd Gummy Clusters or ropes
Tootsie Roll Pop
Werther's - any kind
Gummy Life Savers
Yogurt covered fruit snacks
Bottom:
Anything banana flavored
Anything black licorice
Anything with coconut
I'm all about the chocolate so my acceptable non-choc options are quite specific!
Good:
- Tangfastics (sour gummies)
- Wine gums (not actually alcoholic! Soft fruit flavour gums, I have these for car travel only, so addictive!)
- sherbet lemons (boiled lemon sweets with sherbet inside)
- skittles are just about ok
Bad:
Pretty much everything else, but particularly anything with a chewing gum texture (like starburst), or a wierd gone off sweet vibe, like jelly babies (why so shrivelled?)
I feel you on the tootsie rolls. My disdain for them is much like your disdain for banana-flavored candy.
Top 5
Butterscotch hard candy (any kind)
Trolli Strawberry Puffs
Albanese gummy bears
Trolli peach rings
Life Savers Gummies
Bottom 5
Licorice
lemonheads
sourpatch
Mike and Ike
laffy taffy
I haven't had butterscotch disks in forever.
Strongly agree: No banana candy for me!
But the worst is fake Watermelon hard candy, like Watermelon Jolly Ranchers. What the connection is between watermelon flavored and real watermelons, I do not know.
Watermelon and grape are the two best Jolly Rancher flavors. Neither tastes like real, but I don't care.
I hate to be a wet blanket here but a while back I was at my dental appointment around this time of year. My dentist mentioned that his office always sees a lot of cavities in children around Halloween time.
That may be an example of causation not equalling correlation. They would not have developed the cavity from eating Halloween candy so quickly, but probably those with existing cavities were alerted by eating the candy. The cause of the cavities could be candy eating, poor dental hygiene, bad nutrition...many things, not necessarily candy. As with all things, moderation is key 😊. I'm going to go eat some Nerds clusters now, and then brush!
I will not eat "gummy" candy as I have an active fear of losing a filling, or having a tooth issue from it.....my Dental Anxiety is REAL!
I can easily resist any non-chocolate candy......but, I do love a sweet tart - but only eat them at Halloween if I find one in nieces/nephews bag, or a random candy bowl. I also like Werther's - but resist the soft ones due to my first sentence..LOL. I also like on occasion Swedish Fish (not too "gummy")...and Air Heads!
If it's not chocolate, it's not worth the calories. A few exceptions: Bit O Honey and berry Skittles. Smarties are fun too, but I think they all taste alike. Jelly bellies have fun flavors. And Werther's —positively addictive.
All citrus candy (and cherry) taste like medicine to me. Fake, nasty.
Never had Nerds.
And banana—Who do they think they are kidding with that horrid flavor?? It is so strongly NOT anything like the fruit itself as to defy logic.
About 20 years ago I was in the hospital for some abdominal surgery that turned into a big mesdy deal, and thus was eating only stuff like popsicles and chicken broth while hospitalized. I cannot stand banana-flavored popsicles and got them for three meals a day until I burst into tears. The nurse made a note and never gave then to me again.
I'm team good chocolate all the way. The rest are for everyone else!
Same! I find non-chocolate candies very resistable. I don't even enjoy them. However, I do love a good cookie or pastry/dessert or ice cream 🙂
Me too but best if they also have some or a lot of chocolate in them.
Hoo, boy, is this generational! Now you have to ask your mom for her opinions, and your daughter, because I think candy goes in and out of fashion! Double-bubble bubble gum, orange circus peanuts, spice-flavored gumdrops, Mike & Ike, lollipops (suckers or taffies or whatever) like Blow-Pops, Chupa, sour apple with caramel -- what we thought of as penny candy. I can't wait to read the comments!
This is very true.
Did you know the Chupa Chups logo was designed by Salvador Dali?
https://www.logodesignlove.com/chupa-chups-logo
My mom was super frugal and chocolate was a no. Too expensive unless in chip form. I got candy bars at Halloween and an occasional snickers or Reeses paenut butter cup. BTW her favorites.
Favorite:
1. Candy Corn in Harvest Trail Mix: the corn with sea salt roasted peanuts.
2. Spice Jelly Beans, especially Cinnamon or even better Howe brand. Clove is a close second.
3. Smarties or Sweet Tarts and I eat them in flavor combos.
4. Black Raspberry Sour Patch products: either coal or soccer balls
5. Reeses Pieces
Honorable mention to the Nerds Clusters in the pink bag.
Least Favorite:
5. Anything spicy like Warheads.
4. Jolly Ranchers
3. DOTS - texture nightmare
2. Circus Peanuts
1. Marshmellow Easter Eggs with the hard candy shell
I like almost all candy so this is hard in two different ways. Limiting to just five I like and coming up with five I don't.
Top:
1. Swedish Fish
2. Jelly Beans
3. Licorice
4. Salt water taffy
5. Mike & Ike's
Bottom
1. Smarties
2. Sweetarts
3. Starburst
4. Nerds clusters/ropes (they taste like hand soap to me - sorry to yuck your yum!)
5. Neco Wafers
I’m a chocolate girlie (100 Grand always) but I have a major sweet tooth and will happily eat non-chocolate candies.
Top
• Twizzlers nibs
• Cinnamon Bears
• Vego Bears
• Cherry flavored tootsie rolls
• Banana Laffy Taffy
Bottom
• Black licorice
• Now and Laters – I like the flavor but they are so hard to eat
• Smarties lollipops – what was ever the point
• Candy corn
• Anything made to be excessively sour – my son was obsessed with Toxic Waste for a while and it blew my mind
If you like 100 Grand, have you tried a Lion Bar. They're usually a specialty find since they never really caught on in the US. Imagine a KitKat with a 100 Grand on top: wafer cookie topped with caramel+crunchies, then dipped in milk chocolate.
love hundred grand but so hard to find these days. never saw a lion bar.
My mother loved circus peanuts candy, which I find completely disgusting. The same for most non-chocolate Easter candy, as it's just too sweet. Cadbury chocolate eggs were good years ago, but the filling is now sickeningly sweet. My husband loves candy corn and I do not.
I love citrus candy and most gummy types. Got a fondness for the mini Tootsie rolls, both the chocolate and the fruity ones. I really enjoy Swedish Fish if they are fresh and soft, and also the occasional Twizzler cherry pull and peel, if it's fresh.
Dried out circus peanuts would be in a candy bowl at Grandma's, and still be there when we came back four months later. Horrors!
At Christmas, the other grandparents always had a huge box of those beautiful candies that looked like brightly colored glass millefiori, round slices and little pillows, and eventually stuck together and all tasted like anise or maybe peppermint. They looked better than they tasted to a child. Does anyone recall the name of what I'm talking about?
My grandparents had those too. The taste was cloves, I think.
Someone gifted my grandparents, who did not like chocolate, some liquer-filled chocolates when I was four. I ate all the blackberry ones and got rather tipsy. 😀
Yes, cloves, and perhaps wintergreen. My sister remembered ribbon candy, and I think these are all connected spun sugar colored candies.
I hope you were able to eat chocolate again some day in age-appropriate ways!
I audibly GASPED when you put the banana-flavored candy in the dislike pile! FOR SHAME, KRISTIN ;p
Likes:
Bottle Caps
Dots
Jelly Belly Popcorn Flavor
Candy Corn
Mary Jane Peanut Butter Chews (the orange and black candies.... anyone remember these?!)
Dislikes:
Good N Plenty (blerghhhhh)
Gummy Bears (any kind)
Jolly Ranchers (TOO SWEET)
Cowtails
Tootsie Rolls (all of them. even the flavors)
BANANA CANDY IS GROSS and no one can change my mind. Hehe.
None chocolate candy is my favorite to have this time of year because I dislike it. I do like jelly bellies, the mixed bag. My mom loves candy, so I buy her jolly ranchers, dum dums, butterscotchies and cinnamon disks. I like peppermint or cinnamon altoids.
My tastes seem to be the opposite of yours. I like Smarties, Sweetarts, and candy corn. To round out my top five I'd add Peeps marshmallow candy and Altoids mints. My least favorite candies are anything sour or spicy or grape flavored. That artificial grape flavor just tastes like medicine to me.
Oh, what a fun post!
My top picks:
1. Tootsie roles
2. Boson baked beans
3. MaryJanes (if only my teeth could handle them!)
4. Lifesaver mints
5. Starbursts
My bottom picks:
1. Circus peanuts (just why?)
2. Those wax candies -all of them -bottles, lips, etc...
3. Nesco wafers
4. Skittles
5. Watermelon flavored candies
I hate your top 5, and three of your bottom 5 are favorites of mine!
(Twizzlers, banana-flavored anything, candy corn —Yum!)
Yes:
1. Jelly Belly
2. Salted caramel
3. Butterscotch
4. Werther's
5. Peanut butter kisses
No:
1. Black licorice (red is ok)
2. Hot tamales
3. Smarties
4. Spearmint
5. Those puffy peanut-shaped things
This is a bit hard as I really love chocolate!
Favs:
Given the PNW location, I love salt water taffy, but I am picky about the flavors! No watermelon, licorice, or fake flavors like banana. Citrus, fruity, berry, chocolate, vanilla …
Applets and Cotlets … another PNW (really, Washington) confectionary, which I sold as a Camp Fire Girl. They are the perfect after-dinner sweet bite.
Starlight peppermints, Coffee caramels, caramels
Yuks: anything licorice!
Mehs: Anything else … I can take it or leave it.
Top five
1. Cinnamon bears
2. Grapefruit gummies (I used to be able to get these at WinCo but they don't carry them anymore. You can find them on amazon though)
3. Butter rum life savers
4. Coffee nibs
5. Sees peanut brittle
Top 5 oh heck no's
1. Black licorice anything
2. Those weird nougat candies with candied red and green cherries mixed in...not sure what they are called
3. Strawberry bon bons
4. Chick o stick
5. Neccos
Top 5ish
Reese's Christmas Trees I like the pb ratio on these more than regular Reese's
Hot Tamales
Peanut M&M's
Caramels covered with dark chocolate & sea salt Choceur at Aldi
Jelly Belly
Aldi Dark Chocolate with Almonds Choceur
Bottom 5
Mostly anything not chocolate
Licorice
Candy Corn
Swedish Fish
Hi-Chew
Gummy bears or most any other type of gummy type candy
Anything that is mint
I love candy in all forms, but went down an ingredient rabbit hole recently. Carmine (makes my eyes swell up and weep) is in many red candies and confectioners glaze doesn’t sound appealing. I know aversion to eating bugs is a cultural thing, but I just get the ick from too many of my favorites now.
INQUIRING MINDS NEED TO KNOW:
What ingredient is used to make candy be spicy hot?
Cinnamon
Most non-chocolate candy is just disgusting to me but I do enjoy a few:
PayDay
Red Bird Soft Mint Puffs
Naylor Buttermints
Cow tails
Pralines
never hear od cow tails.
My kids love the Nerds gummy clusters!
I don't care for sugary candies, and I really don't like anything that sticks in my teeth.
If I'm going to have a sweet it's going to be chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel.
I enjoy a Jolly Rancher once in a while, but only cherry or sour apple.
Forgot to add -
I love Peanut M&M's, but not the blue ones (they taste different to me)
For a Snickers bar the Fun Size is the perfect ratio of chocolate to filling.
A full size bar is not enough chocolate, and a mini is not enough filling.
Both of the above have been debated with my husband for years, he's happy to get my blue M&M's, he insists they all taste the same.
Love the blue Nerd clusters, twizzlers and most chewy citrus flavored slices. Not a fan of any hard candy
OOh, this is fun. I like the softer, individually wrapped Twizzlers you get at Halloween. I could eat them non-stop. Also, I like candy corn when it is mixed with salted peanuts - takes like a Payday. Other non chocolate favs include Munch bar, Swedish fish, Lamme's Chewy Pralines, and Atkinson Peanut Butter Bars. I like some gummy candy - a lot of it is like chewing a rubber band, though. Circus Peanuts are a definite NO, as well as the desiccated coconut bars that feel like sawdust in your mouth.
As someone who has several crowns and dental implants (familial bad teeth, despite my efforts!) I actively avoid gummy anything. I do like the taste of gummy bears, but that’s about it. I’m much more of a chocolate and peanut butter gal
I have always been labbergasted by the amount of candy consumed in the US. In Europe and in Greece where I reside, people that would not consider themselves health buffs and might overdo with dessert or olive oil everywhere, rarely would consume mass produced colorful sugar confections if at all. In the minds of most, they are considered the top trash food; if you want to treat yourself why not do so by indulging in a creamy tiramisù or a crispy and hearty galaktoboureko anyway?
imho if it aint chocolate it aint worth the calories, however when my kids were small I stole their watermelon sour patch and their red skittles, red twister and tootsie rolls.
Our taste on Skittles, sour patch kids, and banana-flavored candy's are literally the opposite. Makes me wish we could trade a bag. We'd both be happy 😂. I also absolutely abhor orange-flavored candy. Really, almost anything artificially orange flavored. Reminds me of medicine from my childhood, such as Flintstone vitamins.
But we totally agree on nerds gummies and tootsie rolls.
Yes! I need a Skittles and Sour Patch Kids buddy!
My non-chocolate top 5
1. Candy Kittens Lucky Cherry (https://candykittens.co.uk/products/lucky-cherry?variant=56967307034999)
2. Haribo Strawbs
3. Liquorice but not salted
4. Parma Violets (pure sugar and weird floral flavour, but I like them)
5. some form of mint sweet (absolute favourite is After Eight mint chocolates)
Bottom 5 (only 2!)
1. Marzipan sweets
2. Anything coffee flavoured (I love to drink coffee, but am not keen on coffee flavoured sweets, chocs or cake)
I tried to find more bottom 5, but I guess I just like too many sweets!!
Ooo this is fun. I'm not a big candy fan in general, but here are mine:
Top 5
Licorice all sorts, fruit pastilles, swedish fish, nerd gummy clusters, those little red and black raspberry/blackberry candies
Bottom 5
Laffy taffy, hot tamales, cow tails, fruit roll ups, war heads
Fun!
Top 5:
1. Albanese Gummy Bears - exceptional texture and taste
2. Starburst or Airheads tied
3. Skittles
4. Lemonheads
5. Milkfuls
Bottom 5
1. Twizzlers - the pure taste of chewing plastic
2. Now and Later
3. Cherry flavored-hard candy of any kind
4. Good N Plenty
5. Circus peanuts
Ooh yes I agree with you about cherry candy in general. To me, it tastes very much like cough syrup.
The fact that you put Tootsie Rolls in the bottom means I don't think I can trust your opinion.
Good n Plenty are GOATED btw.
I can respect your difference of opinion. Ha.
Looks like we have the same taste in candies! Team citrus as well
I'm canadian. Smarties for us are small chocllates coated with a hard shell. Very similar to M&M (but tastes better). What you call smarties are called "Rockets" here.
I don't have a top 5/bottom 5 list but mix the candy corn with peanuts and it tastes like a Payday.
**My Top Non-Chocolate Candy**
Cinnamon bears (like a hot tamale in flavor, but in gummy bear form)
Lemon candy, any kind, but my favorite is old-fashioned lemon drops even though they are rough on the roof of the mouth
Grape or apple flavored candy (Jolly ranchers, Hi-Chews, bottle caps, whatever)
Mints like pastel mints or butter mints (technically my favorite are options that include chocolate like peppermint bark or Junior mints though, but I’m all over these at parties!)
Wiley Wallaby huckleberry licorice (also like the Red Vine licorice, absolutely never Twizzlers or black licorice though)
Honorable mentions to saltwater taffy in flavors similar to above, those strawberry bon-bons that I associate with grandmas, and I also do love smarties! My husband has teased me often that my candy preferences are that of someone in the Great Depression (I’m only 39), haha. Skittles and Starburst are mid-candy for me, but my favorite flavors are reds, pinks, purples, and yellow. Do not like orange or green, unless green is green apple).
** NOT Liked Non-Chocolate Candy**
Black licorice flavor of any kind in any form
Twizzlers (total agreement there!)
Banana flavor candy of any kind in any form (also in total agreement!)
Candy corn (also in agreement! Haha)
Sour Patch Kids (I’m not really into sour candy unless it’s lemon drops)
Also not really into Mike and Ike’s (too many citrus flavors I don’t like) and Dots are kind of disappointing/underwhelming, though I still eat some once a year on my dearly-missed grandma’s birthday in her memory (they were her favorite).