I went to the grocery store a few weeks ago, and it took all I had to not to fill my cart with the best candy of the year. Right next to the heart-shaped boxes of “gourmet” chocolates — relax, Russell Stover — were the boxes of Cadbury Creme Eggs. Those were followed by the purple, baby blue, and yellow signs of the Easter Bunny’s bounty. Easter candy proves that everything tastes better when in the shape of an egg or dressed in pastel colors — except the pastel candy corn. I love candy corn but only Brach’s original recipe and only at Halloween.
Sugary treats dressed up as carrots, bunnies, or chicks remind me that spring and warmer days have arrived, thus making their adorable chocolate and marshmallow likenesses more tasty. The variety of Easter candy adds to the appeal. From sweet to sour and small enough to fit in a plastic egg to giant chocolate bunnies, Easter gives us the best confections of the year.
After a very nonscientific poll on social media and my own biased opinions, I have anecdotal evidence of the 15 most popular Easter candy ranked from worst to best.
15. Marshmallow Chocolate Eggs
Everyone has an opinion on how to combine chocolate and marshmallow, and many will only partake if a s’mores is involved. But when placed in Easter baskets, folks swear by chocolate Russell Stover Marshmallow Eggs or will use the opportunity to buy from small-batch candy shops. Some people prefer chocolate-covered Peeps over eggs, but that’s a battle I’m not fighting.
14. Regular Jelly Beans
While not many people actually like original jelly beans, they seem to be an Easter staple one will not live without. It’s better to buy them, let them get stale, and then throw them away than to not buy them at all. If nothing else, the gritty little beans make for cute accents in Easter baskets and on top of a cupcake.
13. Coconut Cream Eggs
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Snowflake Chocolates
Coconut is one of those polarizing ingredients and often hated by children. I was never like the other kids, so a coconut cream egg from a local candy shop was and will forever be my favorite indulgence.
12. White Chocolate Anything
I hate white chocolate, but I recognize some people enjoy it in its purest form, or as a covering over their Oreos and pretzels, or as part of some faux bark with candies and nuts. But ew.
11. Whoppers Robin Eggs
These malted eggs are not my first choice, but I wouldn’t kick them out of bed.
10. Hershey's Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Eggs
Now we’re getting somewhere. One would think these candy-coated chocolates would be the same as M&Ms, but that would be a lie. They stand on their own and need to be included.
9. Easter Pastel M&Ms
As one friend stated, “I don’t know why but pastel M&Ms beat the h*ll out of the Christmas ones.” This is true across the flavor spectrum. Plain, peanut, peanut butter … all are better when prepared for Easter.
8. Chocolate Carrots
Because they were cute and could fit easily into little plastic eggs, I bought small foil-wrapped chocolate carrots for my kids one year, and my oldest now claims those are her favorite Easter candy. They were in a small mesh bag and looked waxy but knocked expectations out of the park. If you want to offer something that looks fancier, Lindt offers milk chocolate carrots blended with hazelnut.
7. Chocolate Bunnies
I will let you decide which is better — solid or hollow — but at least one chocolate bunny must be had during the Easter candy season. And of course you eat the ears first.
6. Starburst Jelly Beans
While folks can agree on which jelly beans they don’t like, it’s a lot harder to decide which ones are the best. However, of the alternatives (see No. 5) Starburst Jelly Beans are the bee's knees. Bunny’s knees?
5. Jelly Bean Alternatives
If a candy company can find a way to make its product into an egg-shaped piece of sugar, it will do it. SweetTarts, Swedish Fish, Jolly Rancher, Nerds, and Jelly Belly jelly beans are all worth trying.
4. Cadbury Mini Eggs
My friend Sarah perfectly summed these up: “Cadbury Mini Eggs are the nectar of the gods. I have a giant bag in my cabinet, where no children or partner may enter.”
3. Peeps
Peeps are the most polarizing candy of the season. I have yet to find someone who thinks they are just “OK.” You love them or hate them. Some of us know an open package of Peeps will quickly become an empty package, but some people prefer all Peeps go directly into the trash. These people are wrong, and I weep for their loss. Do you like your Peeps stale or fresh? And which do you think tastes better: chicks or bunnies? I’m a purist and will only eat Peeps at Easter. The other holiday Peeps fall flat, and keep the flavored ones away from me. I want sugar on sugar in either yellow, blue, or pink.
2. Cadbury Creme Egg
There is the OK caramel spin-off, but the original Cadbury Creme Egg is the best. However, friends pointed out that they seem smaller and not the same as we remember as kids. Grace says, “It tastes different and the ‘creme’ lacks the sugary grit that was integral to my enjoyment of them. I still buy one package every year, and every year I lament what we’ve lost.” But we still buy them because even disappointment tastes delicious at Easter time.
1. Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs
The yellow wrapper with the cute tulips makes my mouth water every year. The ratio of chocolate to peanut butter in the Reese's Peanut Butter Egg makes it the best Easter candy and overall best seasonal treat of the year.
What did I miss? What Easter candy needs to make this list? There’s room for everyone’s yum here.
Psst: If you choose to purchase an item on this list, LittleThings may receive a small cut. Each item and price is up to date at the time of publication; however, an item may be sold out or the price may be different at a later date.
