Reader poll: Utah’s favorite Halloween candies

The second the leaves change means it’s time to celebrate all things Halloween. Bats, vampires and witches — most importantly, nonstop candy for the next month. Sugar crash be darned.

KSL.com asked Utahns which treats are their favorites. This nonscientific research is very important because how else would you know what to pass out to your trick-or-treating neighbors?

Some folks aren’t too picky. “Whatever is left on Nov. 1,” one commenter said. Another replied, “Whichever isn’t $30 for an entire bag, lol.” Preach. But if you do happen to spend $30-plus on Halloween candy — no judgment. It’s what the Great Pumpkin would do.

Whether purchased for spooky season or any ol’ time of year, these are the top five candies Utahns love.

 

Fifth place

 

It’s a three-way tie for fifth place between M&M’s, Twix bars and … candy corn?

It makes sense to have a tie between two chocolate sweets. M&M’s are a no-brainer candy because you can eat 17 at a time and not feel sick. And the crunchy caramel cookie crisp of a Twix makes sense. They’re so good that one is never enough. Thank the ghouls, they have two (or four) in a pack.

But candy corn? C’mon. We don’t even know what they’re made of (besides yummy, yummy sugar in three different colors). OK, fine, they’re delicious. Weird and mysterious, but delicious.

 

Fourth place

 

In fourth place, we have a tie between Almond Joy and Skittles. Chocolate and fruit — sometimes opposites attract.

Are you an OG Skittles fan? Do you savor or toss the lemon flavors? Or do you prefer the purple package with wild cherry and melon berry?

Some people can take or leave an Almond Joy, but those who love it, LOVE it. Like so obsessed that if you disrespect an Almond Joy, you’re uninvited from the Halloween party. Fair. The creamy chocolate and mildly textured coconut filling, topped with a crunchy almond, makes for a top-tier dessert.

 

Third place

 

Kit Kat bars came in strong in third place. These treats come in two- or four-pack packages of crispy chocolate-covered wafers. It always felt like striking gold when you’d get a four-fer in your trick-or-treat bucket, didn’t it?

Now let’s see if you remember the Kit Kat jingle. “Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that … ” Psst, it says Kit Kat bar. But if you’re a fan of “The Office,” you’d say, “Applesauce!” Or, “Fancy Feast!” But really, please break us off a piece of that Kit Kat bar, because sharing is caring.

 

Second place

 

Utah’s second-place choice is Snickers — the elite candy filled with milk chocolate, caramel, nougat and peanuts. And it probably only came in second because someone broke a tooth on a perfectly good peanut once and they’ve held a grudge ever since. Probably.

Some people argue that Snickers bars are like little protein bars, and will pack them for outdoor adventures or gym snacks. And while we can’t claim that Snickers will help with your gains, we can claim that eating Snickers bars while working out will significantly improve your mood.

 

First place

 

And for our winner … Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. That’s right. These chocolatey, peanut buttery treats ate and left no crumbs. That doesn’t mean no mess, though. What — you’ve never eaten a melty afternoon snack of a Reese’s cup after leaving one in your center console all day? Perfection.

Reese’s cups are even better around Halloween, too. They come in all sorts of spooky shapes such as pumpkins, ghosts and bats. And according to our nonscientific study, candy tastes best in fun shapes.

 

The not-so-popular

 

Butterfinger and Nerds Gummy Clusters weren’t in the top five? What in the world? Is this a conspiracy?

And there was very little love for Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Cream Pies. Really, Utah? Way to be Debbie-oatmeal-downers. Did your great-grandma never give them to you by the handful? How far we’ve fallen.

But all is not lost. One commenter said, “Necco Wafers should be banned. Why would people purposely hand out the worst thing imaginable? I would take a secondhand baked potato over Necco any day.” Hey, we can’t argue with that.

Another person said, “Anything but Good & Plenty.” Black licorice has many enemies, indeed. And thank the great Beehive State, Circus Peanuts were nowhere near the top. Phew! Shoutout to Utahns for not letting us down on that one.

What candies do you love that weren’t in the top five? Are there candies you hate that you didn’t see here? Trick-or-treat on our page and leave us a comment.

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