The Definitive Ranking of Worst and Best Easter Candies
When choosing Easter candy for others, we want to get the best. But these days, nothing is a guarantee anymore. Cadbury's is a safe bet, right? Surely jelly beans, I mean, come on.
Not so fast! You may need to pay attention to detail with either of those.
While Cadbury's Mini Eggs still seem pretty popular, the Creme Eggs... not so much. And those jelly beans you're after to fill little plastic eggs? Well, there's some candy nuance there too.
In order to help you on your complex Easter candy journey, we have done exhaustive research, surveying over 12,000 customers, to create the ultimate ranking of the absolute worst Easter candy.
Easter Candy Consumption Level
In case you didn't know, Easter is a really big candy holiday.
More is spent on candy for Easter historically than for Halloween itself! Depending on which data you look at, Easter is as big or bigger than even Halloween. It's a silent monster.
Everyone and their mom is going to buy Easter candy in some form. The pandemic panic didn't even seem to stop people from celebrating.
Historically, of the people who do not even plan to celebrate Easter, 33% will still buy Easter candy. That says a lot. There is some good stuff out there, people.
There is also some pretty bad stuff.
We know that because you've told us loud and clear what you don't like. As we mentioned before, you have to be careful when asking people about their least favorite holiday candy. It stirs up some deep emotions that can come out in an unfiltered rage.
During our Easter season surveys, we asked a whole lot of people about their favorite and least favorite Easter candy. We got 12,000 responses. The results, as well as some of the respondents' optional comments are included below.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the author's only and in no way reflect the opinions of CandyStore.com.
Here we go:
The 10 Worst Easter Candies
10. Jelly Beans (Generic)
Rounding off the top ten are generic brand jelly beans. Jelly beans come in many different flavors from many many different manufacturers. They are not universally hated for Easter. it's just that people prefer higher quality jelly beans these days.
The days where you could plop any old jelly bean down into the grassy Easter basket might be gone.
I'm spoiled now with jelly beans, so don't give me that old school crap. JBs have evolved, sister.
Those old looking jelly beans. They are not moist, the flavor is nowhere near vivid and they all taste the same besides licorice.
The fat, old jelly beans. The ones where you can see the sugar crystals inside.
We used to throw those jelly beans at squirrels.
9. Cheetos Sweetos Cinnamon Puffs. Down from #4
Somehow Cheetos Sweetos got labeled as Easter Candy, and it's a weird entry. It gained enough votes to be the #9 worst Easter candy, though it was #4 last year. Just thinking about the things that regular Cheetos do to my insides, I shudder to think what damage these sugar cinnamon puffs might cause.
8. Chocolate Crosses. Up from #9 last year.
Chocolate crosses edged slightly less popular this year, moving from the #9 spot last year to #8. Much of the backlash against them seems to come from people trying to square the idea of turning a torture device into a yummy chocolate treat.
I have to admit, this one always seemed a little forced to me. I get the whole "reason for the season" movement that some traditional believers have hung their hat on. I do. I grew up in that world. Perhaps that motto works better at Christmas time, when there was no torture. Just a little frankincense and myrrh.
Those chocolate crosses just feel wrong.
It's a torture device, but in chocolate!
I just feel disrespectful eating one of these. Like I should mount it somewhere and say an Our Father.
No, I don't need this in my face or my kids' faces. Lot's of other options. Chill out people.
7. Chicks & Rabbits Marshmallow Candy. Up from #8 last year.
I actually quite like these. It seems like most people are comparing them to circus peanuts. Circus peanuts are not good company to keep, if you're trying to be popular. They were the #1 worst Halloween candy.
Also, they don't really look like chicks or rabbits. They kind of look like aliens.
The zombie bunny catacomb statue candy.
There are sort of just weird. I don't get them. Not good.
These are basically circus peanuts.
6. Sour Patch Kids White Chocolate Bunny. Was #2
What in God's name is this vile creation? So vile that they are #6 on the list, though slightly less vile than last years #2 (in their very first year of receiving votes).
The white chocolate is enough for me personally to leave it aside. Adding sour gummy candy to creamy white chocolate is very unusual and I can see where people might not be loving that combo. It is different though, you gotta give 'em that!
Come on, like … why?
It's so weird. The texture combination and flavor mix are just not a good partnership. Sell!
Nice-ish to look at. No thank you to eat it.
Also, its huge. It's like twice the size of a King Size Hershey bar.
5. Oreo Creme Eggs
Oreo Creme Eggs are a different type of creme egg than the traditional Cadbury's Creme Eggs. They aren't quite as high up the list as the originals, so they've got some work to do if they want the be reviled the way their cousins have been.
Filled with soft creme and bits of Oreo cookie, these are no less awkward to eat. Maybe the interior is just not quite as runny and generally off-putting.
4. Chocolate Bunnies (Solid). Down from #3.
Seems strange, right? Chocolate bunnies are one of the most iconic Easter candies. So what gives?
Solid chocolate bunnies are a buzz kill. You see a chocolate Easter bunny and think how fun it will be to devour it. The thing is, solid chocolate Easter bunnies (as opposed to hollow) are just too much darn chocolate. It's demoralizing. Here's this giant, dense brick of chocolate.
Yes, it's shaped like a bunny, and it's cute. After one bite, enticing turns to intimidating. You realize there's no way you are going to devour this thing.
The one pictured above is 12 ounces (340g) of chocolate. A regular-sized Hershey Bar is 1.55oz (43g). That solid chocolate bunny is equal to nearly 8 whole Hershey Bars (7.9, to be exact). Could you eat 7.9 Hershey bars?
Probably not. You pull the foil back up over the quarter-eaten bunny ears and long for the time before you made such a foolish attempt on a solid chocolate bunny. A time when your Easter Fun momentum was still on the rise.
Solid chocolate bunnies are a brick.
They should give a grand prize to anyone who can eat the whole thing.
I need like a payment plan to finish this thing man.
It's just too much. I feel bad giving it to someone.
3. Bunny Corn / Easter Candy Corn. Up from #7 last year.
Candy corn always places highly among the disliked candy, but this year not quite as high. They moved up 4 spots from #7 last year. Strangely, they can often also place highly on the most liked list. It's a highly disputed candy type.
For Easter, it seems the hoard have chosen to dislike. I am a confessed candy corn lover, but I will admit the pastel coloring does give me pause. I'd still eat it though.
Holiday candy that just changes color and not flavor is lazy. Like at Xmas, make it with a peppermint twist. Easter, idk. Carrot? White choc?
Candy corn is still around. What a waste of shelf space.
Ok slightly more appealing because it's prettier, but still candy corn.
Ick. Candy corn is the worst.
2. Peeps Easter Candy. Up from #6 last year.
Big jump this year for Peeps. Last year, there are several new entries that moved and bumped off the old guard. But the old Peeps chicks guard is back at #2. And nobody want's to be a #2.
Peeps are a regular on our WORST holiday candy lists. They just don't get much love outside the diorama art world. They tend to get compared to rubber or sugary foam in the comments we received.
They don't seem to be a thing that many people want to associate with putting inside their bodies. Put it on a doughnut, however, and they might sing a different tune.
Peeps are still around. How?
I feel like Peeps are made in the same factory as rubber duckies.
It's weird. They're weird. They make me feel weird. This situation needs to be avoided.
Max Ew.
1. Cadbury Creme Eggs. Reigning Champion.
As Easter candy goes, Cadbury Creme Eggs are one of the most well-known candies ever. There were the classic old commercial where the clucking bunny lays an egg and it's a Cadbury Creme egg.
A whole generation thought rabbits clucked after this …and laid eggs. You gotta give Cadbury credit, there is cultural cachet there.
Cadbury Creme Eggs are a highly unique candy. Chocolate shell with a creamy and sugary goo inside that has both the white and the yolk of the candy egg. It seems like a confectionery engineering marvel. Bravo for creating such a work of candy art. The thing is, they're just awfully horrible to actually eat.
The chocolate shell is a problem. The thing is hard enough to eat without making a mess, but god forbid the egg has gotten a tiny bit warm and the outer shell has softened. Then you're in for a sloppy mess with this awkwardly shaped candy whose liquid filling does nothing to support its shape. It falls apart into goo.
Kurt Wagner / Flickr
Speaking of the shell, its ingredients have recently gone through some changes. Cadbury Creme Eggs' shell used to be made of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate.
But Cadbury was bought by Kraft in 2010. Dun dun dun.
That was an ominous event. And the results are probably predictable. Five years later, they announced the change to a "standard chocolate mix." Which is corporate speak for, we're "cheaping out on the chocolate".
People were not happy about that. They even started a petition to go back to the old recipe.
But the liquid filling is the thing that people seem to have the most problem with. It's liquid fondant, which ok yeah that sounds gross. Its consistency apparently leaves more than a little something to be desired to most people.
Here are some of the comments on Cadbury Creme Eggs:
The chocolate is lower quality than it used to be. The whole thing feels cheapy. Maybe the next generation won't know the difference.
You either have to shove the whole thing in your mouth (hope you have giant mouth), or mess your self to the point of ridicule.
Just awkward to eat.
I used to get really excited for these when I was a kid. They either changed a lot, or I did. It's kind of sad how revolting they are to me now.
Classic Easter candy concept. But not the same as it used to be. And it wasn't ever that great.
You gotta get one, just because. But no one actually eats it.
Cadbury Creme Eggs aren't the only Easter candy made by Cadbury. They are the worst, but Cadbury also happen to make the best.
Which brings us to…
The 10 BEST Easter Candies
10. Hershey's Fun-Sized Candy Bars with Easter Wrappers
Your favorite Hershey candy bars in miniature form with Easter wrappers. Why make things complicated? These are beloved at all times of year. Throw some bunnies on the wrappers and call it a day, people.
9. Skittles-Filled Easter Eggs
Skittles Easter eggs combine the fun and re-sealability of candy in a plastic Easter egg, with the desirability of not being generic jelly beans. Skittles are a very popular candy overall. They finished as the #1 overall top Halloween candy last year.
8. Kinder Joy Eggs Candy. Down from #7 last year.
Kinder Eggs haven't been in the Easter candy lexicon very long, but they made a huge splash the last couple of years. Kinder Joy Eggs only recently became available in the US, but they are a candy giant in Europe and the rest of the world. They fell a spot this year, perhaps the novelty is slightly wearing off?
Who doesn't love a surprise toy inside of anything? And when that thing is yummy chocolate-y wafer balls floating in creamy candy goodness, it's a win win.
7. Mallow Top Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (Was #5)
How can you make Reese's cups any better? You put a marshmallow top on them. Boom, genius. These new-comers have moved up the board quickly and share the top 5 with another very similar brethren. Will they eventually cannibalize each other?
6. Foil-Wrapped Chocolate Eggs. Down from #4 last year.
Foil-wrapped chocolates made a nice jump up this year, dropping out of the top 5 at #6.
These might be my number one top favorite. I love the foil wrapped chocolates, especially when they have some candy crunchies inside. The cookies and creme variety are extra points.
Quick little hit of crunchy chocolate and I'm on to the next piece of candy in my Easter basket. The only drawback is they can be messy if they are eaten warm.
5. Robins Eggs from Whoppers. Up from #8 last year.
Robins Eggs are little Whoppers malt balls shaped like eggs and covered with a crispy candy shell. They are down a spot this year, but still a long time favorite Easter candy.
The shells are colored with speckles to look like little robin eggs, except that robins' eggs don't typically come in yellow and coral colors, so far as I know. These are crunchy and satisfying. You can put them inside a plastic Easter egg for a nice surprise or sprinkle them into the Easter basket individually. Very nice.
4. Chocolate Bunnies (Hollow). Down from #2 last year.
Here is the quintessential Easter candy. The chocolate bunny. Tale as old as time, well at least the 19th century.
The story goes that there was a German goddess named Ostara, who was the goddess of spring and fertility. Her name is thought by some to be the origin for the very word Easter. In German, the word for Easter is Ostern.
Anyway, there is a myth about her turning a bird into a bunny to save it, so there you have the Easter Bunny. That was hundreds of years ago. Chocolate bunnies are slightly more recent. You can find molds for chocolate bunnies in Germany that go back to the 1890s. They were also being made around that time by some Pennsylvania Dutch, one in particular named Robert L. Strohecker.
It's fun, it's big, it's festive, and it better be hollow. Hollow chocolate bunnies are all the fun without any of the hard work or guilt involved with trying to eat a solid chocolate bunny.
Gotta have a chocolate bunny!
Classic must-have. But the solid ones are too much. Need a nice balance of a hollow one whose shell is not too thin.
My brother used to go around and eat the ears off of all our bunnies. We're not in touch anymore.
3. Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are an absolute juggernaut in the candy world. These are like those, except shaped like an egg. Yeah, that’s about it. Pretty awesome.
Reese’s Cups are legends. They can do no wrong.
Peanut butter and chocolate, what could be better. Super sized egg? Love it.
Reese’s could make it in the shape of evil incarnate and I’d eat it.
2. Jelly Beans (Gourmet / Naturally-Flavored). Up from #6 last year.
Jelly beans jumped up big time, from #6 last year.
They did really well when they distinguished themselves as being gourmet or made with natural flavorings. Basically, any fancy jelly beans work well.
You can tell the difference usually by the size. Nice jelly beans tend to be on the smaller side. The flavor difference is gigantic though. The vibrant flavors that come out of naturally flavored, or gourmet jelly beans, like Jelly Belly are great.
1. Cadbury Mini Eggs. Wins yet again.
Simply glorious. Yes, it is boring they win every year, but you can't fight physics.
They may not have the history of chocolate bunnies, but Cadbury Mini Eggs are hugely popular. They were far and away the most popular Easter candy in our study. There is just something about these little eggs that is irresistible.
Is it the softness of the outer shell to the touch? Maybe it's the way the shell holds strong to the bite for a moment and then gives way to a soft and yummy chocolate center with a satisfying crunch. The flavor of the shell and chocolate combined has a specialness to it that I can't quite put my finger on. Why is it so darn good?! It just is. Really good.
They are infinitely better than their Creme Egg brethren. And they have their own cute commercial too.
As amazing as they are, they are not without some controversy. A few years ago, Cadbury altered its packaging, and the word "Easter" was no longer on the front of the bag. Some people were outraged, and accused Cadbury of deliberately downplaying the relgious aspect of the holiday.
Cadbury defended itself by saying the move wasn't intentional and that "Chocolate eggs [are] synonymous with Easter ...and the association is now an automatic one."
Whatever you think of that, it's hard to deny that Cadbury Mini Eggs are delicious.
Cadbury Mini Eggs. Next.
Cadbury mini eggs have a certain flavor that is addictive. The FDA might wanna look into this. But I gorge on this stuff.
Classic mini eggs. So yum.
I can't explain why I love these so much. I just love them. Love them.
There you have it folks. Just like previous years, Cadbury continues to make both the #1 Best and the #1 Worst Easter candy. And jelly beans continue to contribute to the socio-economic divide.
Whatever your thoughts about Easter candy are, they likely include thinking about Cadbury's brand. Winner of Easter: Cadbury.
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