Longhorns,
How awesome is it that Halloween falls on a Friday night this year? Whether you are going downtown, staying inside watching the best horror films on Netflix or going trick-or-treating with your loved ones, you can bet that this Halloween is going to be a great one.
And in celebration of this Dentist-damning holiday, we at Housing Scout have decided to pay homage to the most precious real estate on October 31st: the space inside your Trick-or-Treat bag.
Here is my selection for the 5 Best Halloween Candies. Because—as we all know—all candy is not created equal. And none of us want to suffer through a Bit-o-Honey.
1. Snickers
If you don’t like Snickers, then I’m not even mad—I just feel legitimately bad for you. You have somehow found a way to make an unenjoyable experience out of chocolate, nougat, caramel, and peanuts—the most enjoyable food combination ever created. I don’t even know what to say to someone who doesn’t like Snicker’s other than, “What is wrong with you?”
Snickers is the Gold standard of candy bars. It has been in production by Mars, Inc. since 1930 when they developed a new chocolate bar named after the favorite horse of the Mars family. It has since gone on to become King Candybar. Candybarus Rex, in the original Latin. (Trust me, I was a Classics minor.)
This masterpiece candy bar is perhaps only better when served in the form of an ice cream bar. But for the sake of trick-or-treating, I advise you to stick to the non-ice cream version.
2. Kit Kat
Coming in a close second is the Kit Kat: everybody’s favorite chocolate-covered wafer candy. (I was careful not to call it a candy bar.) The Kit Kat is great for two reasons: 1. it tastes heavenly, and 2. it allows a unique opportunity to share with others because of its composition.
I like to think of Kit Kats as the friendliest Halloween candy. You will routinely see kids break off 25% (or more!) of their Kit Kat and share it with friends. That is often not the case with the other candies on this list.
Kit Kat, you always know how to bring out the best in all of us. And for that reason, you make the cut.
Fun fact about Kit Kat: the candy is produced globally by Nestlé, with the exception of the United States, where it is under license by The Hershey Company. So if you go overseas, the Kit Kats will taste slightly different.
3. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Coming in at third place is everybody’s favorite Chocolate-Peanut butter confection: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Back in elementary school, these bad boys were a hot commodity during the November 1st candy trade between the neighborhood kids. There is just something about a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup that just brings a smile to the face.
Candies have been mixing peanuts and chocolate for years, but it wasn’t until H.B. Reese’s 1928 invention of the Reese’s Cup that the peanut butter-chocolate combination would be perfected. The recipe has stayed the same for nearly 90 years, so you can bet it’s a winner.
4. Swedish Fish
For the sake of mixing things up—and because these Scandinavian gummies are so damn tasty—I have decided to add Swedish Fish to the list of 5 Best Halloween Candy. (This will be the only non-chocolate inclusion on the list.)
I’m not quite sure what it is about these things that makes them so amazing. Maybe it’s the fact that they remain ‘Fat-Free’ while still retaining their delicious flavor. C’mon Swedish Fish—140 calories? It’s nothing short of witchcraft.
It’s safe to say that if Swedish Fish had been a woman in the late 1600s, it would have been burned at the stake.
Fun fact: The kind of gummy material that Swedish Fish are made of is called ‘wine gum.’
5. M&Ms
M&Ms came to the United States thanks to Forrest Mars, Sr., the son of Mars, Inc. founder Frank C. Mars. The younger Mars was in Spain in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War, where he noticed soldiers eating on chocolate-covered pellets named “Smarties.” (No, not those smarties. These smarties are like big M&Ms. )
By 1941, Mars, Inc. was producing the new and popular M&Ms. The name for ‘M&Ms’ is derived from the names of Forrest E. Mars, Sr. and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey President William F.R. Murrie, who held a 20% share in the product.
What else can be said about M&Ms? They taste delicious when left in the freezer for a few hours. Also, they have changed colors through the years. The only colors to have survived since 1941 are Brown, Yellow, and Green. (The Blue ones are the most recent addition.)
There you have it, y’all! My selection for the 5 Best Halloween Candy.
Remember to save up all your Bit-o-Honeys, Tootsie Rolls, Dots, and Smarties. If you ask really nicely, maybe someone will trade you a good piece of candy. But don’t count on it.
Happy Halloween, y’all!
