Just Cook It: Candy favorites
Before I begin unveiling the top candies for this year, let’s do a quick recap of numbers 10 through six and then a quick recap of the Top Five Halloween Candies of 2013.
Once we are all on the same page, we will be ready for the big finish to this years list.
In last weeks column (which can be read at HeraldStandard.com just in case you missed it) I unveiled the back end of my Top 10 Halloween Candies of 2014 list.
It looked like this:
10. Milky Way Midnight Dark bar
9. Mallo Cup
8. Twizzlers
7. M&M’s
6. 3 Musketeer’s bar
The most significant candy on the above list in my opinion is the 3 Musketeer’s bar coming in at number six.
The reason it is significant is because on last year’s Top Five Halloween Candies of 2013 list the 3 Musketeer’s bar came in at number five.
That means that at least one change is guaranteed to take place in this year’s Top Five Halloween Candies list. There could potentially be more than just one change, or there might just be one — you’ll just have to continue reading to find out.
Last year I revealed my Top Five Halloween Candies of 2013. It was the first time I ranked candies on a list and was very satisfied with the way the final list turned out.
Many hours of tasting, researching, and debating with a panel of top-secret professionals goes into creating these lists.
It’s not just a random act, it is a labor of love and I sincerely hope you enjoy the final list for 2014.
Even if you don’t agree with all of the rankings, the beauty is in the constant debating and sharing of ideas and opinions. Feel free to discuss the final rankings with your friends and create your own list if you’d like.
The Top Five Halloween Candies of 2013 looked like this:
5. 3 Musketeer’s bar
4. Kit Kat bar
3. Snickers bar
2. Twix
1. Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin
Now that you know what the top five were last year and what the 10 through six candies were this year I am finally ready to unveil the Top Five Halloween Candies of 2014:
At number five we have a brand new candy to introduce on our list and it happens to be one of my personal favorites – Almond Joy! Now, if you don’t like coconut or almond then I’m sure you don’t agree with this candy at number five.
An Almond Joy consists of a coconut-based center topped with one or two almonds and then enrobed with a layer of milk chocolate. My grandmother and I both enjoy an Almond Joy and usually have one together every Saturday afternoon. Therefore they land at number five for Nanny.
At number four, feel free to once again “Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!” The Kit Kat is rock solid and entrenched in the top five.
Those crispy wafers coated in milk chocolate are simply too delicious to be bumped from the list, even if they do require a little extra work of breaking the individual sections apart before shoveling them in your mouth.
Number three is also a repeat from last year with the Snickers bar. Whether you get a “fun size” (I will forever argue that it isn’t actually fun to have a smaller candy bar) or a regular size the Snickers bar is simply delicious and classic.
Nougat topped with caramel and peanuts and then enrobed in delicious milk chocolate is just a hard combination to beat.
If you freeze a Snickers bar you can eat it that way and it is arguably more delicious than when it is eaten off the shelf. When you can enjoy a candy bar both at room temperature and/or frozen you know you have something pretty special.
Number two is, you guessed it, the Twix bar. I personally prefer the Right Twix to the Left Twix but I’ll obviously eat both of the bars in the package.
The Right Twix starts with a cookie bar that is then cascaded with caramel and cloaked in chocolate.
The Left Twix starts with a cookie bar and they flow caramel over the cookie before bathing it in chocolate. They are two distinctly different processes and you can read all about both at Twix.com.
Finally at number one, crowning our Top 10 Halloween Candies of 2014 list…and STILL the undisputed king of Halloween Candies, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin.
It’s rock solid and firmly planted in the number one spot. The fact that we only get to enjoy these perfect peanut butter and chocolate candies once per year makes them even more delicious every Halloween season.
While Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are available all throughout the year, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins are only available around Halloween and frankly just taste better. I honestly don’t have an explanation for “why” they’re better as they are advertised as the same with the shape being the only difference.
Advertise as they may, there is a distinct difference and they are just flat out better and I would even venture to use the word “perfect” as I did earlier in this paragraph.
I hope you enjoyed the Top 10 Halloween Candies of 2014 list. Let the debating begin and last until next year when a new list for Halloween 2015 will be revealed! Happy Halloween!
Mario Porreca of Belle Vernon is an entrepreneur, author, lifestyle strategist, and the host of Just Cook It Radio. He can be reached via his website at: www.MarioPorreca.com. Twitter: @MarioPorreca