The sweetest time of the year is upon us – Halloween! And if you’re like me, I try my best not to bring Halloween candy into the house before October 30 because I know the bag(s) will somehow be ripped open (sometimes ever so slightly) to allow for someone to sneak a few (or all) pieces before the big day. And once the bag is open…well, the candy doesn’t last long.
Most of the year, I can easily resist candy, but around Halloween, I somehow feel nostalgic for my childhood and a little obligated to eat candy as a show of support for this spooky holiday. And this is most true for my favorite type of candy – peanut M&M’s. I eat peanut M&M’s on most holidays – Christmas, New Year’s, Easter – but that is especially true on Halloween. And I’m not alone.
According to Candystore.com, M&M’s are the second most popular Halloween candy in the nation, just behind Reese cups. Furthermore, the colorful chocolate gems are the top candy in North Carolina, Oregon and California. Although it would be totally fun to drive from state to state inquiring about (and sampling) each location’s favorite Halloween treat, Candystore.com has done all of the heavy lifting…in fact, over 15 years of heavy lifting! They used their many years of research to not only identify the top Halloween candy in the country, but also the top 3 candies in each state. Curious? Check out Candystore.com for yourself, and see the top candies in your state.
The group, which bases their findings on many years of candy sales insights, also found something even more astonishing – candy corn is making a comeback. That’s right, it landed the 8th spot on the top 10 list of Most Popular Halloween Candies nationwide. Candy corn, seriously? Must be a TikTok thing.
For years, candy corn was the orange-headed step child in my family. Growing up in Michigan in a family with 5 children, I can still recall coming back after a long night of trick or treating with my siblings and flopping down at the kitchen table to assess our candy haul, which was easily 2-3 times larger than any other family we knew. The first thing we’d do was push aside all of the unwanted candy…and, most certainly, at the top and bottom of that pile was candy corn. We’d also get ready for the Big Candy Swap where we’d trade our sticky wares for hours, using bargaining techniques like “I’ll give you two mini butterfingers for the full pack of M&M’s…and I’ll take out the garbage”. We’d do anything to rack and stack (and hide) as many of your favorites as we could before mom would put all of the candy behind a locked door only to have most of it grow old and stale before we could finish it.
Ironically, this year, Candystore.com identified candy corn as the second most popular Halloween candy in Michigan. Even if that’s true, I can guarantee there’s still a pile of candy corn tucked away somewhere in my parents’ house collecting dust….and waiting for its big break on TikTok.
Want to find your state’s most popular Halloween candy? Check out this cool interactive map.
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Jennifer
