Candy corn gets a lot of grief. Do I personally love it? No. But if you’re reading this ranking, I am going to assume you do. If you were of the opinion that candy corn is trash—waxy, overly sweet, only edible once a year and only if there’s nothing else sweet around—you probably wouldn’t care which candy corn is the best candy corn. Right? Right. This is a candy corn safe space. I tasted a bunch of candy corn for this taste test (because I love and respect you) and will now reveal the best tasting candy corn you can buy. Just don’t give it to trick-or-treaters unless you want to get egged.
- Favorite Day Candy Corn Crunch
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Favorite Day went and did something crazy with candy corn, and I gotta say, it’s just crazy enough to work. Their Candy Corn Crunch is a white chocolate bark that’s dotted with full pieces of candy corn and halved, roasted peanuts. White chocolate is extremely sweet. Candy corn is extremely sweet. I gotta say, I don’t think this would have worked without the peanuts, which have an almost savory flavor that tempers all that sugar. This feels like a snack an insane Midwestern aunt made and I like it. The candy corn kernels may not have been made by the best tasting candy corn brand (we’ll get to that in a sec), but this is the best candy corn creation.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Brach’s Fall Festival Candy Corn
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Every year, iconic candy corn brand Brach’s comes out with some novelty flavor assortments like Tailgate (complete with hot dog flavored candy corn) or Funfetti candy corn, and this season’s is pretty fun. The flavor lineup in the Fall Festival bag: kettle corn, caramel apple, cotton candy, lemonade, strawberry funnel cake, and lemon-lime snowcone. A lot of these don’t exactly scream fall (and having two citrus flavors is overkill), but you gotta love the meta nature of kettle corn-flavored candy corn, right? This is the best candy corn if you are a candy corn fan (which we’ve established you are) looking to mix things up a little.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Brach’s Classic Candy Corn
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Prior to this taste test, I’d definitely assumed that all candy corn came from a single candy corn factory somewhere in the Rustbelt (and potentially sometime in the 1930s) and was simply packaged by different brands. Nope. Brach’s is by far the best tasting candy corn brand. It has the correct texture. It has that interesting, almost buttery flavor that you remember from childhood. Brach’s also sells those little pumpkins made out of the same substance as candy corn, but they’re just too big. Brach’s candy corn is small and cute and even though it’s obnoxiously sweet, you can eat a lot of it because the kernels are just so satisfying. No big revelations here I suppose, but this is the best candy corn.
Credit: Merc / Target
Best Variation
Best Flavors
Best of the Best
Other products we tried: Brach’s Mallowcreme Pumpkins, Brach’s Autumn Mix, Jelly Belly Candy Corn, Zachary Candy Corn
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!