The Best Christmas Candy and Christmas Chocolate for Stockings and Snacking

The best Christmas candy is more than just regular candy packaged in red or green foil. We’re looking for something more—something indulgent and, above all, festive. That can be anything from a snowman-shaped mint chocolate to an over-the-top truffle in a gift-ready box. Whatever form the candy takes, we just want it to feel like a rare holiday treat you only get to experience once a year.

Christmas candy—with all of its cooling peppermint, fancy chocolate, and toffee-centered treats—is underrated, and we should talk about its contributions more. Halloween and Easter are the tried and true candy holidays, but there’s a ton of Christmas chocolate and holiday candy that deserves to be put up on a pedestal and given a rousing round of applause. There’s a wealth of delicious Christmas candy out there waiting to be unwrapped, so we set out to find the best Christmas candy to buy this year, whether you’re looking for stocking stuffers or just want some holiday candies to stash in your desk. 

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Lindt Holiday Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Truffles

Best Snickerdoodle Flavor

Lindt Holiday Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Truffles

To me, Christmas candy is all about neatly unfurling a shiny, foil wrapper to unveil milky, creamy chocolate. And Lindt Lindor chocolates are top of the line—smooth, decadent, sweet, and buttery. The experience of eating a Lindor chocolate is next level. And while you’re probably familiar with Lindor’s chocolate and white chocolate, the snickerdoodle white chocolate truffles are extra cozy. The neatly spiced, rich, white chocolate just melts in your mouth like Christmas butter. We here at Sporked love snickerdoodle flavored things (see: Oreos)—if you do, too, these might just be the best Christmas chocolates to fuel your holiday sugar high. —Danny Palumbo

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Brach's Candy Cane Forest Mellowcreme Candy

Best “Christmas Corn”

Brach’s Candy Cane Forest Mellowcreme Candy

Brach’s candy corn on winter steroids? I’m all about it. This “candy cane forest” might be a little kitschy, but that’s part of its charm. Where else can you try a Frosted Sugar Cookie Narwhal (think candy corn meets edible cookie dough) or snack on Peppermint Candy Canes, Toasted Marshmallow Snowmen, and Maple Syrup Elf Hats? The peppermint candy canes are especially refreshing—perfect as a post-meal mint. For candy corn enthusiasts, this is hands down the best Christmas candy. —Ariana Losch

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

York Peppermint Pattie Snowflakes

Best Holiday Makeover

York Peppermint Pattie Snowflakes

These are the York Peppermint Patties you’re familiar with, but shaped like snowflakes. The shape doesn’t really add too much except for some pleasing Christmas aesthetic, but York Peppermint Patties deserve a place on this list of the best Christmas candy because they’re just so good at what they do—cool and delight with chocolate-mint flavor. Yorks have a chocolate candy shell that reminds me of an ice cream bar. Plus, the gooey, minty center is just divine. Cool, sugary, and chocolatey, York Peppermint Patties are a perfect Christmas peppermint candy. —Danny Palumbo

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Toasty Holiday Peanut M&M’s

Best White Chocolate

Toasty Holiday Peanut M&M’s

Last year, we had the memorable and delicious M&M’s Toasty Vanilla seasonal flavor—a hard legacy to live up to, if we do say so ourselves. Luckily, these Toasty Holiday Peanut M&M’s are an instant classic in their own right. They have a subtle maple quality to them that we’ve never tasted from M&M’s before, but would sure like to see again in a permanent flavor. The crunchy shell, rich peanut, and hint of toasty sweetness make these a festive and comforting treat. They’re the kind of Christmas candy you’ll want to snack on by the fire—or hoard in your pantry during the months when they’re out of stock. —Ariana Losch

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Cadbury Mini Snow Balls

Best Pure Chocolate

Cadbury Mini Snow Balls

If you like Cadbury Robin Eggs, then you’ll love these Christmas chocolates—because they’re essentially the same, just rounder and colored red, green, and white. The candy coating is super crunchy. The chocolate inside is very creamy and has that distinct Cadbury flavor that’s just a touch fruity. If you put a bowlful of these Christmas chocolates out at a party, people would be thrilled. At least, I certainly would be thrilled. And I am invited to your party, right? —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Trader Joe’s Belgian Truffle Gift Box

Best Under-the-Tree Gift

Trader Joe’s Belgian Truffle Gift Box

Look, I’m not trying to favor Trader Joe’s too hard in this ranking of the best Christmas candy, but I can’t help it if TJ’s feels like front for Santa’s entrepreneurial candy-making elves in December. They’ve got cute Christmas confections bursting out of the aisles, and this set of Belgian Truffle Chocolates still manages to stand out. It comes in a classy, sparkly, evergreen gift box and offers eight interestingly shaped chocolate pieces. (One is a big cocoa bean carved from dark chocolate ganache.) It’s one of the best chocolate gifts for Christmas if you adore hazelnut, too, since half of them incorporate hazelnut in some way. If your present stack is looking a little slim, go grab this, stat. (The elves thank you for your business.) —Ariana Losch

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Snowmen

Best Shaped Candy

Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Snowmen

What I like about Ghirardelli’s Peppermint Bark Snowmen is that they’re minty without being overwhelmingly so. If you think York Peppermint Patties and Andes chocolates have too much of a toothpaste flavor, I promise you’ll like these. Smoothness is the prevailing theme here. These are delicious and rich and beg to be lovingly savored. Plus, they’re shaped like little snowmen. Snowmen! You know we had to include them on this list of the best Christmas candies. (That said, if you’re looking for the actual best peppermint bark, check out our ranking.) —Danny Palumbo

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels

Best for Gifting

Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels

These little Christmas chocolates come in a gift-ready box adorned with drawings of snowflakes and mistletoe—complete with a little to/from card. And they are good enough for gifting, for sure. Each box is filled with four square chocolates filled with gooey caramel and topped with sparkling granules of sea salt from the Dead Sea. The chocolate is thick and dark with an underlying coffee flavor. The caramel is gooey and rich. And the salt is crunchy. It’s a wonderful bite of Christmas chocolate that tastes like it costs far more than it does. —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc / Trader Joe’s

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Hershey’s Kisses Candy Cane

Best Hershey’s

Hershey’s Kisses Candy Cane

With their delicate wrapper, bell shape, melty chocolate, and bite-sized quality, Hershey’s Kisses are synonymous with the holiday season. For years now, they’ve been experimenting with different Hershey’s Kiss flavors for Christmas, and the one that’s really stuck is Candy Cane. Delicious, Hershey’s white chocolate and crunchy, sugary, and minty candy cane bits are a wonderful combination that’s too good to ignore. These melt in your mouth while providing some extra crunch. It’s all about the texture with these holiday candies. Hershey’s Kisses are pure Christmas, and these are the best of the bunch. — Danny Palumbo

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Trader Joe’s English Toffee Bites

Best Toffee

Trader Joe’s English Toffee Bites

Eating one of Trader Joe’s English toffee bites, my eyes lit up like I just tried hard drugs for the first time. These consist of a crunchy, buttery center enrobed in milk chocolate that’s been sprinkled with chopped nuts. There’s a lot of different flavors and textures going on here, but it doesn’t feel too convoluted. Everything works together to create a buttery, crunchy, rich, and nutty holiday candy. I like that it’s a little bite-sized snack, too—you can take the whole thing down in one bite for a rich sensory experience. It’s a perfect chocolate Christmas candy. Good job, TJ’s. — Danny Palumbo

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Williams Sonoma the Original Peppermint Bark

Best of the Best

Williams Sonoma the Original Peppermint Bark

Peppermint bark: it’s some of the best old fashioned Christmas candy you can have around for winter. It’s actually what I imagine grows in Santa’s enchanted North Pole—a common snack for elves, and a luxury for us. And boy oh boy, is Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark a luxury (no, not just because of the price). It’s the perfect crunchy thickness, with nicely sized peppermint candy on top and a richly balanced dark chocolate coating. Year after year, we absolutely adore retrying this beloved Christmas candy and solidifying it as one of our favorite holiday treats. It’s Sporked and Santa-approved.  —Ariana Losch

Credit: Merc / Williams Sonoma

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other products we tried: Sprouts Peppermint Puffs, Hershey’s Kisses Sugar Cookie, Hershey’s Kisses Mint with Stripes, Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolate Hugged by White Creme, Hershey’s Chocolate Santas, Reese’s Trees, Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark, Peeps Gingerbread Men, Trader Joe’s Festive Chocolate Collection,  Hershey’s Peppermint Bark Bells, Reese’s Holiday Lights, Hershey’s Kisses Hot Cocoa Milk Chocolate, Reese’s Shapes Assortment, Tate’s Cookie Bark, Sweet Tarts Candy Canes, Hershey’s Cordial Cherry, Crazy Candy Co. Holiday Hard Candies