What is the best candy bar of all time?

That is the question we’ve been wrestling with since we first started selling candy bars back in 2000.

Over the last 22 years, we’ve gotten our hands on a lot (we’re talking thousands) of different candy bars. From classic ones to fancy, foreign to filled, best believe our taste buds have tried it all if the name had “candy bar” in the description.

And while each one of us has differing opinions on which one ranks at the top, we knew that the people of candy nation needed to know what we think is the best candy bar of all time.

So we did some serious contemplating, talking, and eating—here’s what we came up with…

OldTimeCandy’s 20 Best Candy Bars of All Time

20. Charleston Chew

Who would’ve thought that there would be a candy bar named after a famous dance, but in 1925, everyone was doing the Charleston. Today, everyone is still eating the sweet treat that takes chocolate and nougat and mixes it with flavors like banana, chocolate, and strawberry to give candy lovers a taste of childhood.

19. Whatchamacallit

This candy bar was one of those marketing moves back in the day when you’d jam a bunch of half words together to create a new word that people used in everyday life. The result—Hershey’s 1978 project the Whatchamacallit. A combination of peanut butter and caramel, it’s a candy bar that delivers a different mouth feel than most with crisp air pockets of PB inside the chocolate. 

18. Abba Zabba

This candy bar is known for its bold wrapper and even bolder taste. Mixing the texture of taffy with a peanut butter center, it's a taste bud thriller that will have you sounding like a dog with PB stuck on its tongue and enjoy every second of it. 

17. Milky Way 

Like its close friend, Snickers, the Milky Way Candy bar has similar confectionery characteristics that give it a unique and memorable flavor. The only difference is that it eliminates the peanut variable and doubles down on the caramel and nougat, resulting in a rich taste that is tough to beat when your cravings come calling.

16. 100 Grand

The 100 Grand Bar is like a distant cousin to the Nestle Crunch. Packed with the same puffed rice and chocolate coating, the difference in this candy bar is the overwhelming amount of caramel crammed in between all the crevasses. Topping out the mouthfeel and flavor charts, this thing is most definitely an iconic candy bar that we’ve all gotten once or twice in our Halloween haul and eaten with ferocity.

15. Clark

Clark bars will always hold a special place in our hearts. Not only is it a deeply nostalgic candy bar that has been around for decades, but it also made one of the biggest comebacks in confectionery history. At one point, Clark declared bankruptcy and no longer made their chocolate and peanut butter bar. But with the love of candy fans around the world, they reopened their doors in February 2020 and have been selling like wildfire ever since! How can you deny that sweet of a comeback story?

14. Heath

There are a few different candy bars out there that like to flaunt the toffee, almond, chocolate mixture, but few deliver on taste like the Heath Bar does. What makes Heath unique is the toffee texture that goes perfectly with the milk chocolate casing that covers its edges. Throw it into your favorite ice cream and give it a few crunches of the spoon and you got yourself the best late-night movie dessert.

13. Toblerone

Toblerone takes a chocolate candy bar and makes it classy How? It’s simple actually—just ignore all confectionery traditions and make mountains of chocolatey goodness that are filled with honey and nougat. We like to consider this candy bar one set aside for special occasions when you really want to treat your taste buds to something they don’t get too often.

12. 3 Musketeers

Who doesn’t love a little bit of whipped mousse inside their chocolate bar? That’s right, nobody! The 3 Musketeers is one of those candy bars you forget about until you’re standing at the checkout counter of your pharmacy and remember how good it tasted when mom would pack one in your school lunch—and that nostalgia is worth every single bite.

11. Crunch

Another trendsetter in the candy bar industry, the Nestle Crunch Bar was developed out of a desire for more texture in every bite of chocolate. When a factory worker shared his new combination of puffed rice and inside hardened chocolate, it was immediate that this had to become a candy bar that everyone needed to get their hands on. To this day, the Nestle Crunch is a top-selling candy bar and cultural icon of childhood sweetness.

10. Almond Joy

Almond Joy is the top dog when it comes to candy bars with coconut. Sure, the Mounds is right up there with it, but there’s just something about the milk chocolate and almond inside that take the Almond Joy to another level. Not to mention the fact that you can eat about 7 before you feel like you’ve overdone yourself which is quite a bit more than other candy bars out there. 

9. Baby Ruth

Bursting with peanuts, nougat, and caramel, the Baby Ruth is another classic candy bar that has been around for decades. Even though most like to believe that it’s named after the famous New York slugger, Babe Ruth, it was actually named after famous President Grover Cleveland’s daughter. Nonetheless, the name has been a household staple forever and continues to deliver on its famous flavor in every bite.

8. PayDay

Back during the Great Depression, this candy bar was marketed as a “meal replacement” due to the dense peanut layer that coats the outside of the confection. Though it might not be seen as the same “nutritional powerhouse” that it once was, best believe it still packs a powerful peanuty punch that people love. Not to mention it goes perfectly with a fresh paycheck from work. 

7. Kit Kat

This is another secret sweet sleeper. KitKats have found their own category of candy bar to play in and best believe they dominate. Whether it be the classic milk chocolate and wafer mix, or one of their seasonal flavors like white chocolate and pumpkin, they know how to please the members of candy nation. Did I forget to mention that in Japan, they’ve done over 300 different flavors of KitKat? Crazy, right!?

6. Mr. Goodbar

This list wouldn’t exist without Mr. Goodbar. A classic confection courtesy of Hershey’s, Mr. Goodbar was not the first chocolate bar to have peanuts in it. Matter of fact, Milton Hershey didn’t originally want peanuts associated with the Hershey name. Luckily he came to his senses and delivered this treat in 1925 and the world has never been the same. Thank you Milton!

5. Take 5 

Reese’s knew it had to get into the candy bar game somehow. Though the Fast Break was their first bar to market in 2001, it was the Take 5 that took the candy world by storm in 2004. Not only did they find a way to take the classic Reese’s flavor we all loved and put it inside a candy bar, but they also added pretzels! Talk about innovation at its sweetest.

4. Butterfinger

There are tons of different peanut butter and chocolate candy bars out there, but the Butterfinger stands all alone in its own category. Why? Hear us out—most of the other PB combinations take a softer approach, opting to blend it smoothly with the chocolate. Butterfinger does the opposite, adding layer upon layer of PB creating a baklava texture that can’t be beaten by other candy bars.

3. Twix 

We don’t care whether you’re on team Left or Right, everyone can agree that Twix is a top-tier candy bar. Between the caramel layer that lies just underneath the silky milk chocolate and the shortbread biscuit that holds it all together, it’s hard to beat the crunch and creamy combination Twix delivers. Plus, have you ever thought about stirring one into your coffee? Trust me when I say it can change your life.

2. Snickers

Snickers had to be on this list for a few reasons. First, it capitalized on the popular combination of peanuts, caramel, and nougat and formed it into a delectable chocolate-covered treat. Second, its slogan might be one of the best food slogans of all time. Third, when put in the freezer, this candy bar becomes a completely new treat that stimulates the taste buds. 

1. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate

Let’s all take a moment to acknowledge what should be considered the king of all candy bars—the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar. Developed by the confectionery legend himself, the Hershey Milk Chocolate bar was the first mass-produced chocolate candy bar in the United States. Without its creation, we might still be here today stuck snacking on very mediocre sweets wondering what could be. Instead, this candy bar changed the chocolate industry forever!

So begs the question, what's your favorite candy bar of all time?

There you have it, the 20 best candy bars of all time—or at least that’s how we felt about it when we wrote this article. 

While you might not agree on which candy bars fall where on this list, one thing we can all agree upon is that candy bars are the best sweet treat in the world and that we can all use more of them in our life.

If you agree with that sentiment, let me encourage you to venture down the digital aisles of this candy bar collection, find your favorite, and get them sent directly to your front door so you can enjoy the taste of childhood.