Christmas is only a few weeks away, and while I can’t help you out with any wishes for convertibles, yachts or platinum mines, I do have the biggest roundup in Snackology history ready to guide your sleigh through the seasonal candy aisles at your favorite stores.
Before you brave the winter weather and increasingly frantic crowds at the grocery store or Target, here are EIGHTEEN items that you should have on your radar. Some of them are new products for 2025, while others are returning classics.
I’ve been working on this round since October, picking up Christmas candy whenever something cool or new caught my attention, covering the range of seasonal candy from chocolate to gummies.
But, Bill, where are the candy canes? you might ask. Candy canes are candy canes. Just buy the traditional peppermint flavor, and don’t make the mistake of giving your toddler a Froot Loops candy cane like I did last Christmas. Those things are pure coloring, which is gonna get everywhere.
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My thoughts: Yes, these are normal Milk Chocolate M&M’s. You got me. Mars didn’t release a new flavor of M&M’s for Christmastime this year — in past years we’ve gotten varieties like the pretzel-filled Snowball and Toasty Vanilla — so I was limited to flavors like the Mint M&M’s that pop up every winter (always good) and the cosmetic updates like M&M’s in red and green. I went with the Winter Blend’s shades of blue and white. If these M&M’s somehow last beyond Christmas, we’ll still have a candy bowl with seasonal vibes.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Reese’s Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Nutcrackers
What it costs: $5.29 at Target
My thoughts: I skipped including the tiny Reese’s skeletons in my Halloween candy roundup, which was a mistake. Unlike miniature Reese’s Cups (which, you might notice, are not in this Christmas roundup), tiny Reese’s shapes like the skeletons or these nutcrackers deliver a great peanut butter-to-chocolate, a solid bite and no annoying paper wrapping that gets stuck in your candy.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Reese’s Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Snowman
What it costs: $5.49 at Target
My thoughts: If I was giving out snack scores based on which Christmas candy I wanted to be my friend, the giant Reese’s Snowman would get a perfect score. I mean, look at this guy. He’s adorable.
But he’s also a lot of candy. What am I supposed to do here, take bites and then rewrap the snowman? Stick with those tiny Reese’s nutcrackers instead.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Hershey’s Peppermint Bark Bells
What it costs: $5.29 at Target
My thoughts: I’m a massive fan of the Hershey’s Peppermint Bark Bells. I wish they were all year long instead of just making an appearance in the seasonal aisles during Christmastime. There’s always a chance you might crack a tooth biting into one of these hunks of candy, but it’s worth it. Chocolate, peppermint, sprinkles — the Peppermint Bark Bells are the complete package.
I’ve noticed that these fellas are usually one of the first candies to disappear from the seasonal aisle during this time of year, so if you haven’t picked them up, make them a priority for the next time you head into a busy store before the holidays.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Snickers Trees
What it costs: $2.49 at Target
My thoughts: I love that Snickers has rolled out this format of the iconic candy bar for seasonal appearances. It feels like pretty much all of the major holidays are now covered when it comes to having a two-pack of perfectly proportioned Snickers morsels — trees for Christmas, pumpkins for Halloween, eggs for Easter. Are Snickers Turkeys on the horizon for 2026?
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Twix Snowmen
What it costs: $2.49 at Target
My thoughts: If Snickers gets an easy to devour treatment for the holidays, you can bet that Twix will also wind up in a similar format. These snowmen are adorable, and I will eat each and every single one that crosses my path.
The beauty of the Twix Snowmen and Snickers Trees is that they’re slightly flatter than the standard candy bar, which condensed all the elements that people love into a crunchier and more compact bite.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Twix Milk Chocolate Bark
What it costs: $4.99 at Wegmans
My thoughts: If you follow Snackology on Instagram (which you should!), you probably saw that I discovered Twix Milk Chocolate Bark during our initial Wegmans run while back in Rochester for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t originally planning on including it in this Christmas candy roundup, but then I bought a second bag.
And then I bought a third bag.
The third bag sealed the deal. I needed to make sure you all had Twix bark on your Christmas candy radar. It’s all the best parts of a Twix bar, melted down and squished up. There’s also M&M’s bark and Snickers bark, but the Twix version is by far the best of the trio.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Dunkin Box O’ Chocolates
What it costs: $4.49 at Target
My thoughts: Ah, the Dunkin Box O’ Chocolates. I tried to hunt this one down last Christmas, but I came up short, so I didn’t hesitate to toss it into my cart when I spotted it at Target. The 2025 version of the Box O’ Chocolates is supposed to include chocolates filled with Brownie Batter, Cookie Butter and Holiday Cake Batter.
The key word there is “should.”
My Dunkin Box O’ Chocolate was all Brownie Batter and Cookie Butter, with not a single Holiday Cake Batter chocolate in the mix. The Brownie Batter candy is fantastic and the Cookie Butter one is just OK. I guess trying the Holiday Cake Batter chocolate is on my 2026 wishlist ...
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
The Grinch becoming the official mascot of Christmas seems to have missed the point of Dr. Seuss’ classic story, but with each passing year, it feels like the green guy’s presence grows larger and larger. (Hey, check out my review of The Grinch Meal at McDonald’s!) Hershey’s is fully in the Grinch business, and I spotted three different Grinch-themed chocolate items during my, um, research for this roundup.
How the Grinch Stole Hershey’s Milk Chocolate
What it costs: $6.99 at Target
My thoughts: This is a Hershey’s chocolate bar. If you’re craving Hershey’s chocolate, it’ll hit the spot. (Fancier chocolates don’t seem to be partnering with The Grinch.) If you’re like me, this is the kind of chocolate you grew up with, and while I’m not above Hershey’s, I don’t know if I need a full bar of it.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
Hershey’s Kisses With Milk Chocolates with Grinch Foils
What it costs: $5.29 at Target
My thoughts: Kisses are more my serving size when it comes to Hershey’s chocolate. You can eat one. You can eat an entire bag. It’s your choice! The Grinch wrappers are a cute touch.
My thoughts: I joked about possibly breaking a tooth on the Peppermint Bark Bells, but please take my warning about the giant Grinch-themed Hershey’s Kisses are waiting to knock some teeth loose. This candy is rock solid, a near unbreakable hunk of chocolate.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Hershey’s Kisses Snickerdoodle Cookie Candy
What it costs: $4.99 at Target
My thoughts: If you caught my review of Wendy’s Snickerdoodle Frosty, you won’t be surprised that I went into this bag of Snickerdoodle Kisses with a huge amount of apprehension. But they weren’t bad? Better than that Frosty flavor, at least. The cookie bits in each white chocolate Kiss was a nice added texture.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Kit Kat Santas
What it costs: $5.29 at Target
My thoughts: I adore these fun Kit Kat shapes. The bunnies made my Easter candy roundup and the Draculas made the Halloween candy roundup. We’ve come full circle now, as I’m pretty sure the Santa shape is the one that launched this sub brand of Kit Kats last year.
I’m not sorry for always eating them head first.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Nerds Gummy Clusters Frosty
What it costs: $4.19 at Target
My thoughts: My favorite part of the holiday varieties of Nerds Gummy Clusters — besides the fact that they’re Nerds Gummy Clusters — is that there’s zero effort put into trying to explain what these flavors are supposed to be.
My thoughts: I’ve been on a huge Trolli kick ever since I reviewed the Mountain Dew flavored ones. If there’s a bag of Trolli gummy worms, I’ve tried them: Very Berry, Electric Crawlers, Fruit Punch, Sour Brite Squad. None of them compare to the classic bag of Brite Crawlers, though when it comes to the flavor mix and size/shapes.
I found the Sour Brite Squad — a variety with thicker gummies — to be off-putting, so I was worried about the bag of Trolli Sour Brite Abominable Snowmen that kicked off my purchasing of Christmas candy back in October. I wound up liking the flavors offered in this bag , with Blue Raspberry-Guava, Strawberry-Lime and Mango-Passionfruit all working fairly well, but the abominable snowman shape is still a lot to chew on.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Sour Patch Kids Santa & Elves
What it costs: $3.49 at Harris Teeter
My thoughts: That Trolli gummy worm kick that I mentioned evolved into an obsession with Sour Patch Kids. (My daughter enjoys these now too.) I bought a few bags of the classic mix and lemonade mix while we did the drive from Virginia to Rochester and back for Thanksgiving, and none of those flavors miss.
The red “Santa” is comically large, coming in what I believe is the “redberry” flavor that’s a staple of Sour Patch Kids, while the standard-sized green “elf” is lime. If you’re trying to balance your snacking between the Santas and the elves, make sure you dig to the bottom of your bag since the elves have a tendency to hide at the bottom.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)
• • •
Sour Patch Kids Coal
What it costs: $2.49 at Wegmans
My thoughts: Black raspberry might be too sour of a flavor, even for Sour Patch Kids. The coal shape is incredibly snackable, but without a secondary flavor to balance the black raspberry you might find yourself eating through a box of Sour Patch Kids Coal out of an obligation to finish them instead of pure enjoyment.
Snack score: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
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Snackology is written and produced by Bill Kuchman. Copyediting by Tim Kuchman.
The Omnicosm founder. Popculturology, Deep SNL Thoughts and Snackology writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
