The Most Popular Christmas Candies In America

Halloween may be the first holiday that comes to mind when thinking about candy, but Christmas is right up there when it comes to confection consumption. There are Santa chocolates wrapped snug in foil, candy canes used to stir a toasty cup of cocoa, chocolate kisses dropped into the cookie swap batch of peanut butter cookies and, of course, all the candy waiting on Christmas morning in stockings hung by the chimney.

But which candies are the most popular for the holidays? Online bulk retailer candystore.com tallied up what their customers were buying and checked in with candy manufacturers and distributors, to come up with a list of the most-sold Christmas candy in every state. From the staples to the surprises, here are the most popular Christmas candies in America.

Oh, candy canes. The versatile Christmas jack-of-all-trades that can adorn a tree, stir cocoa and satisfy a sweet tooth, all while looking festively white and red. Candy canes are the most popular Christmas candy in Colorado, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Maine, Oklahoma and Vermont. The daring may even opt for the craziest candy cane flavors around like ham and kale.

He appears only once a year in his trusty foil wrapper — he's chocolate Santa. There are two states where he takes first place as the most popular Christmas candy, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Six states like to keep it simple over the holidays with the classic Hershey's Kiss as their favorite candy: Arkansas, Nebraska, Montana, Ohio, Utah and Hawaii. Must be an abundance of mistletoe in those areas to account for all the extra kisses.

This candy may boast some iconic holiday commercials, but M&Ms are a favorite in only two states: Idaho and South Carolina. The tiny milk chocolate treats dress in a festive red and green for the season.

Peppermint bark has not one but two quintessential holiday flavors, chocolate and peppermint, and its double whammy is helping this treat climb the Christmas ranks. Peppermint bark picked up three new first-place slots in 2019, according to Candy Store's analysis. The eight states that go bonkers for bark are Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Despite holiday-themed dispensers including Santa, a Christmas tree, a reindeer and a snow globe, only two states favor the tiny Pez: New Mexico and Louisiana.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures claim the most states on this list with 12 different ones calling the candy their favorite. Maybe it's the nifty candy canes they come in during the holidays or possibly it's their stocking-friendly size, but Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Texas, North Dakota and New Jersey all love the treat.

First things first: Reindeer corn is a thing. Think candy corn, but in Christmas colors. While the original divisive yellow and orange version was created to look like a corn kernel, the holiday interpretation doesn't really resemble a reindeer, but is popular nonetheless. Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, Virginia, Rhode Island, Michigan and Georgia all love the tiny sugar rush.

The Snickers slogan is "You're not you when you're hungry." Since the holidays are filled with eating, eating and more eating, there may be no need for Snickers to swoop in to the rescue since only three states, New York, North Carolina and Florida, favor this treat on the holidays.

And, alas, Arkansas and Arkansas alone favors the lonely Starbust for Christmas. According to Candy Store's analysis, Starburst has three fewer first-place finishes in 2019 than the previous year. Unfortunately for the candy, "Pass the Starburst" is not one of the 20 things people only say around the holidays. 

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