Best Valentines Day Candy We Found in a Taste Test

The best Valentine’s Day candy should feel special. You can literally eat any candy any day of the year, but the best candy for Valentine’s Day is giftable, shareable, and, most importantly, romantic. This should also go without saying (but tell that to the candy companies): Valentine’s Day candy should taste good. Sure, everyone loves a pretty pink confection, especially when we’re craving something festive during the least festive time of year, but way too many candy brands tend to go off script when V-Day rolls around, whether they’re wedging in berries where they’re not needed or taking “sweets for your sweet” way too literally. Believe me, I wanted to like Ghirardelli’s new creme brulee hearts, but, woof, they’re tooth-shatteringly sweet.  

Allow us to spare you the disappointment of bringing home crappy candy to gorge on while you watch romantic comedies on the couch or, worse yet, to share with someone you love. These are the seven best Valentine’s Day candies you’ll find on shelves this year. (Oh, and if you’re looking for the boxes of the best chocolate candy for Valentine’s Day, we have you covered there, too.)

Best Conversation Hearts

If you aren’t into Necco Wafers (I’m with you), you probably don’t particularly love the classic Sweethearts conversation hearts. But if you like SweeTARTS, you’re going to dig these new Starburst Conversation Hearts. They’re crunchy but they aren’t chalky, and they come in the two best Starburst flavors: cherry and strawberry. Plus, the corny little messages are stamped into the candy hearts rather than printed onto them, so you can actually read what they say for a change. This is the best Valentine’s Day candy to buy if you firmly believe that the holiday wouldn’t be complete without conversation hearts in the mix.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best White Chocolate

I’ve talked a lot of shit about strawberry-flavored Valentine’s Day candy in the past (for instance, those Strawberry Milkshake M&M’s that came out last year did not hit), but this bark from Aldi is so very tasty. It’s thin and snappy but absolutely melts in your mouth. It tastes like melted strawberry ice cream laced with little bits of dehydrated strawberry for crunch and tang. This is the best Valentine’s Day candy for people who’d pick strawberry ice cream over chocolate any day of the week.

Credit: Merc / Aldi

Rating:

6.5/10

Sporks

Most Adorable

If you’re a sucker for cute things, this is the best chocolate candy for Valentine’s Day. Look at these! They’re shaped and decorated to look like mini doughnuts and they taste good. They’re very truffle-like; the interior is very smooth, creamy, and melty, like it contains cocoa butter. And we liked the variety of flavors, too. My favorite was the one with the cinnamon-y sprinkle on top. 

Credit: Merc / Aldi

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Best Assortment

Normally I have a strong aversion to excessively wasteful plastic packaging, but this candy assortment is just so cute, and I can actually think of about a million things I’d like to store in the little plastic box (in fact, I had one just like this when I was a kid that I used to store my beads, thread, and other friendship bracelet-making accoutrements). Okay, okay enough about the box—the candy is good, too. There are mallowy Xs and Os, red and white gummy bears, and sugar coated hearts. The strawberry-banana hearts are my personal favorite (they made our list of the best Valentine’s Day candy last year when they were packaged independently of the other treats). If you’re buying Valentine’s Day goodies for a kid, I think they’d really dig this.

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Gummies

The gummies in this little jar are just so pleasing to eat. If you like peach rings but wish they didn’t have that fluffy mallow layer, you’ll like these. They have a firm chew that I and other people who are diehard Haribo fans definitely appreciate. I will warn that these have a very strong peach flavor. If that sounds bad to you, pick something else from this list. 

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Updated Classic

I did not expect to like these. First of all, they look like a horror movie. Seriously, with their gloopy red interior, Hershey’s should release them at Halloween and call them Vampire Kisses (oh wait, they do). Then there’s the fact that artificial strawberry flavor is frequently so bad. But, wow, these are good, and I’m not usually a Kisses fan (I can fux with some Hugs, though). The syrup center isn’t really syrupy—it’s luscious and creamy, almost like the inside of a Cadbury Creme Egg if it were strawberry flavored. Flavor-wise, these remind me of Cella’s chocolate covered cherries, one of my forever favorite chocolate candies. If you can’t resist taking a chance on a new Kiss, this is the best Valentine’s Day candy to toss in your cart.

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

If you’re indifferent to chocolate and Reese’s peanut butter is your favorite component in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, wow, are you gonna love the best Valentine’s Day candy we found in our taste test. Reese’s Pink Hearts have a sweet but otherwise neutral-tasting pink coating that really lets the peanut butter in these bad boys shine. There’s sooo much peanut butter and it’s so salty and delicious. I’ll admit that these look insane (turn one upside down and tell me it doesn’t look like a pair of dangly balls), but if your lover loves peanut butter, buy these. 

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other products we tried: Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, Ghirardelli Creme Brulee Hearts, Hershey’s Strawberry Creme Hearts, Hershey’s Cookies and Creme Hearts, Favorite Day Valentine’s Collection

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