The 12 Best Easter Candies of All Time

Americans spent over $2 billion on Easter candy last year, and with good reason. The stuff is amazing—who cares if it induces diabetes on the spot? Do you remember all of the hours you spent laboring over tie-dyed eggs as a kid? Of course you don’t. You were too busy spiking your blood sugar.

Unlike Halloween, you didn’t have to go from door to door begging strangers for candy. Instead, you were presented with a massive bouquet of confectionery gifts, the stuff a hyperactive child's dreams are made of. Or, if you actually wanted to work for your sugar, the Easter egg hunt allowed you to do just that.

Although years of consuming these treats may have led to unwanted trips to the dentist, we regret nothing, and we'll continue to indulge as long as we live.

In preparation for the molars we'll soon have to excavate, we present the 12 Best Easter Candies of All-Time.

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Maker: Russell Stover Candies

These snacks taste a lot better than they look. The shredded coconut covered in milk chocolate or butter bon appears to be something the Easter Bunny left behind. The three colorful jelly beans in the center of the nests were the only thing that saved these treats from looking like a fluorescent turd. That is, until Russell Stover Candies was hit by the recession, and ripped those lovely jelly beans out.

A coconut nest with no jelly bean eggs seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Easter will never be the same.

Maker: Nestlé

Veruca Salt wanted her geese to lay gold eggs for Easter, and we second that notion. Though we're still waiting on the oversized model we saw in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, for the moment, Nestlé is appeasing us with a mini chocolate-covered version of those coveted golden Eggs.

Back in '07, a Willy Wonka Golden Egg collection was released featuring four different types of golden egg candies. While we aren't complaining, we know Nestlé has those giant eggs somewhere, and we want them. We want them now!

Maker: Lindt

Lindt seems to get chocolate right all year round, but during Easter, they take it up a notch with their Chocolate carrots. A conical mass of gianduja (a combination of chocolate and hazelnut) formed around a cane for easy enjoyment, these cones of perfection are Easter done the grown up way.

We could forgo the plastic cane, as that space can be filled with more hazelnut chocolate, but that's just a suggestion, Lindt. We're not complaining.

Maker: Hershey's

Reese's seems to be the only widely available brand to do chocolate and peanut butter correctly, so we're grateful that they swap out cups for eggs in the spring. Even though Reese's doesn't go out of their way to jazz up their Easter rendition, we appreciate the effort. Something don't need frills.

Because they're seasonal items, once the holiday passes, the 75% off sales begin, and we stock up so heavily, we'll be eating Reese's for the low until summer rolls around.

Maker: Brach

Although it is the quintessential Halloween treat, getting the spotlight just once a year isn't enough for candy corn. With a color change from the orange, yellow, and white to a two-toned white and pastel pairing, the transformation to "bunny corn" is made.

Considering the fact the rabbits can't really eat corn, this idea may be a bit of a reach, but the trick works. Candy corn seems to taste better in the spring.

Maker: Hershey's

If Whoppers and M&M's could procreate, their progeny would be Robin Eggs. It's a shame these only make it onto store shelves once a year, because they are confectionery perfection. A malt-filled chocolate egg covered in a crunchy speckled pastel shell? Don't mind if we do.

Hershey's made mini-versions of these treats, but that was a waste of time on their part. We're still going to devour the whole bag in one sitting.

Maker: Every candy manufacturer

As the centerpiece of the most coveted Easter baskets, no Easter is complete without the chocolate bunny. We're always happy with the jelly beans and the many varieties of chocolate eggs, but the bunny—perched in the box, giving you a profile view of all its glory—was the pinnacle of Easter excellence. It was the one item you refused to share, because if you broke a piece off, shards of chocolate would fall into its hollow body.

But how excited were you when you bit the ear off of that bunny's chocolate form and discovered that it was a solid mass of heaven? You didn't find the most eggs during the hunt, but you got the ultimate prize. That was enough.

Maker: Russell Stover Candies

Russell Stover's has the holiday themed candy game on lock and they don't fail to come through for us every Easter. The mounds of marshmallow delicately draped in chocolate are a definite must-have item in every basket. They're like the abbreviated version of 'Smores—no mess, and sans the graham crackers. Your only options isn't just milk or dark chocolate, though. Russell Stover's gave us pink and chocolate marshmallow filling, cookie dough insides, and even eggs with white chocolate drizzle.

Upgrading a classic to give us more options? Slick move, Russell Stover.

Maker: Jelly Belly

Because beans and eggs are aesthetically similar, beans decided to demand in on the holiday shine. Jelly beans were introduced into the Easter candy mix in the 1930s. And while generic, medicinal tasting jelly beans inevitably found their way into those plastic eggs, the only ones that got our taste buds amped were those of the Jelly Belly variety. We weren't stopping until we tried every last flavor.

Didn't it make you furious when jelly beans were used as mere decorations? Loose jelly beans scattered into those shreds of paper grass in your basket? Now, why you gotta go and do that, Mom, huh?

Maker: Cadbury

How do you like your eggs? With a white and yellow fondant center surrounded by a thick, chocolate shell, please and thank you. The jingle tells us "Nobunny knows Easter better than Cadbury's," and the Cadbury creme egg is proof of that.

We may have been brainwashed to like these things, though. Those commercials back in the day definitely had some hidden subliminal messages. Why else would we love them so much?

Maker: Rodda Candy Company

One might think that these brightly-colored, animal-shaped confections would rank as the number one Easter candy of all time, but they're just a close second in our book. The yellow chicks are the OG's of the Peep game, but since they were first introduced sixty years ago, we've been blessed with an assortment of shapes, colors, and even some new flavors.

We don't appreciate the pumpkin-shaped peeps during the fall, though. Peeps at any time other than Easter seems borderline blasphemous.

Maker: Cadbury

Encapsulated in a crisp, crunchy candy coating is the smooth milk chocolate for which Cadbury is known. No Easter is complete without a bag of these in our basket, inside toy Easter eggs, in your back pocket, and in your hand—all at the same damn time.

One can never have too many Mini Eggs, as the pleasure received from their consumption is immeasurable. You did a great thing here, Cadbury; we can't thank you enough for the gifts to Easter candy game.