In Search Of The Best Frankenstein'd Candy Combos

The surprising combo of candy corn and peanuts took our sugar-addled brains to some strange places. What further Halloween candy mashups could we conceive of that would ultimately be greater than the sum of their parts? We spent an afternoon putting our tongues and stomachs to the test to help readers make the most of that pillow sack full of candy, especially the last-to-be-eaten remnants that might otherwise get trashed.

Maybe the only thing that scratches your nostalgic, childhood taste memory more than Halloween candy is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So this combination of peanut butter with fruit should've been a hit. But the thing that struck both us right away was how eerily similar the two candies look to each other. If you're looking to offer more of a trick than a treat this Halloween, combine these two in a big bowl and watch people react.

Alas, the concoction just didn't work. The Skittles' flavor overpowered everything such that neither of us could even taste the chocolate. In very small moments when you could actually grasp the peanut butter note, the combination was reminiscent of a very sweet PB&J.

Eric: "It's close to working but the Skittles are too sugary."

David: "There's a world where this works, and it's a beautiful one, but it is not here."

3 Musketeers is the safe candy bar. It's light and fluffy and inoffensive. Junior Mints feel more like a palate cleanser than a treat. So the two of these seem like they were meant for each other—and they are.

There's no texture problem at all here, as the two pair perfectly when it comes to mouthfeel. It felt like a DIY Peppermint Patty where the only negative is the mint flavor lingers for quite some time.

Eric: "The only thing keeping it from perfection is that the mint flavor is strong."

David: "It made me interested in eating a 3 Musketeers, which is a candy bar that's never on my radar."

Okay, so this one was more about making a fun pun than anything else. But both of these treats are caramel-heavy and we wondered: "Can there ever be too much caramel?" The answer is a resounding yes.

We both forgot how chewy Milk Duds are—you really have to put some chomping effort into those suckers. And all that works is mostly for naught here, because all you taste is caramel. That's it.

Eric: "It's not bad but it's nothing exciting. Just a bunch of caramel."

David: "I thought I was choking at one point."

A chocolate-covered cherry is one of life's greatest candy treasure, and this mash-up was our attempt at recreating one. However, like Frankenstein's monster, this shouldn't be released upon the world.

Truthfully, it's horrible. The two textures don't go together at all, and it's somehow crunchy and rubbery at the same time. We didn't realize how strong of a cherry flavor Twizzlers have, which combine with the M&Ms to taste like a kid's cough medicine past its expiration.

Eric: "Do not eat this unless you want to hurt yourself."

David: "Bad. Just... bad."

There's always that one house—the one that gives away raisins. So we thought we'd try and prevent them from being that treat left at the bottom of the bag by combining raisins with their more popular fruit-like friends, Mike and Ike.

We were both surprised how well the textures worked together. The Mike and Ikes weren't as crunchy as we thought they'd be, and the raisins were like an already chewed Mike and Ike. Also, the raisin flavor was pretty strong and helped cut through the artificial flavor of fruit, so our recommendation would be a higher raisin-to-candy ratio when combining.

Eric: "Not bad. It's like a fruit snack that wants to be healthy but it's all sugar."

David: "I don't want this to work, but it does."

Whoppers can be a polarizing treat. That malt flavor isn't as popular as it was decades ago, so we thought combining it with the coconut flavor of a Mounds would allow us to replicate a classic slice of Coconut Cream Pie.

What we really did was replace the almond in an Almond Joy with a Whopper. It's essentially just a crunchy Mounds, but it's not bad. We were both surprised that the Whoppers weren't as hard to bite into as we thought they'd be. Our attempt at taming that malt flavor was a success, unfortunately, it's due to a super-powerful coconut flavor.

Eric: "The coconut flavor is too strong."

David: "The two are perfectly sized for a great pairing."

We wanted to try our own take on the peanuts-and-candy-corn combo... but we failed. The tiny, waxy kernels of candy corn combined with the chocolate-covered, crumbly wafer was much like The Ring 2—it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Honestly, this was a horror show. It tasted like a KitKat that had gone bad. The textures were all over the place: mushy, crunchy, waxy, perpetually stuck in your bak molars. And no single good flavor ever stood out, leaving us gumming a waxy ball that just wouldn't end.

Eric: "Kill it! Kill it with fire!"

David: "I'd rather each actual ants on a log."

These two treats are meant to inflict as much pain as they do joy. So would these two heavy-hitters combined make a "Watch the Throne"-like hit, or a "Lulu"-like dud?

Surprisingly, it's the former. These two candies both amp each other up as the sting of the Red Hots combines with the tartness of the Sour Patch. It's over-the-top, but the two blend rather than clash, and the Red Hots contribute a nice crunch to the gummy Sour Patch Kids. (Note: it did feel like we were developing canker sores while eating this.)

Eric: "Know you're going to get an extreme flavor and you'll be prepared."

David: "You can only eat this one and then your mouth is fucked for the rest of the night. So, if you want to curtail your candy intake, eat this combo."

There you go—new monster candy mash-ups for you to try this Halloween once you reach the bottom of the treat bucket. Any others we should give a go? (Just please no more Ants on a Log.) Let us know in the comments.