What Are the Favorite and Least Favorite Halloween Candy Treats?

Did your trick or treat candy pick make the list?

Halloween trick or treaters know the drill. Kids ring doorbells, and folks give them candy. That's easy enough. Then the most polite youngsters call out their thanks, usually hollering out their gratitude while high-tailing it to the next house.

Occasionally, however, a Halloween host will be lucky enough to hear something like this:

"Ooh! That's my favorite candy bar! Thanks!"

Once in a while, a particularly candid costumed kid will say, "Eew. I hate these!"

In the end, however, trick or treaters will likely gather someplace to dump their free sugar-laden loot out and sort out the goodies. Most will try to swap the stuff they don't like with a younger brother or sister or an unwitting friend.

"Hey, I'll give you three Bit o' Honey bars for both your bags of Gummi Bears," one might say.

"Toss in two Tootsie Pops, and you've got a deal," the other may respond. Hey, little kids are smarter than older kids suspect.

What's your most favorite Halloween candy of all?

Which sweet surprise do you stockpile before trick or treating even starts?

Curious about Halloween candy, I conducted a survey to find out which picks are the most popular for grownups.

What were the top candy choices?

Nearly one in five adults surveyed said they preferred Reese's Peanut Butter Cups than any other trick or treat handout. Next came candy corn with about 10 percent choosing the super-sweet kernels. Three candies ties for third place: Baby Ruth, Butterfingers, and Snickers.

Additional favorite Halloween trick or treat candies included 3 Musketeers, Airheads, Almond Joy, Good & Plenty, Gummi Bears, Hershey's (plain), Kit Kat, M&Ms, Mounds, Nestle Crunch, Payday, Skittles, Smarties, Sour Patch Kids, Twix, Whoppers, and York Peppermint Patties.

What? No Milk Duds?

Wow! Maybe a Halloween candy lover never outgrows that childish sweet tooth, after all.

What is your least favorite Halloween candy?

Intriguingly, trick or treat tastes vary. Some folks' least favorites seem to be others' top choices.

What Halloween candies do folks love to hate?

First among the worst were three trick or treat choices: Airheads, Almond Joy, and Good & Plenty. Each of these stuck to 10 percent of the votes.

Following in second place for the least favorite Halloween treats were bubblegum (any kind), candy corn, Nerds, and Sour Patch Kids. After these came 3 Musketeers, Mounds, Necco Wafers, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Additional least favorite trick or treat candy choices included Bit o' Honey, Chunky, Goobers, Jujubes, Raisinets, Tootsie Rolls, and Whoppers.

Will you buy your favorite Halloween candy or your least favorite?

How much Halloween candy should you buy?

Many Halloween hosts actually select candy they do not like. These purposeful purchases usually represent dieting strategies. Distasteful candy is simply less tempting to those who are counting calories on Halloween.

After trick or treating, such folks donate the unwanted surplus sweets, long before the Christmas candy canes come out for the holiday season.

Of course, some treat lovers beg to differ. "'Least favorite Halloween candy' is an oxymoronic phrase," one respondent wrote.

What kind of candy will you buy this year for Halloween trick or treaters?

More from Linda Ann:

10 Ways to Use Up Leftover Halloween Candy

Tips for Decorating Your Trick-or-Treat Sack

10 Tips for Preventing Halloween Weight Gain

(NOTE: Inclusion of items in this article does not necessarily imply endorsement.)