6 Types of Candy for Every Sweet Tooth

Chocolate is the heavyweight of candy. Milk chocolate gets its smoothness from added milk solids and cocoa butter, giving it a creamy milk chocolate texture and a milky, rich flavor. Dark chocolate skips the milk and leans into bitter, earthy notes.

Add a peanut or almond and you've got candy bars like Mr. Goodbar or Almond Joy.

Some chocolate candies mix textures: Think malted milk balls with their crunchy shell, or a chocolate bar with multiple layers of caramel and nougat, like Milky Way.

Others, like chocolate-covered raisins or chocolate coins, mix fruit or form into novelty shapes. Kit Kat bars add a wafer crunch, while milk chocolate candy remains a staple in every aisle.

If you're after a chewy texture, gummies deliver. Gummy bears, Swedish Fish, and Sour Patch Kids offer bounce and flavor, usually built on gelatin, sugar and corn syrup. Their chew is science: a balance of protein and sweeteners makes them elastic.

Chewing gum and salt water taffy sit in the same family. Taffy pulls air into the candy during the stretching process, which lightens it up while keeping it chewy.

Look out for fruity flavors like strawberry cream, orange, and pink lemonade. These are sweet treats for folks who like to stretch their snacks.

Hard candies come from sugar cooked to a high temperature, then cooled quickly. That locks the molecules in place, giving it that signature snap.

Rock candy grows from sugar crystals over time, while candy canes and stick candy twist molten sugar into festive shapes.

Jolly Ranchers and lollipops are other classics here, packing intense flavor into each small, rounded shape. Even cough drops use the same base, often with peppermint or menthol added.

Candy sticks also fall into this group, and they’re often seen in bulk candy bins.

Start with sugar, milk, vanilla, and butter, heat them up, and you're on your way to caramel candy. Caramel has a stretchy, melt-in-your-mouth texture, thanks to its water content.

Keep cooking and you get toffee — drier, crunchier and more brittle.

Caramel sometimes hides inside candy bars or appears in layered bars. Toffee shows up in shards, often with nuts like almonds or peanuts mixed in.

Add cream and you can make fudge, another soft variation. Each type highlights different ways to manipulate sugar and heat.

Bright, bold and often shaped like tiny toys, these candies cover a huge range. Skittles, Jelly Belly jelly beans, and sweet treats with sugary candies or a crunchy shell rely on bright dyes and fruit-inspired flavoring. Many have a gooey center with a crisp outside.

Cotton candy is a standout, made by spinning sugar into wispy strands. Candy brands love this category for seasonal releases: jelly beans for Easter, candy canes for Christmas. Fruit flavors like strawberry, orange, and even pink lemonade dominate.

This group’s a grab bag, but they hit the nostalgia button hard. Licorice candy comes in black and red varieties, but black licorice is flavored with licorice extract (often with aniseed and molasses), whereas red “licorice” candies are fruit-flavored and contain no actual licorice extract.

Marshmallows are soft, squishy and often roasted or coated. Chocolate covered fruit, nuts, or peanut butter centers bridge old-school and gourmet.

South America gave the world cacao, and we still feel the influence in chocolate innovations. Think chocolate bar pairings with chili or sea salt. And classics like Almond Joy, Milky Way, and Kit Kat combine multiple elements: nougat, wafers, caramel, and more. It’s candy as architecture.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.