Whether you’re a hardcore candy lover, a parent building the ultimate Halloween candy bowl, or just someone hit by a sudden wave of sugar nostalgia. This complete A to Z candy list is exactly what you need.

candy starts with a to z

We’ve compiled hundreds of candies from around the world, organized alphabetically, covering everything from classic American favorites to international sweets you may have never heard of. Old school, modern, chocolate, sour, chewy, hard, it’s all here.

Let’s dive into the sweetest list on the internet!

A to Z Candy List – Complete Guide


A – Candy That Starts With A

1. Airheads The iconic American chewy taffy candy available in a rainbow of fruity flavors. Stretchy, tangy, and wildly popular since 1985. The white mystery flavor remains one of candy’s greatest unsolved debates.

2. Almond Joy A classic American candy bar with toasted almonds and coconut filling covered in rich milk chocolate. If you love coconut, this is your candy.

3. Altoids “The Curiously Strong Mints” intensely powerful peppermint, cinnamon, or wintergreen mints in a signature tin. A breath freshener that doubles as a flavor experience.

4. Andes Mints Thin, elegant chocolate-mint layered wafers are a staple in restaurant mint dishes and hotel pillows. Deceptively simple and deeply satisfying.

5. Atomic Fireballs A legendary jawbreaker-style hard candy with an intense, building cinnamon heat. Not for the faint-hearted, but once you start, you can’t stop.

6. Abba-Zaba A California classic, a chewy taffy bar with a peanut butter center. Retro packaging, timeless flavor combination.

7. Astro Pops Rocket-shaped hard lollipops in layered fruit flavors, a 1960s invention that became a playground icon across America.


B – Candy That Starts With B

1. Baby Ruth A chunky American candy bar packed with peanuts, caramel, and chocolate-flavored nougat. A heavyweight in every sense.

2. Bit-O-Honey A chewy honey-flavored taffy with tiny almond bits throughout, an old-fashioned candy that true sweet lovers still seek out.

3. Black Licorice Divisive but deeply loved, made with real licorice root extract, this intensely flavored candy has passionate fans worldwide.

4. Blow Pop A lollipop with a bubble gum center, arguably the greatest two-in-one candy invention ever made. Fruit-flavored outside, chewy surprise inside.

5. Bottlecaps Soda-flavored sweet and tart candy shaped like bottle caps. Cola, Root Beer, Grape, and Orange. Pure nostalgia in tablet form.

6. Brach’s Candy Corn The most debated Halloween candy in America is waxy, sweet, and tri-colored. Love it or hate it, it’s undeniably iconic.

7. Bubble Tape Six feet of bubblegum rolled in a tape dispenser, the ultimate 90s kid candy that felt both rebellious and genius.

8. Butterfingers Crispy, flaky peanut butter candy coated in chocolate, the candy bar that famously sticks to your teeth and your memory.

9. Butterscotch Discs Golden, buttery hard candy that melts slowly, a grandmother’s purse staple and genuinely underrated classic.


C – Candy That Starts With C

1. Cadbury Cream Egg Britain’s most beloved Easter candy, a chocolate shell filled with sweet fondant cream mimicking a real egg. Seasonal, special, and always too short-lived.

2. Candy Corn (See Brach’s above), the Halloween candy that divides generations and dominates October candy bowls.

3. Caramello A Cadbury chocolate bar filled with flowing liquid caramel. Simple, elegant, and consistently perfect.

4. Charleston Chew A long nougat candy bar covered in chocolate, best eaten frozen and snapped into pieces. A genuine American candy tradition.

5. Chupa Chups The world’s most recognizable lollipop brand, spherical, creamy, and available in dozens of flavors. The logo was designed by Salvador Dalí.

6. Circus Peanuts Orange marshmallow peanut-shaped candies with a banana flavor, one of the most confusing and beloved old-school American candies.

7. Cow Tales Long caramel tubes with a creamy filling are stretched, chewy, and deeply satisfying. A fair and convenience store staple.

8. Crunch Bar Nestle’s crispy rice and milk chocolate bar, simple concept, perfect execution. The satisfying crunch is unlike any other candy bar.

9. Candy Necklace Wearable candy strung on elastic, you eat your jewelry. Practical, delicious, and absolutely beloved by children everywhere.


D – Candy That Starts With D

1. Dum Dums Small colorful lollipops in dozens of flavors, including the legendary Mystery Flavor, which is actually the mixing of two flavors at the end of production runs.

2. Dots Chewy gumdrop-style candies in fruit flavors – a movie theater staple since 1945. Brilliant or terrible depending on your feelings about very chewy candy.

3. Dubble Bubble America’s original bubble gum brand since 1928, the pink, waxy gum that loses flavor fast but delivers maximum bubble potential.

4. Dove Chocolate Premium silky smooth milk or dark chocolate individually wrapped in foil with inspirational messages inside. The grown-up chocolate experience.

5. Dairy Milk (Cadbury) Britain’s most iconic chocolate bar, creamy, smooth, and distinctively sweet. A national institution since 1905.

6. Dippin’ Dots Flash-frozen tiny beads of ice cream sold at fairs and theme parks, billed as “the ice cream of the future” since 1988. The future tastes pretty good.


E – Candy That Starts With E

1. Everlasting Gobstopper Inspired by Willy Wonka, a jawbreaker that changes colors and flavors as you suck. Layers upon layers of fruity sugar that last for what feels like forever.

2. English Toffee A buttery, crunchy hard toffee coated in chocolate and almonds, a holiday candy box staple and genuinely addictive treat.

3. Extra Gum The long, thin stick of gum known for intense flavor and emotional commercials. Extra has built a reputation as the premium gum brand worldwide.

4. Explosions (Pop Rocks) (See Pop Rocks under P), the candy that pops and crackles on your tongue. A playground sensation that never gets old.


F – Candy That Starts With F

1. Fifth Avenue A crispy peanut butter candy bar layered in chocolate, similar to Butterfinger but with a smoother, more defined crunch. Criminally underrated.

2. Fruit Stripe Gum The most colorful gum ever made, five stripes, five flavors, and the most intense but shortest-lived flavor burst in gum history.

3. Fun Dip A stick of flavored sugar candy you dip into flavored sugar powder, sugary, sour, and completely absurd in the best possible way.

4. Ferrero Rocher Italy’s most gifted chocolate, a whole hazelnut wrapped in chocolate cream, wrapped in a crunchy wafer shell, wrapped in milk chocolate and hazelnut pieces. Pure luxury.

5. Fruit Pastilles A British classic by Rowntree’s, chewy, intensely fruit-flavored gummy sweets in a roll. A newsstand and cinema staple in the UK.

6. Fudge Dense, rich, creamy squares of cooked sugar and butter available in chocolate, vanilla, maple, and peanut butter. A seaside resort and county fair staple.


G – Candy That Starts With G

1. Gummy Bears Haribo’s world-conquering invention, tiny gelatin bears in fruit flavors that launched an entire category of candy. Introduced in 1922 and still going strong.

2. Gummy Worms Longer, squishier, and more satisfying than gummy bears, the wormy cousin that kids love to dangle dramatically before eating.

3. Good & Plenty America’s oldest branded candy, pink and white candy-coated licorice. A movie theater classic since 1893.

4. Gobstopper (See Everlasting Gobstopper above), the layered jawbreaker that changes colors and flavors.

5. Gushers Fruit snacks with a liquid center that “gushes” when you bite in a 90s school lunch icon that made heads burst in commercials.

6. Ghirardelli Squares Premium San Francisco chocolate squares with filled centers. Sea salt caramel, dark chocolate raspberry, and more. The upscale chocolate treat.

7. Gobstoppers (Wonka) Willy Wonka’s signature candy, colorful, layered, and impossibly long-lasting. Simultaneously a candy and an endurance challenge.


H – Candy That Starts With H

1. Haribo Gold-Bears The original gummy bear, the German candy company that invented the entire gummy category. Firmer, more intensely flavored than American imitators.

2. Heath Bar A crispy English toffee bar covered in milk chocolate. Simple, satisfying, and one of the most underrated candy bars in America.

3. Hi-Chew Japan’s most globally successful candy is incredibly soft, incredibly flavorful fruit chews that make every other chewy candy feel inferior.

4. Hot Tamales Spicy cinnamon-flavored oblong chewy candies are intensely flavored and impossible to eat just one. A movie theater essential.

5. Hershey’s Kisses The iconic teardrop-shaped chocolate silver foil, paper flag, pure Hershey milk chocolate. America’s most gifted candy since 1907.

6. Hershey Bar America’s foundational chocolate bar, the taste that most Americans grew up associating with “chocolate.” Simple, reliable, and deeply nostalgic.

7. Honey Butterscotch Sweet, golden hard candies with a rich buttery honey flavor, slow-dissolving and deeply comforting. A classic penny candy staple.


I – Candy That Starts With I

1. Ice Breakers Intense sugar-free mints and gums available in Ice Cubes gum and the iconic mint tins. Known for extreme cooling sensation.

2. Icebreakers Sours The sour version of the popular mint offers an intense sour-then-sweet experience in a small, pocket-friendly tin.

3. Italian Ice Smooth, frozen fruit-flavored water ice, not technically candy but eaten like one. Lemon, cherry, and mango are the classics. A summer staple across Italian-American communities.

4. Indy 500 Gum Racing car shaped gum pieces are an old-school novelty gum beloved for its playful shape and bubblegum flavor.


J – Candy That Starts With J

1. Jawbreakers Hard, layered spherical candy so large they cannot be bitten, only slowly dissolved. A patience test disguised as a candy.

2. Jelly Beans Bean-shaped sugar candy in an extraordinary range of flavors from classic fruit to Jelly Belly’s gourmet varieties including Buttered Popcorn and Tutti-Frutti.

3. Jolly Rancher America’s hardest and most intensely flavored hard candy watermelon, blue raspberry, and green apple are the icons. Stains your tongue, worth every second.

4. Junior Mints Small chocolate-covered peppermint creams have been a movie theater staple since 1949. Light, refreshing, and perfect when you want chocolate and mint together.

5. Juicy Fruit Wrigley’s iconic yellow gum has a sweet, tropical fruit flavor that’s been part of American culture since 1893. The smell alone triggers memories.

6. Jujubes Small, firm, chewy gummy candies in fruit flavors, one of the oldest movie theater candies in existence. Much firmer than modern gummies.


K – Candy That Starts With K

1. Kit Kat Four finger-shaped chocolate-covered crispy wafers. “Have a break, have a Kit Kat.” One of the world’s best-selling candy bars. Japan has over 300 unique flavors.

2. Kinder Bueno Italian-German perfection, a crispy wafer bar filled with hazelnut cream and covered in milk chocolate. Lighter and more refined than most candy bars.

3. Kinder Chocolate A children’s chocolate bar with a creamy milk filling beloved across Europe and a lunchbox staple for millions of kids worldwide.

4. Kopiko A Southeast Asian coffee-flavored hard candy, intensely coffee-flavored and genuinely used as a caffeine pick-me-up. Popular across Asia and growing worldwide.

5. Krakel A Swedish chocolate bar with a crispy puffed rice center. Sweden’s answer to the Crunch Bar, beloved across Scandinavia.


L – Candy That Starts With L

1. Laffy Taffy Chewy, fruit-flavored taffy with jokes printed on every wrapper. Banana is the most divisive but secretly beloved flavor.

2. Lemonhead A lemon-flavored hard candy that starts sour and finishes sweet, a classic American penny candy since 1962.

3. Licorice Black or red, anise-flavored chewy candy, a globally polarizing treat with passionate fans in Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.

4. Life Savers Ring-shaped hard candies with a hole in the middle available in fruit and mint flavors. Named because they look like life preservers.

5. Lindor Truffles Lindt’s signature chocolate truffle has a hard chocolate shell with a smooth, flowing liquid chocolate center. Available in milk, dark, white, and hazelnut.

6. Lollipop The universal candy sugar on a stick. From simple fruit-flavored Dum Dums to gourmet artisan lollipops, the concept is perfect.

7. Lokum (Turkish Delight) A Middle Eastern confection, soft, jewel-colored squares of gel candy flavored with rose water, lemon, or mastic. Made famous by C.S. Lewis in Narnia.


M – Candy That Starts With M

1. M&Ms Colorful candy-coated chocolate pieces “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” One of the world’s best-selling candies with dozens of varieties.

2. Milky Way Chocolate, caramel, and nougat in a chocolate coating lighter and fluffier than Snickers. An American classic and UK staple (though the UK and US versions are actually different).

3. Mike and Ike Fruit-flavored oblong chewy candies are intensely flavored and deeply satisfying. Original Fruits is the classic, but Tropical Typhoon fans are equally passionate.

4. Milk Duds Caramel and chocolate clusters are sticky, chewy, and movie theater iconic. Warning: they will pull out your fillings, but it’s worth it.

5. Mounds Dark chocolate and coconut, the sister bar to Almond Joy. “Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”

6. Mr. Goodbar Hershey’s peanut and milk chocolate bar is simple, crunchy, and beloved since 1925.


N – Candy That Starts With N

1. Nerds Tiny, crunchy, irregularly shaped sugar candy in dual-flavor boxes, sweet on one side, sour on the other. Poured directly into your mouth for maximum effect.

2. Nerd Clusters The gummy evolution of Nerds soft gummy base covered in crunchy Nerds coating. One of the biggest candy trends of recent years.

3. Nestle Crunch (See Crunch Bar under C), crispy rice and chocolate in perfect harmony.

4. Now and Later Extremely firm, fruit-flavored taffy squares start hard, soften as you chew. Famous for the intense jaw workout they provide.

5. Nougat A soft, chewy confection made with honey, sugar, and nuts, the filling inside countless candy bars from Snickers to Milky Way.

6. Necco Wafers The oldest American candy still in production, thin, chalky, mixed-flavor wafers in a paper roll. Civil War soldiers carried them. A true piece of candy history.


O – Candy That Starts With O

1. Oh Henry! A North American candy bar packed with peanuts, caramel, and fudge coated in chocolate. Dense, filling, and deeply satisfying.

2. Orange Slices Sugar-coated jelly candy shaped like orange wedges, soft, fruity, and cheerfully old-fashioned. A candy dish staple at every grandparent’s house.

3. Orbit Gum Wrigley’s clean-taste gum is marketed as a breath freshening after-meal gum. Available in spearmint, peppermint, and fruit varieties.


P – Candy That Starts With P

1. PayDay A peanut and caramel candy bar, no chocolate, just peanuts wrapped around caramel nougat. The candy bar for people who prefer peanuts over chocolate.

2. Peach Rings Sugar-coated gummy rings with an intense peach flavor, one of the most addictive bulk candy store purchases ever.

3. Pez Small rectangular sugar tablets dispensed from character-headed dispensers are as much a toy as a candy. Collectors pay serious money for rare dispensers.

4. Pixy Stix Pure flavored sugar in a paper straw, you just pour it directly on your tongue. Simple, direct, and brilliantly ridiculous.

5. Pop Rocks Carbonated candy that pops, crackles, and fizzes on your tongue, one of the most unique candy sensations ever invented.

6. Pringles (White Fudge) The holiday crossover sweet white fudge drizzled Pringles. When the snack world and candy world collide perfectly.

7. Pralines A Southern American candy made from pecans cooked in brown sugar and butter until caramelized. Sweet, crunchy, and deeply indulgent.


Q – Candy That Starts With Q

1. Quench Gum A sports-marketed bubble gum designed to quench thirst, popular among athletes and kids in the 1990s and 2000s.

2. Quality Street Nestlé’s iconic British tin of assorted chocolates, the purple tin that appears on every British family’s Christmas table. Fighting over the best flavors is a national tradition.


R – Candy That Starts With R

1. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups America’s most beloved candy milk chocolate cups filled with peanut butter. The combination that started a revolution. Available in dozens of variations but the original reigns supreme.

2. Red Vines The West Coast rival to Twizzlers is softer, sweeter, and more pliable. Red licorice is a deeply regional loyalty issue in America.

3. Ring Pops A lollipop you wear on your finger shaped like a giant gemstone ring. Genius candy marketing for children.

4. Rolos Caramel-filled chocolate cups in a gold foil roll. “Give someone your last Rolo” entered the British cultural lexicon as a gesture of true love.

5. Runts Fruit-shaped hard candies, banana, strawberry, grape, and orange in the classic mix. The banana ones are intensely polarizing, but secretly everyone’s favorite.


S – Candy That Starts With S

1. Skittles “Taste the Rainbow” fruit-flavored candy shells with a chewy center. One of the world’s best-selling non-chocolate candies.

2. Snickers The world’s best-selling candy bar, peanuts, caramel, nougat, and milk chocolate. “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

3. Sour Patch Kids Sour-then-sweet gummy kids, the most popular sour candy in the United States. Addictive enough to cause chapped lips, but impossible to stop eating.

4. Starburst Individually wrapped fruit-flavored chews, the pink strawberry one is universally acknowledged as superior. Starburst invented the “all pink” pack for a reason.

5. Swedish Fish Red, fish-shaped gummy candy with a mysterious flavor, technically it’s a berry flavor but tastes like nothing else on earth. A global icon of soft candy.

6. SweeTarts Sweet and tart pressed sugar tablets, the balance between sweet and sour that hits exactly right.


T – Candy That Starts With T

1. Tootsie Roll America’s original chewy chocolate candy since 1896, the first penny candy to be individually wrapped. A Halloween bag staple for over a century.

2. Tootsie Pop A Tootsie Roll-centered lollipop, the subject of the world’s most famous candy commercial. “How many licks does it take to get to the center?”

3. Twix Two crispy biscuit fingers topped with caramel and covered in chocolate, and the great Left Twix vs Right Twix marketing war, which is entirely fictional but weirdly convincing.

4. Twizzlers The East Coast licorice champion is bright red, waxy, and distinctive. Available in strawberry, cherry, and the bizarre but beloved Pull-n-Peel format.

5. Toblerone Swiss mountain-shaped chocolate triangles filled with honey almond nougat are sold at every airport in the world. A travel souvenir that became a global icon.


U – Candy That Starts With U

1. Utz Crab Chips A regional specialty candy-adjacent snack sweet, savory, and deeply regional. A Maryland institution with crossover candy appeal.

2. Unicorn Pops Rainbow-colored swirled lollipops are visually spectacular, cotton candy flavored, and Instagram’s favorite candy since 2017.


V – Candy That Starts With V

1. Valomilk One of America’s oldest candy bars a chocolate cup filled with flowing marshmallow cream. A midwest regional classic that genuine candy collectors treasure.

2. Violet Crumble An Australian icon, a honeycomb toffee core covered in chocolate. The tagline “It’s the way it shatters that matters” is legendary Down Under.


W – Candy That Starts With W

1. Werther’s Original German butterscotch hard candy is rich, buttery, and smooth. The candy most associated with grandparents worldwide, and not without reason.

2. Whoppers Malted milk balls covered in chocolate, a crunchy, airy candy experience unlike any other. Movie theater essential.

3. Wonka Bar Inspired by Roald Dahl’s golden ticket, a chocolate bar that launched countless real-world versions. The idea is more famous than any specific recipe.


X – Candy That Starts With X

1. Xtreme Sour Warheads (See Warheads under W extended), the most extreme sour candy ever commercially produced. The puckering, watering-eye reaction is a rite of passage for children worldwide.

2. Xtra Flava Chews International fruit chews with exotic tropical flavors, a growing category of globally-influenced chewy candy expanding beyond traditional Western flavors.


Y – Candy That Starts With Y

1. York Peppermint Pattie A disc of cool peppermint fondant covered in dark chocolate, refreshing, intense, and surprisingly sophisticated for a mass-market candy.

2. Yummy Bears Softer, fruitier gummy bears targeted at younger children, less firm than Haribo and more accessible for small mouths.


Z – Candy That Starts With Z

1. Zero Bar A retro American candy bar with white fudge, caramel, peanut, and almond nougat coated in white fudge. One of the most underappreciated candy bars in history.

2. Zotz Italian fizzy hard candy with a sour popping powder center is intensely sour and fizzy in a way that surprises first-time eaters every single time.

3. Zours Intensely sour chewy candy from the makers of Laffy Taffy for sour candy fans who find Sour Patch Kids insufficiently extreme.


The World’s Best-Selling Candy of All Time

Based on global sales data, here are the top 10 best-selling candies worldwide:

  1. Snickers – world’s number one candy bar
  2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – America’s most beloved
  3. Kit Kat – a global phenomenon
  4. M&Ms – colorful, iconic, unstoppable
  5. Twix – the left vs right debate rages on
  6. Skittles – the rainbow rules non-chocolate candy
  7. Milky Way – light, caramel, chocolate perfection
  8. Haribo Gold-Bears – gummy bears, the original
  9. Hershey’s Kisses – America’s most gifted chocolate
  10. Toblerone – Switzerland’s airport ambassador

Candy By Country – Where Your Favorites Come From

CountryIconic Candy
USAReese’s, M&Ms, Snickers, Jolly Ranchers
UKCadbury Cream Egg, Rolos, Quality Street
GermanyHaribo, Milka, Toblerone (Swiss)
JapanHi-Chew, Pocky, Kit Kat (local flavors)
ItalyFerrero Rocher, Kinder, Tic Tac
AustraliaViolet Crumble, Tim Tams
NetherlandsStroopwafel, Dutch Licorice
MexicoPulparindo, Tamarind candy, Lucas
Middle EastTurkish Delight, Halva

Candy Types Explained

Not all candy is created equal – here’s how they’re categorized:

  • Hard Candy – Jolly Ranchers, Jawbreakers, Life Savers, Lollipops
  • Chewy Candy – Starburst, Laffy Taffy, Hi-Chew, Now and Later
  • Gummy Candy – Haribo, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Peach Rings
  • Chocolate Candy – Snickers, Kit Kat, Reese’s, M&Ms
  • Sour Candy – Warheads, Sour Patch Kids, Zotz, Zours
  • Novelty Candy – Pop Rocks, Ring Pops, Pez, Pixy Stix

Best Halloween Candy – Ranked

Every October the great Halloween candy ranking debate erupts. Here’s the definitive list:

Top Tier (Holy Grail): Reese’s Cups, Snickers, Kit Kat, Twix, M&Ms

Great Tier: Skittles, Starburst, Sour Patch Kids, Jolly Ranchers

Solid Tier: Swedish Fish, Nerds, Whoppers, Milky Way

Controversial Tier: Tootsie Rolls, Circus Peanuts, Candy Corn


Also Read

Let’s Summarise

From the humble Tootsie Roll to the extravagant Ferrero Rocher, the world of candy is as vast and diverse as human creativity itself. Every candy on this list has its fans, its history, and its moment of pure childhood joy.

Whether you’re building the ultimate candy bowl, recreating your childhood favorites, or exploring international sweets for the first time, we hope this complete A to Z candy list gave you exactly what you were looking for.

Which candy from this list is your ultimate favorite? Drop it in the comments, we love a good candy debate!


Want recipes for homemade versions of your favorite candies? Search our blog for step-by-step candy making guides!

Author

Hi, I’m Gulista! I am a passionate home cook. I started Delicious Bucket to share easy to make, simplified versions and beautiful recipes. Cooking is my way of exploring cultures, and I’d love for you to join me in this delicious journey!

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