The Best Snickers Flavor Is A Tried-And-True Classic For A Reason

Snackers the world over can't get enough of the chocolatey, caramelly, nougaty, peanutty treat that is Snickers — the top-selling candy bar on Earth, incidentally. Various offshoot flavors have entered the market since original Snickers debuted. From Snickers White with its white chocolate coating to Snickers Hi Protein with its 20 grams of protein per bar (perfect for all the protein maxxers out there), there's lots of that satisfying deliciousness to choose from on store shelves. But which of all the Snickers renditions is the best?

Food Republic tried and ranked five popular Snickers varieties to determine which was the tastiest and most deserving of your purchase. Our taste tester bit into classic Snickers, Snickers Pecan, Snickers Peanut Butter, Snickers Almond, and Snickers Xtreme, and classic Snickers easily rose above the rest. That perfect balance of textures and flavors that made the candy famous still outshines any of the foundational bar's progeny.

The original Snickers recipe was carefully crafted to be a tastebud-tantalizing amalgamation of contrasts, and that intriguing medley for the senses has made it a combination consumers go back to again and again. There's the dichotomy of airy nougat, creamy chocolate, chewy caramel, and crunchy peanuts playing off each other and providing a well-rounded mixture of textures. There are the sweet elements contrasting with the salty savoriness of the peanuts, presenting a nice flavor balance. All in all, as candy bars go, original Snickers is a classic study in wholeness.

The other bars ultimately showed up as what they are: imitations of the O.G. The peanuts give the perfect crunch — whereas the pecans are too soft and the almonds a touch too hard. The Xtreme? Too many peanuts for a balanced bite. At the end of the day, the addition of other ingredients and flavors, though tasty, ultimately subtracts from the balance that makes Snickers great.

Many candy bars have come and gone over the years, but Snickers continues to be the unstoppable GOAT. As evidenced by our taste test, even new renditions of the famous bar that swap in different nuts, nut butters, and make other tweaks to the original just can't touch it. Common complaints about Snickers spinoff flavors are that the balance just isn't there — when the original formula is changed, it leaves an impression that something is missing.

The something missing is the total package that the ingredients in a standard Snickers add up to. "The chocolate is rich, the caramel is fresh[,] and the peanut adds perfect crunch!" enthused a reviewer on the Snickers website. Throughout the reviews, the balance of all the ingredients is frequently lauded.

A famous tagline for the product was "Packed with peanuts, Snickers satisfies," and that's another attribute the candy has going for it. Though it's a candy bar, its hefty inclusion of protein-rich peanuts gives Snickers pith, and the nuts combined with the other ingredients it's packed with make the bar truly filling in a way that's surprising for a treat. 

Historically, Snickers was an energy bar before there were energy bars. For decades, it has been effectively marketed as an entire meal in a bar as well as fuel for athletes, and consumers have utilized it as such. "This is the first food I've [ever] truly CRAVED during an athletic event (tennis, no less). Really satisfying," a RateItAll reviewer stated. "[Their] density makes them the perfect choice for a quick boost[,] and they really manage to fill you up," another RateItAll reviewer commented. When indulging in a chocolate goodie genuinely fills your tummy and provides an energy power-up between meals, it's a veritable golden formula.