The Snack Attack: Top 10 Peppermint Treats For The Holiday Season [TASTE TEST]
There's no doubt about it, peppermint is the most popular flavor of the holiday season.
Stores are overwhelmed with holiday-themed products right now, so we compiled a list of the top 10 best-tasting peppermint flavored treats. Sure, you can gorge on candy canes. But what's the fun in that? Spice up your life!
You'll notice a theme with a lot of these snacks -- peppermint is usually paired with white chocolate. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Peppermint goes just as well with milk chocolate, and is even better with dark chocolate.
So without further adieu, here's the Top 10 Peppermint Treats for the Holiday Season, from the bottom to the tastiest top.
10. White Peppermint M&Ms
Don't discount these M&M's just because they came in last place, because they're still very worthy of belonging on this list. These M&M's are bigger than the regular ones, think Peanut Butter M&M's style. Once you get past the crunchy shell, the creamy white chocolate starts to melt in your mouth. The peppermint flavor doesn't overpower the chocolate either, you can taste both distinct flavors. The mint isn't very strong, but is just enough to leave that fresh feeling in your mouth.
9. Hershey's Mint Candy with Candy Bits
I went back and forth between this Hershey's Candy Cane Bar and Hersey's Candy Cane Kisses. But in the end I went with the bar because to me, it has a stronger peppermint flavor. Not only does it have peppermint candy bits, but the chocolate itself if candy cane flavored. It's a double dose of peppermint! Plus, you don't have to deal with unwrapping the foil every time you want a piece of candy goodness. It's a win, win, win.
8. Candy Cane Peeps Dipped in Chocolate
Peeps are no longer limited to Easter, my friends. These things are taking over the limited edition flavor world. Luckily, among their seven (yes, seven!) special flavors for the holiday season is the Candy Cane flavored marshmallow chick dipped in chocolate. These things smell almost as good as they taste. I feel like the peppermint scent filled the entire room as soon as I opened the package. The flavor of the marshmallow is the perfect combination of sweetness and mint. The red sugar chunks add a nice texture, but what really takes this treat over the top is the creamy chocolate on the bottom of the chick -- it pairs so well with the peppermint flavor and is a nice departure from all the other white chocolate on this list.
7. Andes Peppermint Crunch Mints
Andes are known as after-dinner mints, but that doesn't mean you can't eat them all day long. Especially this Peppermint Crunch flavor. It's basically like a little piece of peppermint bark, but with a stronger mint flavor. The little crunchy pieces add some needed texture to this candy. And it finishes so clean and fresh, there's no "leftover candy" taste in your mouth, if you catch my drift.
6. Lindt Lindor Peppermint White Chocolate Truffles
Lindt's Lindor Truffles are probably the smoothest, most decadent chocolates you can get at your neighborhood grocery or drug store. One bite of these things and you'd swear you were standing in a chocolate shop in Switzerland. You bite through the thick peppermint flavored shell and inside is the creamiest white chocolate you've ever tasted. The flavor is equally as chocolaty as it is minty, and is completely satisfying.
5. Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark
This Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark beat out the other similar contenders like Andes because, frankly, the quality of the chocolate is hard to beat. It's an American chocolate made by an Italian-born immigrant, and it's hard to stop eating. Unlike other peppermint barks, this version is made with creamy milk chocolate instead of white. The peppermint flavor isn't very strong, but it mixes with the chocolate for a taste unlike any other on this list.
4. Gold Emblem Yogurt Covered Pretzels with Candy Cane Pieces
The best thing about this treat is you get sweet, salty, creamy and crunchy all in one bite. I mean, what more could you ask for? These yogurt covered pretzels with candy cane pieces are made by Gold Emblem and sold at CVS stores. Without the candy cane pieces, these would be your run of the mill yogurt covered pretzels, because the peppermint flavor isn't very strong and actually depends on how many candy cane bits are on the pretzel. But they rank so highly here because the flavor combination is unlike anything else on the list. It's a nice departure from the super sweet, chocolaty based peppermint treats. Want to take it to the next level? Pair with a big mug of hot cocoa. Match made in snack heaven.
3. Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch
I'm usually not a fan of Junior Mints (or JOON-YA MENTS as I like to pronounce it) but there's something about the addition of the candy crunch that really does it for me. The center is the same creamy fondant filling as in the original version, but the dark chocolate coating has little pieces of peppermint candy laced throughout, adding a delightful little crunch to an otherwise one-textured treat.
2. Peppermint Oreos
Oh, Oreo! Is there a flavor this delicious little sandwich cookie won't try on? While some flavors of the past were failures (remember the Swedish Fish fiasco?) this peppermint version is definitely a winner. These Oreos have what appears to be twice as much creme filling as the original version. And the creme is equally sweet as it is minty. When combined with the crunchy wafer, these cookies actually reminded me a lot of the Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. It's the perfect combination of mint and chocolate.
1. Milano Slices Peppermint Cookies
Milano cookies have to be Pepperidge Farm's best snack. The cookie wafer itself is so delicately crisp with that fresh out of the oven taste, they're good enough to eat plain, honestly. You can buy the cookies in sandwich form, but I went with the slices on this one because they were more complex with candy cane pieces. And boy, am I glad I did because these cookies are AMAZING. They have a thick layer of decadent dark chocolate and if that wasn't enough, each bite is packed with crunchy peppermint pieces. The chocolate flavor does slightly overpower the peppermint at first. But once the chocolate flavor fades, you get the refreshing finish of peppermint. Sidebar: Does anyone else remember going to the Pepperidge Farm store at the Horizon Outlets in Monroe back in the day? No shopping trip for me was complete without a bag of cookies! Now all that's left in the barren shopping center is a discount fireworks store. What a shame.
And there you have it -- the tastiest, most delicious peppermint treats you can get this holiday season!
The Snack Attack is a feature on CBSDetroit.com that centers around all things food. Know of a new snack we should attack? Send an email and we'll be sure to add it to the list.
