The Best Peanut Butter Candy On The Market Is A Flaky Delight

Peanut butter is America's favorite spread; is there anything more American than a PB&J or a fluffernutter? Along with homemade snacks and sandwiches, peanut butter is the subject of many candy bars. We taste-tested a whopping 18 peanut butter candies on the market to find the best one based on the purity of peanut butter flavor and how other ingredients enhance it. 

The best peanut butter candy, according to our taste test, is Tom Bumble Nutty, a lesser-known brand out of Oregon. With fan favorites from the Reese's lineup and unique M&M's flavors on our list, Tom Bumble Nutty wasn't even on our radar. And, if you're not an Oregon-native, it might not be on yours either. But it definitely needs to be if you're a peanut butter lover. True to its name, this candy bar is nutty, capturing both the savory aspect of the peanut butter flavor while taking it gracefully into the sweet realm. Most peanut butter candies are ultra sugary, but Tom Bumble had a natural purity we loved. Furthermore, the thin, delicate dark chocolate coating provided the perfect bittersweet complement to the nuttiness of the peanuts, enhancing the peanut butter without overpowering it.

Perhaps the most unique component about Tom Bumble Nutty that won us over was the texture. The peanut butter center was flaky and crunchy at first bite, but melted in our mouths once we started chewing. The textural contrast and purity of flavor were unmatched.

Not your average candy bar, Tom Bumble Nutty is made with organic ingredients, and the dark chocolate is fair-trade sourced. Quality ingredients and a local, small-business brand, Tom Bumble Nutty is a candy you'll feel good about buying. While specialty stores as lofty as L.A.'s Erewhon carry Tom Bumble, you might not be able to find them at a convenience store or grocery chain. That said, you can order Tom Bumble Nutty online from Oregon Bark, no matter where you live in the U.S., and they come impeccably wrapped in bite-sized bars.

One Instagram review came up with all kinds of whimsical descriptors and exotic comparisons, starting with calling Tom Bumble Nutty "a peanut butter fandango" and saying it tastes like "halva with chocolate around it" that "flakes in your mouth like a chocolate peanut butter glacier." If that's too abstract, this review from The Meadow says it's "unequivocally the best dark chocolate peanut butter combination ever," while another one states "great quality, flavor, flakiness...it's an extra ordinary treat if you love peanut butter and chocolate."

The flaky crunch of Tom Bumble Nutty is reminiscent of a classic Butterfinger, one of our favorite Halloween candies. But the dark chocolate coating, quality of ingredients, and melt-in-your-mouth finish put Tom Bumble Nutty on a different level completely, especially since Butterfinger's new recipe has garnered widespread disappointment.