I Tried 8 Candy Brand Ice Cream Bars And Ranked Them Worst To Best

I love a good candy bar, almost as much as I love ice cream. But when you can combine the two, you're bound to get a delicious sweet treat. There are a surprising number of candy brand ice cream bars on the market, and they are especially appealing to those who love the original versions of the candy. Depending on where you shop, though, a whole box of these treats can be pricey, which may make you pause before you buy them, as you don't know if they're going to be worth it.

This is exactly why I tasted eight different candy brand ice cream bars and ranked them. The first items you'll see are those that I didn't particularly care for, while those that are further down on the list represent the best that this lineup has to offer. Personally, I prefer an ice cream bar that's not too sweet and has a good balance of flavors, straying away from predictable chocolate-and-vanilla-only options and embracing a wider variety of flavor profiles.

If you're looking for a simpler dessert, you may like some of the worst-ranked items on this list. Regardless of whether your ice cream bar criteria matches mine, though, learning more about what each of these products has to offer can give you a better idea of which varieties you may want to try the next time you make a late-night grocery store ice cream run.

Sometimes, you just need a little bit of something icy and sweet as a little pick-me-up in the middle of the day or after dinner. That's when you might want to reach for Dove's Milk Chocolate Minis ice cream bars. These bars are miniature, so you're not really getting a full dessert. Rather, there are about two bites in a single serving, making this product ideal for those who are just craving a little indulgence instead of a more substantial ice cream bar. But is the flavor really that indulgent at all? In my opinion, no.

Milk chocolate, which must contain a certain amount of milk, isn't my favorite, but I'm no hater. There are a lot of great products with milk chocolate, but, unfortunately, these Dove ice cream bars aren't one of them. Dove is a chocolate that's really all about texture, but it's really just functioning as a shell in this recipe. You're getting the faint flavor of milk chocolate in a really subtle form, which is overpowered by the sweetness of the ice cream. This mixed pack comes with bars filled with vanilla and chocolate, but I found both to be quite bland.

These ice cream bars aren't bad, but they're pretty boring. I'd rather just have half of one of the more flavorful ice cream bars on this list and call it a day.

This product is basically the same idea as the milk chocolate Dove variety, but this one is made with dark chocolate. If you're like me and tend to prefer dark chocolate, then this is an obvious step up. These mini ice cream bars also come in two flavors: chocolate-filled and vanilla-filled. Admittedly, the chocolate is a bit better, since it seems to have a bit more intensity to it, although it's not really that noticeable unless you're analyzing your ice cream bar really carefully. The vanilla version, like the milk chocolate variety, is as bland as can be, ultimately resulting in another boring dessert, even if it's a step up from the milk chocolate option.

Of course, I think there are a lot of ice cream bar lovers out there who would really like this product. If you're looking for a small bite of something subtle but still pretty sweet, then you might want to give these mini bars a try. However, when you're craving something a bit more interesting, there are much better candy-branded ice cream bar options from which to choose. Or, if you just prefer the bitterness of dark chocolate all on its own, check out these dark chocolate bars instead. Want to skip the ice cream? You can also try some of our favorite original Dove chocolates.

Caramel lovers, you're in luck, because 100 Grand now has its very own ice cream bar. Instead of the mass of gooey caramel in the middle that you'll find in the traditional chocolate bar, this product contains caramel-flavored ice cream with just a touch of actual caramel. All that caramel is covered with a layer of milk chocolate that's dotted with little pieces of puffed rice. Texturally, I think that puffed rice is a really nice touch. It actually makes this ice cream bar taste more like the real thing, and, in a good way, it breaks up the otherwise very creamy texture.

Unfortunately, this is still not one of my favorite candy brand ice cream bars on this list. I find the flavor to be kind of one-note — there's nothing to contrast that super sweet ice cream and milk chocolate coating, which results in an overall too-sweet ice cream bar. And I don't know if I just got a particularly bad batch of ice cream bars or if it's a problem across the board, but more than half of the bars were dented or broken in the box that I purchased. That made them quite messy to eat, which isn't ideal when it comes to ice cream. If you're a big 100 Grand person, then this ice cream bar might be worth a try. Otherwise, you can probably feel safe to skip it.

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Butterfinger fan. I like peanut butter, but not so much that I want it as the centerpiece of a dessert. But that's just what you're going to get in both a classic Butterfinger candy bar and this Butterfinger ice cream bar. The brand doesn't just use plain peanut butter ice cream; instead, it opts for Butterfinger-flavored ice cream, which actually tastes shockingly close to the real thing. In fact, if it weren't for the temperature and the textural difference, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the original chocolate bar apart from the ice cream version.

Then comes the crunchy filling that's also reminiscent of the candy, followed by the expected chocolate coating. It's a fine ice cream bar if you're someone who really likes Butterfingers as is, but I found the treat to be too sweet and too, well, peanut buttery for my liking. That nuttiness is front and center doesn't allow other aspects of the dessert — even texture — to properly shine. It's certainly not the worst ice cream bar I've ever tried, but I probably wouldn't get it again.

Now, we're starting to get into the good stuff. I think Twix is a solid chocolate bar, but it's never been my favorite, since it leans a bit too much into the caramel territory. However, this Twix ice cream bar is a bit more balanced. The base of the bar is made of chocolate ice cream, which provides a sweet yet neutral canvas for playing with more interesting flavors and textures. There's a bit of caramel here — just enough to get a portion of the bar really sweet — but I find it to be a lot more restrained than what you might experience in the plain candy bar version of the treat. Twix is known for its crunch, so this ice cream bar also delivers little cookie pieces to create a dynamic texture.

This is a nicely balanced ice cream bar. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely quite sweet, but there's also that plain base flavor of the ice cream to keep the treat from being too overwhelming. I was also pleasantly surprised at how gooey the caramel was, even after coming straight out of the freezer. There are some more interesting flavor combos in this lineup, but Twix still delivers on the ice cream bar front.

Most of these ice cream bars taste like the versions of the original candy bars they're supposed to represent. However, they're very clearly distinct products. Not just because of the obvious temperature difference, but also because the combination of flavors generally tastes way different in an ice cream form. However, Snickers' ice cream bar is one variety that, in my mind, basically tastes like the real thing. Sure, it's colder than your regular Snickers, but after taking a bite, I really felt like I'd just eaten a normal Snickers in an ice cream form.

The peanut butter ice cream sounds like it might be overpowering, but it's not. That flavor is lighter than the one featured in Butterfinger, and that subtlety automatically makes this ice cream bar more balanced. You also get the same creamy caramel you can find in the original, right alongside those crunchy peanuts you know and love. When it all comes together, you get that classic Snickers texture, the delightful flavor combo of peanuts and chocolate, and the perfect amount of caramel to bring it all together.

So, why is this bar not ranked higher on this list? Snickers as a candy bar isn't my absolute favorite, and there are — in my opinion — better candy brands in the ice cream bar game. Still, I think most people, especially Snickers fans, are going to love this frozen dessert.

Let me start off by saying that I am a lifelong fan of Reese's, so I'm perhaps biased when it comes to this review. Anything that tastes remotely like a Reese's, I'm immediately going to be a fan of. Reese's Crunchy Peanut ice cream bar, though, doesn't taste exactly like a Reese's — it tastes better. The construction of the treat is very similar to the candy — a thin layer of chocolate encases the peanut butter ice cream and Reese's peanut butter. The peanut butter flavor is exceptionally strong, but in this case, I think it's a good thing, since it has that iconic Reese's peanut butter saltiness that the candy is known for.

Not only does it have the same salty and sweet flavor combo that's so perfect about the candy bar, but you also get little pieces of peanuts throughout the frozen treat, creating a more interesting textural experience. I wouldn't exactly call this ice cream bar crunchy, per se, but there's enough going on here that you're not going to get bored with it. This is one of the best ice cream bars on this list — and one of the best I've ever tried, period. However, one bar came out ahead.

Now we've arrived at the most glorious candy brand ice cream bar of them all: the Almond Joy ice cream bar. I've always loved Almond Joys because they're so much lighter than your average candy bar. So much of the treat is reserved for that soft and sweet shredded coconut, with just enough chocolate coating to get the richness it needs. Add in the crunchy almonds, and it's clear why this treat is such a long-standing success. But, even though I've eaten my fair share of standard Almond Joys in my life, nothing could prepare me for the deliciousness that is this ice cream bar.

What really sets this bar apart is the coconut ice cream. It offers a light, refreshing, and tropical flavor that's somehow even more appealing than actual shredded coconut. The fact that it's frozen adds to this refreshing quality even more. Despite the fact that it's made with plenty of chocolate, this dessert isn't too heavy or sweet — it's perfectly balanced between that coconut-forward fruitiness and the thin chocolate shell that's encasing it. And, of course, you still get those signature almonds on top, providing that much-needed crunch. Coconut lovers, this is the ice cream bar for you.

These specific candy brand ice cream bars were selected based on local availability. I ranked the bars according to flavor balance and texture. Ice cream bars that aren't too sweet and aren't dominated by one specific flavor are ranked higher than those that feature a single overpowering flavor. Additionally, ice cream bars with an interesting texture rank higher on this list than those that only offer creaminess and little else from a textural perspective.