Some people think a candy bar is a candy bar, but I don’t agree. Many chocolate companies are getting back to the basics by using real, cleaner ingredients to craft quality treats. And the taste, oh my goodness, is out of this world!
This post contains affiliate links. At no cost to you, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Thank you, as your support makes this blog possible!
This is a clean-living blog, so I write this post in the spirit of stocking stuffers, Easter basket fillers and occasional treats, not as a daily 2 pm snacks ;). These healthier candy bar options also make excellent stepping stones for anyone trying to clean up their diet.
This post will look at cleaner candy bar swaps for some of the classic candy bars like Snickers, Reese’s, Milky Ways and Almond Joys/Mounds. But first, what makes a healthier or cleaner candy bar?
How to Choose a Healthier Candy Bar?
When I indulge in a candy bar, I’m looking for lower sugar. How low depends on what the occasion is. I eat dark chocolate daily, and that is usually 75-80% cocoa depending on the brand. If I’m going for a real treat, I’m a bit more lenient.
For example, each year when my kids go trick-or-treating, I take my own chocolate, so I’m not tempted to ravage their candy buckets. Most healthier candy bars naturally have 30-40% less sugar anyways, so this is not hard to find.
Cleaner candy bars will use real and simple ingredients, no corn syrup, no preservatives like tBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone) and no artificial colors or flavors. While corn syrup has a similar nutritional profile to cane sugar, it’s usually made from Round-Up Ready Corn, so I choose to avoid it mostly out of principle.
Chocolate that is Fairtrade Certified is another thing I look for when possible. It ensures that farmers are paid appropriately for their cocoa beans and that various social and environmental standards are met.
What is the Healthiest Candy Bar?
I think we all know this one by now. Nearly everyone agrees the healthiest candy bar would be an organic, fair trade dark chocolate bar with at least 70% cocoa content, but the higher the cocoa content the better. If you want to bump up the nutritional profile even more, go for one with almonds.
Here are just a few chocolate bars that check all of the boxes on clean ingredients and offer minimally sweetened options.
While Alter Eco and Theo cost about 50% more than traditional chocolate bars, Hu tends to be a bit pricier. I have only bought these a few times when they were on a really good special, but they did not disappoint. You’ll also notice that it’s a slightly smaller than standard bar.
For more details on what makes dark chocolate so ridiculously healthy, see my post, Best Dark Chocolate for Anxiety. Oh, and by the way, dark chocolate is good for a gazillion things including anxiety. Now, what we came here for …
Healthier Swaps for Your Favorite Candy Bars
While there are a million different candy bar varieties, this post will highlight some the most popular candy bars as well as some of my personal favorites.
I’m going to start with my personal back-in-the-day favorite: Snickers! It’s an American classic, and the perfect candy bar design IMHO. I love the mix of crunchy and chewy.
Since Snickers are an old favorite of mine, it’s no surprise that the copycats are my favorite on this list. Both of these Snickers-inspired cleaner candy bars are seriously sooooo good! Proceed with caution.
Healthier Snickers Bar Alternative
The first time I had an OCHO Caramel and Peanut Bar, I didn’t really think about it being similar to a Snicker’s bar, but that was my first thought after having a bite. Just like a traditional Snickers, the bar is made up of chocolate, nougat, peanuts and caramel. Such a yummy combination.
They used to have a dark chocolate version of this bar, but I don’t think’s available anymore :(. The OCHO caramel and peanut bar has 23 grams of added sugar in a 42-gram bar, so it’s not exactly a low sugar option, but the ingredients are much cleaner.
Ocho bars are organic, Fairtrade certified and contain no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors.
The UNREAL Dark Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat Bars are very similar to the OCHO bars. I think they are a little chewier than the OCHO bars, which is neither good nor bad (to me) just slightly different.
The UNREAL bars are sold in mini sizes, and they only have 6 grams of sugar in the 19-gram bar making them a lower sugar option compared to OCHO. You can occasionally find these as full-size bars too, but you see them much more frequently in the mini version.
Sugar content is 40% less than a typical candy bar, but you still feel like you’re eating a candy bar. UNREAL bars are non-GMO, made with fair trade chocolate, organic peanuts and nothing artificial.
Healthier Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Alternative
You’ve got several cleaner options for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and I think that’s because the premise (chocolate + peanut butter) is originally healthy.
UNREAL Peanut Butter Cups
We’ll start with UNREAL Peanut Butter Cups, which aren’t too hard to find these days. These come in milk chocolate as well as dark chocolate. I’m a dark chocolate girl, but both are delicious.
These healthier peanut butter cups, contain 5 grams of sugar in a 14-gram cup. UNREAL bars are non-GMO, made with fair trade chocolate, organic peanuts and nothing artificial.
Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups
Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups are the other contender for cleaner peanut butter cups. Justin’s also offers their peanut butter cups in milk and dark chocolate. They contain 8 grams of sugar in one 20-gram cup, which is similar to a traditional Reese’s.
You can also choose from cashew butter, almond butter or peanut butter with crispy quinoa. The last option having the least amount of sugar (6.5 grams per cup). Justin’s are non-GMO, organic and free of artificial ingredients.
Ocho Peanut Butter Minis
A slightly different option is that OCHO makes milk chocolate and dark chocolate peanut butter bars. They’re kind of amazing, and these are less sweet than the Snickers OCHO highlighted above. They don’t come in cute little circles, but the flavors are definitely there.
These bars are organic, Fairtrade, junk-free and have 7 grams of sugar per serving (2 small bars). Not too shabby!
Healthiest Alternative to a Reese’s?
Aside from making your own, these Skinny Dipped Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are arguably the healthiest Reese’s alternative around with only 2 grams of sugar per cup. These cups contain simple, natural ingredients, and they taste pretty good too.
These are one of the only options where I can easily limit myself to just one or two. They are subtly sweet and won’t send you into a sugar craze.
If the dark chocolate cups aren’t quite sweet enough for you, there is a milk chocolate option as well. I have not tried that variation just yet, but I suspect they are yummy!
Healthier Milky Way Alternative
These Little Secrets Creamy Nougat Bars make a nice cleaner swap for Milky Ways. The texture and taste is similar, but like the other brands in this post, they contain real ingredients, sustainable cocoa and less sugar.
I tried these around Halloween when Costco had a large variety pack. It was a dangerous situation having so many on hand, but the kids and I enjoyed trying them all. I do not recommend buying the Costco size pack unless you have more restraint than me ;).
Healthier Mound/Almond Joy Alternative
If you are a coconut lover, you are in luck, because coconut is crazy popular among cleaner candy bars. I’m a coconut fan, and I regularly snack on Chocoxo, which you can get for a great price at Costco.
Chocoxo is an 85% dark chocolate, very low sugar option with just 3 grams of sugar per cup. They are organic and non-GMO. These are one of the few options that I can have a big bag of and not overdo it. They’re just sweet enough to enjoy, but they don’t turn my sugar bugs on.
Unreal Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars are another healthier alternative to Almond Joys and Mounds. These Fair Trade certified, non-GMO bars have 3 grams of sugar in a 25-gram bar, which is 50% less sugar than their traditional competition.
This is another fairly low sugar option thanks to the natural subtle sweetness of coconut.
Do These Bars Taste Like Traditional Candy Bars?
They taste much better IMHO, but if you (or your kiddos) have been eating traditional candy bars, your taste buds are likely tuned in to the artificial ingredients and high sugar content.
The good news is most people can reset their palate in just a couple of weeks by eating clean/whole foods. Pretty soon your body won’t care for the taste of artificial ingredients and slightly sweet things will taste much sweeter.
I personally think a gradual approach is easier. When I go rogue, which I sometimes do around the holidays, I like to take a few days or sometimes even weeks to weed the sugar back out of my diet.
Luckily and unluckily your palate can change pretty quickly (in either direction).
Conclusion
If you absolutely love chocolate like I do but also want to be a good steward of your body, some of these healthier candy bars might help you in certain situations where you are tempted to indulge in candy or want to treat your kiddos.
While some of these candy bars may be available at your local grocery, others can only be found at specialty grocers like Whole Foods and Sprouts (at least that’s what we have here in the southeast). Costco carries some of these brands, and they’re available at several places online including Amazon.
Enjoy!
Good to know! Can’t wait to try them!