Halloween candy for hiking, ranked

The ranking, with a short take on each

1. M&M's Peanut: 148 kcal/oz, 2.5 g protein/oz. The classic trail-mix candy. Peanuts add protein, the shell handles heat, and it pours straight into a bag of nuts.
2. Kit Kat Wafer Bar (1.5 oz): 147 kcal/oz, 1.8 g protein/oz. Dense for a wafer bar, but it crumbles when crushed and melts in heat.
3. Twix Caramel Cookie Bars: 144 kcal/oz, 1.6 g protein/oz. Cookie and caramel hold calories well, but the biscuit snaps into crumbs under a bear canister lid.
4. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (2-cup pack): 142 kcal/oz, 3.4 g protein/oz. Peanut butter gives it more protein and fat than most chocolate. Soft and messy in a warm pack.
5. Reese's Pieces: 142 kcal/oz, 3.4 g protein/oz. Same peanut-butter density as the cups in a candy shell that won't melt into your hip-belt pocket.
6. Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar: 138 kcal/oz, 2.0 g protein/oz. Plain chocolate is fat-dense but melts fast. Better on cold trips or as a s'mores bar.
7. Baby Ruth (fun size): 138 kcal/oz, 1.5 g protein/oz. Peanut-heavy and chewy, close to a Snickers on density and less likely to shatter.
8. M&M's: 136 kcal/oz, 1.2 g protein/oz. Shell stops melting, but without peanuts it's mostly sugar. Peanut M&M's carry better.
9. Almond Joy Candy Bar: 136 kcal/oz, 1.2 g protein/oz. Coconut and almond fat keep it dense; protein stays low.
10. Snickers (fun size): 133 kcal/oz, 1.7 g protein/oz. The hiker default for a reason: peanuts, caramel and nougat hold up in a pack and go down easily on a climb.
11. Mounds Dark Chocolate & Coconut Bar: 133 kcal/oz, 0.8 g protein/oz. Coconut fat helps density; almost no protein. Fine as a once-a-day treat.
12. Milky Way (fun size): 133 kcal/oz, 0.8 g protein/oz. Mostly nougat and caramel. Lighter on calories than peanut bars.
13. Whoppers Malted Milk Balls: 131 kcal/oz, 0.7 g protein/oz. Light and airy, so you carry a lot of volume for the calories. Crunches to powder easily.
14. Payday Peanut Caramel Bar: 131 kcal/oz, 3.8 g protein/oz. The most protein per ounce in this list and no chocolate coating to melt. A genuinely good trail candy.
15. Butterfinger (fun size): 130 kcal/oz, 2.3 g protein/oz. Crispy peanut butter core gives modest protein, but it turns to dust if crushed.
16. 3 Musketeers Bar: 124 kcal/oz, 0.8 g protein/oz. Whipped nougat is mostly air and sugar. One of the less dense chocolate bars.
17. Milk Duds: 124 kcal/oz, 0.7 g protein/oz. Caramel chews hold up in heat but deliver little besides sugar.
18. Skittles Original: 113 kcal/oz, 0.0 g protein/oz. Almost pure sugar: quick energy on a hard climb, no fat to keep you going.
19. Starburst Original Fruit Chews: 113 kcal/oz, 0.0 g protein/oz. Fast sugar that survives heat and cold. Low density compared with anything containing nuts.
20. Nerds (strawberry): 113 kcal/oz, 0.0 g protein/oz. A quick sugar hit in a small box. No fat, no protein.
21. York Peppermint Pattie: 108 kcal/oz, 0.8 g protein/oz. Low density for a chocolate candy because the fondant filling is mostly sugar and moisture.
22. Sour Patch Kids (3.2 oz bag): 102 kcal/oz, 0.0 g protein/oz. Pure sugar, chewy, heat-proof. Fine as a pick-me-up, poor for calories per ounce.
23. Brach's Classic Candy Corn: 101 kcal/oz, 0.0 g protein/oz. Near the bottom: almost all sugar and no fat. Take it for morale, not fuel.
24. Tootsie Roll Midgees: 99 kcal/oz, 0.7 g protein/oz. The least calorie-dense candy here. Easy to chew in the cold, but you carry a lot for little energy.

Numbers come from USDA FoodData Central: Branded Foods label data, or SR Legacy lab values where no current label was listed (Kit Kat, Almond Joy, 3 Musketeers; per-serving values there are computed for the bar size shown). Fun-size and full-size versions of the same candy have the same calories per ounce. The short takes are our own judgment on how each candy holds up in a pack, not taste tests.

24 foods. Every number comes from published Nutrition Facts. We don't do taste tests or paid placements. See the methodology for sources and formulas, or build a full menu with the planner.