As one of many who loves popcorn, not only at the movies but all the time, I try to spice up the variation with what seems to be the most immaculate marriage in history: chocolate.

Though for decades, chocolate has been the ultimate eye candy for popcorn, one must wonder, which chocolate is truly best? How does one keep this long time relationship spicy, fresh, and not too cookie cutter? 

The Tasting

To get close to this answer as much as I could, I decided to take matters into my own hands and have chocolate tasting of my own, trying out new combinations of popcorn and chocolate candies. 

popcorn, sweet, cereal, corn, rice, milk
Brooke Billings

To make sure I was getting the highest and most thorough of critiques, I gathered a panel of popcorn experts (and the only people available): Brooke, Erica, and Brooklynn. I had them one by one taste each chocolate with a hand full of popcorn describing the combination and rating it overall out of 10.

1. Reese's Pieces 

corn, cereal, popcorn, rice, kettle corn
Brooke Billings

First up was Reese's Pieces, a fun sized version of the ever classic peanut butter cups. 

Brooke: "I like it! The combination is a great marriage of sweet and salty." 9/10

Erica: "Not too bad! I could use a little more chocolate, though." 7/10

Brooklynn: "Very good choice. The peanut butter adds a little something extra!" 8/10

Average Rating: 8/10

2. Peanut M&M's

popcorn, corn, cereal, candy, kettle corn, sweet, rice, caramel
Brooke Billings

Though the classic partner for popcorn is regular M&M's, why not add a modern spin by adding peanuts to the party.

Brooke: "Wow! This combination is like a flavor explosion in my mouth!" 10/10

Erica: "Perfect size of chocolate, creating an exceptional balance between sweet and salty." 10/10

Brooklynn: "Wow this one is really good! Like, welcome to Willy Wonka!" 10/10

Average Rating: 10/10

3. M&M's

corn, cereal, popcorn, rice, wheat, kettle corn
Brooke Billings

I couldn't have a tasting with out adding the original popcorn filler, M&M's.

Brooke: "This one is perfect because it is all chocolate!" 9/10

Erica: "One of the best ones if not the best! There are no gimmicks, just classic chocolate" 9/10

Brooklynn: "I love how this is simply chocolate and popcorn, timeless and classic." 9/10

Average Rating: 9/10

4. Butterfinger Bites

popcorn, corn, cereal, rice, milk, sweet, kettle corn, candy
Brooke Billings

Now this concoction was a little outside of the box, so I though this would be the perfect place to try it out.

Brooke: "The ratio of popcorn to chocolate isn't balanced. I may like it if the pieces were smaller." 7/10

Erica: "I actually don't mind this combination! But there just seems to be something off taste-wise, I can't put my butterfinger on it." 9.5/10

Brooklynn: "Just too much finger and chocolate, it's over powering the popcorn." 7/10

Average Rating: 7.8/10

5. Milk Duds

cereal, corn, milk, sweet, muesli
Brooke Billings

Ahh Milk Duds, the best solution to a date that won't stop talking. 

Brooke: "The Milk Duds are just too sticky for my liking, I almost choked." 4/10

Erica: "Not a big fan of these, they are making the kernels get stuck in my teeth even more than they already do." 5/10

Brooklynn: "This is just not working for me. The Milk Duds are over powering the popcorn." 3/10

Average Rating: 4/10

After careful consideration and deliberation, it looks like Peanut M&M's take the cake by adding a new twist to the classic and timeless chocolate popcorn snack. Now go out and experiment to see what new combinations you can come up with. Get things POPPIN' 🍿.