The Worst Candy Bar Is Basically The Blueprint For Them All

While some products have been around for decades or even centuries, that doesn't mean they're the best of their kind. Such is the case for the Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar. In our ranking of 16 popular candy bars, the Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar took last place. One of the oldest chocolate bar manufacturers in the U.S., Hershey's is an iconic brand that should certainly be recognized as an innovator and instigator of the chocolate bar industry. But its original product has been surpassed by all the other candy bars we sampled. Taste tester and Tasting Table writer Samantha Maxwell specified the criteria for which all 16 candy bars were ranked as a well-rounded trifecta of taste, texture, and quality of ingredients. 

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar's demise began with its low quality ingredients. If you're going to offer a simple milk chocolate bar with no added flavors like nuts, extracts, or dried fruit, then the quality of the chocolate and the balance of proportions of chocolate to sugar to milk is all it has going for it. Unfortunately for Hershey's, the chocolate used is sub par, and the bar relies on an excess of sugar to compensate. The sweetness overpowers the chocolate notes. Furthermore, despite milk chocolate's reputation for being rich and creamy thanks to its dairy content, the Hershey's bar is bland and offers no depth of texture. It may be budget friendly compared to other chocolate brands, but it tastes cheap.

Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar may be the worst in our ranking, but it's also the blueprint that has led to a wealth of other more delicious Hershey's products, many of which earned top spots on our list. For example, Hershey's owns Cadbury, Kit Kat, Almond Joy, and Reese's, all of which ranked higher than the Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar. A few are even touted as some of our favorite candy bars. While Kit Kat, Almond Joy, and Reese's might even use the same milk chocolate formula found in the simple, plain Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar, they also offer a variety of contrasting flavors and textures.

Kit Kat's light and airy wafer, Almond Joy's decadent coconut filling and crunchy almond, and Reese's rich and grainy peanut butter are the defining characteristics of each candy bar. For diehard Hershey's chocolate bar faithfuls, there are plenty of other Hershey bar flavors that improve upon the chocolate taste and texture. We've got a ranking of Hershey bar flavors that places Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate with Almonds as the best. And Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar took 11th place in our ranking of grocery store dark chocolate bars. You can also use the regular plain milk chocolate bar as an ingredient in a more elaborate dessert. 

The most obvious use for a Hershey's chocolate bar is sandwiched between graham crackers and a melted marshmallow in a classic s'mores recipe. Pressing a square or two of a Hershey's bar into a classic peanut butter cookie gives it a delightful chocolatey upgrade. Or, melt a few Hershey's bars into butter, evaporated milk, marshmallow cream, and granulated sugar to create classic chocolate fudge. If you want to try the iconic treat for yourself, snack-sized Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars are available to purchase on Amazon.