The world is full of vegan sweets, but candy bars are the new frontier. Brownies, cakes, and cookies that ship have somewhat eclipsed the evolution of chocolate-coated nougats and caramels, but right now, we are celebrating the novelty of the candy bar. From mainstream look-a-likes to completely unique confections, these 34 vegan candy bars will delight with every nutty, nougatty, chocolate-laden bite.
Note: these vegan candy bars are not ranked in any particular order.
Are candy bars vegan?
Vegan candy bars are becoming more common as the plant-based trend continues to resonate with consumers.
Some candy bars—such as true dark chocolate or chocolate-coated marzipan squares—are accidentally vegan, but it’s more often than not that brands are making a conscious effort to omit animal products from their recipes to cater to demand.
Tony’s Chocolonely
We can always rely on vegan candy companies, but today, omnivorous brands have reinvented many of the classics to give everyone a taste of nostalgia—sans dairy, eggs, and gelatin.
When assessing whether a candy bar is vegan, here are the ingredients to look out for: eggs, egg whites, whey, milk derivatives, gelatin, casein (dairy), shellac (derived from insects), honey, and beeswax. Avoid bars that contain these ingredients, and you’re in the clear.
Are vegan candy bars healthy?
Like their animal-based inspirations, vegan candy bars are best enjoyed in moderation. While free from dairy and animal-based fats, vegan candy bars still contain high amounts of sugar, fat, and calories without contributing much else nutrition-wise.
Dr. Bronner’s
Due to this, vegan candy bars are considered to be nutrient-poor, meaning you can’t rely on them to obtain the vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients you need to feel your best. For example, a two-tablespoon serving of peanut butter contains about eight grams of protein, 190 calories, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, two grams of natural sugar, and three grams of fiber. Compare that to a nut-based candy bar which provides just four grams of protein, 200 calories, five grams of saturated fat, six grams of added sugar, and five grams of fiber.
When you compare these two, the candy bar is nutritionally inferior in every way with the exception of fiber. By all means, enjoy your vegan candy bar from time to time, but know it’s a treat and not optimum nutrition.
34 Vegan Candy Bars
Next time you’re perusing the candy aisle, pick up one of these vegan candy bars to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Cadbury
1 Cadbury Plant Bar
Finally, seasoned vegans can once again enjoy their Cadbury chocolate, and new vegans can see what the fuss is all about. The UK chocolatier released two vegan-friendly chocolate bars last year: Smooth Chocolate and Salted Caramel.
The almond milk-based chocolate is only available in the UK, so if you’re planning on traveling abroad, you now know where to go.
Find out more
GIGANTIC!
2 GIGANTIC! Hazelnut Cafe
Disclaimer: these bars are actually regular-sized—the brand name is referring to the flavor. Reach for this “sorta sweet,” hazelnut-studded coffee candy bar when you need more than a cup of coffee for a pick-me-up.
Find out more
Alter Eco
3 Alter Eco Mint Blackout
What makes this a blackout bar? Ninety percent cacao. The intense flavor of chocolate is subtly balanced with a touch of peppermint and the essence of bourbon vanilla. This is a bar to savor slowly.
Find out more
Justin’s
4 Justin’s Super Dark Chocolate Espresso Almond Butter Cups
We thought peanut butter cups epitomized perfection until we tried these caffeine-laced candies. The revelation was quite mind-altering. If there is something better than a peanut butter cup, what else have we settled for? Eat an espresso almond butter cup while you ponder that thought.
Find out more
Endangered Species
5 Endangered Species Espresso Beans + Dark Chocolate
You’ve been warned—this is not an evening chocolate bar unless the goal is to pull an all-nighter.
The 72 percent cocoa bar is pebbled with pieces of full-strength espresso beans, providing a divine hit of flavor as well as a decent dose of caffeine. Enjoy slowly to avoid jitters.
Find out more
Nelly’s Organic
6 Nelly’s Organics Caramel Nougat
No nuts here, just smooth vegan caramel and melt-in-your-mouth nougat. This bar is perfect if you’re not looking for crunch in a candy bar.
Find out more
Dr. Bronner’s
7 Dr. Bronner’s All-In-One Bars
Yes, the makers of your favorite peppermint-scented soaps now make sustainable vegan chocolate bars.
The seven flavors are made with 70 percent dark chocolate made from organic and regenerative cacao beans along with tantalizing ingredients like peppermint, toffee, and salted almond butter fillings.
Sure, the soap is great, but Dr. Bronner is truly a candyman at heart.
Find out more
Giselle’s Vegan Kitchen
8 Giselle’s Vegan Kitchen Protein Bar
We were at first hesitant to try this based on its name alone—our brain was craving candy, not a post-workout snack.
However, names can be deceiving, which made us delight even further when we bit into this chocolate-covered bar of oaty, peanut-buttery goodness. The experience is pure candy bar, but the protein content lives up to its name. Just one bar boasts 20 grams of plant-based protein!
Find out more
Go Max Go
9 Go Max Go Jokerz
The Jokerz bar is Snickers reincarnated. You get roasted peanuts, caramel, peanut nougat, and a dairy-free milk chocolate coating. Snickers fans, you know who you are.
Find out more
Eli’s Earth
10 Eli’s Earth Celebrate Chocolate Candy Bar
This crunchy peanut butter and caramel bar does more than the average candy bar—it gives back. Five percent of Celebrate bar sales go toward children’s charities. Do something sweet for others while eating a vegan candy bar.
Find out more
GIGANTIC!
11 GIGANTIC! Salted Peanut
Peanuts. Caramel. Chocolate. Sold.
Bonus: this bar (and all bars from this brand) only contain seven grams of sugar. For reference, a Snickers contains 25 grams of sugar.
Find out more
Beyond Good
12 Beyond Good Crispy Rice
When you think of chocolate studded with crunchy puffed rice, what comes to mind? If you answered Crunch bar, you’ve nailed it.
This vegan bar is a step up from the basic Crunch candy, swapping in single-origin, organic, Uganda cocoa. You’ve grown up—your candy should, too.
Find out more
Nelly’s Organics
13 Nelly’s Organics German Chocolate Bar
More cakes should be turned into candy bars. This sweet handhold features a dense, chocolatey “cake” base topped with a thick layer of pecan pieces and sweet coconut shrouded in super soft nougat. The entire thing gets a coating of chocolate to prevent sticky packaging … and no one objects to more chocolate.
Find out more
Hu Kitchen
14 Hu Vanilla Crunch
Don’t knock quinoa in chocolate until you’ve tried it. This bar combines decadent 70 percent cacao dark chocolate with puffed quinoa for a decadent candy bar that’s both silky and crunchy with a hint of vanilla bean. This is definitely our favorite way to eat quinoa.
Find out more
Gatsby
15 Gatsby Chocolate Oat Milk Bars
Searching for a low-sugar, keto, and vegan alternative to chocolate? The co-founder of Halo Top has the solution. Gatsby’s creamy oat-based candy bars in Salted Almond and Oat Milk Crunch cut the calories while still providing that sweetness you crave.
Find out more
Chocolove
16 Chocolove’s Orange Peel in Dark Chocolate
Chocolove is a stellar mid-tier, vegan-friendly chocolate brand. It contains high quality ingredients without the astronomical price tags of some gourmet chocolate brands.
This naturally flavored dark chocolate bar is perfect for those who appreciate the combination of chocolate and orange.
Find out more
No Whey!
17 No Whey! Candy Bar
A mashup of a peanut butter cup and a Twix, this divine chocolate bar layers sweet peanut butter nougat with silky-smooth caramel.
Willy Wonka himself could not improve on this wondrous combination.
Find out more
Unreal
18 Unreal Snacks Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar
If Mounds was your omnivore jam, this bar is your vegan jam. Like the original, it’s simple—just sweetened, toothsome coconut surrounded by luscious dark chocolate. Not nuts, just pure, coconutty goodness.
Find out more
OCHO
19 OCHO Dark Peanut Butter
This vegan-friendly candy company elongated the classic peanut butter cup and transformed it into a bar. In the process, it added chopped peanuts to the velvety filling for those who crave the crunch factor.
Be sure to pick up the Dark variety—the plain Peanut Butter bar contains dairy.
Find out more
Vego
20 Vego
Nothing beats a heaping spoonful of vegan chocolate hazelnut spread—except a Vego bar. Made with smooth gianduja chocolate, hazelnut paste, and whole hazelnuts, this bar is a step up from any spread you’ll find on the market.
Find out more
Lagusta’s Luscious
21 Lagusta’s Luscious Turtle Bar
Dark chocolate, caramel, pecans, and sea salt—this is the classic turtle confection in bar form.
While this New York-based vegan chocolatier crafts a number of mouthwatering treats, this iconic Turtle Bar remains a best-seller. Good thing they ship nationwide.
Find out more
Nelly’s Organics
21 Nelly’s Organics Double Chocolate
Not quite a health food, but not quite an indulgence, this chocolate-on-chocolate vegan candy bar is filled with a handful of raw foods including dates, cacao, and vanilla beans.
When a single bar contains 20 percent of your daily fiber, that’s a win worth celebrating.
Find out more
Go Max Go
22 Go Max Go Buccaneer
To get the gist of this vegan candy bar, recall a certain commercial featuring a silver-wrapped bar floating skyward. Need another hint? The mascots were three fencing friends with large hats. One more clue: it’s made of a fluffy nougat filling enrobed in chocolate. Keep thinking. You’ll get it.
Find out more
Pascha
23 Pascha White Chocolate Bar
Debate about the authenticity of white chocolate as “real” chocolate all you want—what cannot be argued is the deliciousness of this vegan white chocolate bar.
Bonus: in addition to being whey-free, it’s also organic and free of soy, nuts, and gluten. Vegan candy for all!
Find out more
Hu
24 Hu Cashew Butter & Raspberry
When a cashew butter cup collides with a raspberry-studded dark chocolate bar, magic is made. It’s like a gourmet nut butter and jelly sandwich … if you dunked that sandwich in chocolate. This must be what true bliss feels like.
Find out more
Chocolate Inspirations
25 Chocolate Inspirations Sweet Buddies Bar Salted Caramel Marshmallows & Chocolate
This bar is a mouthful—literally. The company jams vegan mini marshmallows into a dairy-free caramel center and enrobes the confection in thick dark chocolate. It’s dense, gooey, chewy, and utterly fantastic.
Find out more
Whoa! Dough
26 Whoa! Dough Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bar
It’s vegan chocolate chip cookie dough in bar form. Really, what’s not love?
Find out more
Go Max Go
27 Go Max Go 2fer
For those who simply cannot decide between Left Twix and Right Twix, there’s the 2fer.
This veganized version features the same buttery shortbread, soft caramel, and chocolate coating, but it comes in a single bar, so you don’t have to choose.
Find out more
Ritter Sport
28 Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Marzipan
This German chocolate company has a dedicated vegan category on its website these days, but it’s been making dairy-free chocolate for years without the label.
The marzipan-filled chocolate bar never fails to quell that very specific craving for sweetened almond paste. Just try it. It’s outstanding.
Find out more
Trader Joe’s
29Trader Joe’s Oat Chocolate Bar
This bar is perfect for those seeking a middle ground between milk and dark chocolate. Made with 40 percent cacao, TJ’s vegan-friendly confection is less bitter than a typical 70 percent bar while retaining a bit more complexity than your average milk chocolate bar. When placed in the “impulse buy” display right near the register, we can’t resist.
Find out more
Compartés
30 Compartés California Love Pretzel
It’s not just our sweet tooth that lures us into the Compartes display—it’s the gorgeous artistic packaging.
Reach for a Compartes bar if you’re in the mood for something a bit wacky. There’s the Old Hollywood Smoked Sea Salt, the coconut-studded Tropical Paradise, and pink-dusted Matcha Raspberry Reishi, but there’s something about that sweet-and-salty combo that always brings us back to the California Love Pretzel.
Find out more
Tony’s Chocolonely
31 Tony’s Chocolonely Dark Chocolate Cookie Citrusy Caramel
Tony doesn’t sell bars of chocolate—he sells bricks. These bars are massive, as are the flavors. This complex bar doesn’t hold back—you’ll sink your teeth into a chocolate bar filled with lemon-infused vegan caramel and crispy dark cocoa cookie pieces. Pick up a few and do some bicep curls—the bars could double as light hand weights.
Find out more
Cocoa Parlor
32 Cocoa Parlor Strawberry Mermaid
Made with just four ingredients, the flavors in this bar really shine. It’s like a chocolate-covered strawberry if you swapped the strawberry-to-chocolate ratio and used exceptionally high quality chocolate. Find these at some natural foods stores or online.
Find out more
Manoa Chocolate
33 Manoa Chocolate Haupia x Coconut Milk Chocolate Bar
We can’t talk about chocolate without mentioning Hawiian chocolate. Made on Oahu, this smooth and creamy yet deeply flavored chocolate bar is crafted with just four ingredients sourced from the island. The coconut flavor is present without being overpowering.
It’s definitely worth a trip to stock up, but they also ship.
Find out more
Ritual Chocolate
34 Ritual Chocolate Dark Mocha
Cacao, sugar, cacao butter, and coffee. That’s all you need for a sweet reboot to any bad day.
Find this bar online or at high-end natural food stores.
Find out more
This post was originally published on VegNews.com.