If you’re planning on spending Valentine’s Day eating mountains of candy alone, chances are, you’re trying to figure out which candy will maximize your enjoyment. Surely, if you’re like me, you noticed the candy sales on your last trip to Target and ran into a lot of trouble deciding between the peanut M&M’s and the fudge M&M’s. The longer I looked at my candy options, the more overwhelming it got. I mean, what even is the difference between a regular M&M and a fudge one? And how can an M&M be crispy? So, I just took one for the team and sampled an absurd amount of M&M’s. Luckily for you, instead of trying all the different kinds of M&M’s (there are many) like me, you can just read on to find out which M&M flavor is best for you.

Fudge brownie

I thought this one was going to taste like a regular M&M, and it basically did. However, it was larger than a normal M&M, and it actually had this interesting, brownie aftertaste! At first, it was totally just chocolate, and then, something about it actually tasted like a brownie! To be honest, my expectations were low, so these kind of blew me away. Probably not the best option unless you’re down to enjoy the nuances of an M&M.

Pretzel

OK, I really liked this idea. Salty and crunchy pretzel surrounded with milk chocolate? I mean, what’s not to like? But, in reality, these were a tad annoying to eat. They’re strangely dry and hard in the middle, and it left me just wanting a chocolate-covered pretzel instead. Or just a pretzel, and then some chocolate. Or just chocolate. Maybe this is a personal problem.

Peanut butter

These are pretty much my favorites. Sorry for everyone with peanut allergies, but the peanut butter chocolate combination will always reign supreme (though I must say, almond butter is also pretty good). These are so fun to bite into because the inside is surprisingly creamy, and the peanut butter taste isn’t overwhelming. If you’re looking to get a lot of yummy flavor in your M&M’s, this is the way to go.

Peanut

This flavor is a classic. If you’re looking for an M&M that makes you kind of feel as though you’re eating something healthy (nuts are healthy, right?), this is the way to go. Also, the protein from the peanuts makes me feel validated when I eat handfuls of these instead of actual food. The only downside is that if you don’t want to feel healthy (sometimes, I just want pure sugar), these kind of feel as though you’re being cheated out of a real dessert. Also, they’re sort of difficult to chew — they’ve got a bunch of layers!

Mini

Mini M&M’s are just so incredibly satisfying to eat. You could eat handfuls and not even feel bad about it. You could put them on top of other treats (ice cream, pudding, cake, cookies), and all they do is improve the quality of the snack. Somehow, these are much more crunchy than normal M&M’s, which makes them fun to eat, even if the flavor is still basic. The only downside here is that you might eat too many at once. 

Crispy

These ones basically have extra air in them. If you think about it, it’s sort of just a rip-off — all those little air pockets in the crispy material are spaces where there could have just been more chocolate. Basically, the wafer to chocolate to candy ratio is all off, so you should really only buy these if you’re determined to challenge my expert opinion on candy-covered pieces of chocolate.

Caramel

These are aggressively sweet, and the caramel was kind of thicker than I wanted it to be. That being said, the flavor combination is pretty top notch, and you really only have to eat a few of these (or, if you’re like me, scale up to a handful) to feel as though you had a fulfilling, sweet snack. These also feel fancy, as though I’m eating a sophisticated version of a regular M&M. 

There you have it — a pretty comprehensive review of the pros and cons of common M&M varieties. At the end of the day, you can’t really go wrong. I mean, it’s a couple dollars for a bag of chocolate, so even if you feel disturbingly healthy while you’re eating the peanut M&M’s or too fancy eating the caramel ones, you can always just go try something else out next time.