Aw nuts, the Toasty Holiday Peanut M&Ms aren’t great

There probably isn’t a better season for M&Ms fans to discover a new flavor of the iconic candy. Past years have brought us Toasty Vanilla, White Peppermint and Hot Cocoa. (Hot Cocoa is probably my favorite of the bunch, but you can never go wrong with the classic Holiday Mint, a flavor that’s available every year.)

For 2024, we’ve been gifted the Toasty Holiday Peanut M&Ms. Is this a gift that we should be happy to receive? Or should we ask for a gift receipt?

Where I found it

I found this 7.44 oz. bag at Wegmans while we were in Rochester for an early Thanksgiving weekend. (I also found a smaller bag at a Sheetz along the drive back home.)

What I paid

I paid $4.79 for this size bag.

My thoughts

I’ve been on the hunt for the Toasty Holiday Peanut M&Ms for weeks now. Pretty much since the day after Halloween, I’ve been checking the seasonal aisles at Target, Harris Teeter and Giant, hoping to find the latest holiday flavor.

After finding them at a Wegmans in Rochester, I held off on tasting them until we got back home. Once we were done unpacking and settled back in, I opened up the bag, popped a few of the green-, red- and yellow-colored M&Ms into my mouth …

… and was instantly disappointed.

It’s actually taken me almost a week to write up this review of the Toasty Holiday Peanut M&Ms because they’re so … meh. I can’t even say disappointing. They’re just meh.

While the M&Ms website describes the Toasty Holiday Peanut M&Ms as “made with roasted peanuts infused with cinnamon, vanilla, spiced sugar and caramel,” I don’t really get any of that. It’s a Peanut M&M — an already respectable and reliable flavor — with a touch of sweetness.

This flavor doesn’t have the same novelty as the Hot Cocoa flavor. You’re not going to find yourself devouring an entire bag like you would with Holiday Mint. If you didn’t know these weren’t the regular Peanut M&M flavor, you might just think they were a bag of that standard flavor that was off a bit. I dunno, maybe I haven’t bought bags of peanuts at a holiday market enough in my life?

Final verdict: SKIP

If you’re looking to stock up on M&Ms for your holiday gatherings this year, skip the Toasty Holiday Peanut flavor. Buy the fun holiday mixes or Holiday Mint instead. You can’t go wrong with those options.