Snickers vs. 3 Musketeers: Differences & Which Is Better?

The debate for the best chocolate bar can become quite heated, with people fiercely defending their favorite sweet delight. And despite sharing the same parent company, 3 Musketeers and Snickers can strongly divide opinions. So, how do these popular candy bars differ from one another? And which one should you choose to satisfy your sweet tooth – Snickers or 3 Musketeers?

A Snickers bar offers caramel, nougat, and peanuts inside its chocolate coating, whereas 3 Musketeers have only nougat. Also, the nougat in 3 Musketeers is fluffier compared to the nougat in Snickers. So, 3 Musketeers appeal more to nougat lovers while a Snickers bar has a more diverse taste.

This article engages in the delicious endeavor of breaking apart these two candy bars and seeing what separates them. We go over their ingredients, the process of making them, their history, and their distribution. Hopefully, by the end, we will have a better idea of the superior candy bar.

Snickers vs. 3 Musketeers: Differences

First, let’s compare the many aspects of these two confectionaries and see how they stack up against one another. 

Ingredients

We shall start by looking at the constitution of both bars. Of course, there are several variations of Snickers and 3 Musketeers. But for the sake of this argument, we will be focusing on the original Snickers bar and the basic 3 Musketeers bar.

The original Snickers bar is made out of a nougat base with peanuts mixed in the caramel layer. These three layers are then covered in milk chocolate.

The 3 Musketeers do not have any peanuts or caramel. They are simply a nougat bar with a chocolate coating on top.

The milk chocolate used in both candies is identical. In fact, very few ingredients separate the two recipes. The most notable differences are the addition of peanuts and caramel in a Snickers bar.

Taste

When it comes to taste, Snickers offer a wider range of flavor to your palate. The caramel adds a touch of saltiness, the peanut gives it a savory taste, and the nougat is sweet but not overbearing. All of this goes perfectly with the sweetness and creaminess of the milk chocolate coat.

In 3 Musketeers, the predominant flavor is the nougat, which does go along pretty nicely with the milk chocolate.

Texture

 If you bite into these two candy bars, you will instantly realize the difference in texture. A Snickers bar has the stickiness from the caramel and a bit of crunch provided by the peanuts. This contrasts quite perfectly with the softness of the nougat and the chocolate coat.

Conversely, a 3 Musketeers bar has a more uniform texture. It also incorporates nougat but there is a difference. The nougat in 3 Musketeers is fluffier and lighter. And even though they are made from much the same ingredients, the nougat in Snickers is a bit denser and compact.

Nutrition

A regular 3 Musketeers bar weighs about 1.92 oz and has 240 kcal. A traditional Snickers bar weighs about 1.86 oz and generates 250 kcal. So, Snickers bars are more calorie conducive than their nougat-heavy counterparts. [1] [2]

Snickers has more fat content and less sugar in them compared to 3 Musketeers. Of course, most of the carbohydrates are added sugar and not fiber-rich.

A Snickers bar has four times the protein than a regular 3 Musketeers. This comes down to the fact that Snickers have peanuts.

Another point of notable difference is the salt content. As stated earlier, Snickers has a salty background flavor to go with the sweetness. This goes along with the fact that a Snickers bar has 30 mg of sodium more than 3 Musketeers.

Appearance

The 3 Musketeers wrap is distinctively silvery-white. Snickers is wrapped in a more conventional dark-colored package, something you will see many chocolate bars share.

The actual chocolate bars are pretty much similar aside from the 3 Musketeers being slightly taller than the Snickers bar (again, the fluffy nougat comes into play). Once you bite into the bar, however, you immediately notice the difference. Snickers have 2 distinct layers inside the chocolate, while the 3 Musketeers are a white wall of nougat.

Price

Depending on where you are located, the price for a single Snickers bar or 3 Musketeers bar can vary drastically. But on average, traditional Snickers will cost you .67 cents to .72 cents per oz. On the flip side, 3 Musketeers can go for .68 to .80 cents, if you buy the regular one. Of course, there is a difference in price among the variations of these products.

Variations

We have alluded to this prior, but now let’s look at this in focus. Since their inceptions, both Snickers and 3 Musketeers have received plenty of variations to the core concept. So, here is a list showing some of those variations that have come our way in the past few decades:

Popularity

Snickers is not only the best-selling candy worldwide but also is more popular in the USA than 3 Musketeers. [3]

Snickers vs. 3 Musketeers: Which Is Better?

So, now for the ultimate question. And unless you are a big fan of the nougat in 3 Musketeers, it is hard to argue against Snickers. Snickers offers you more diversity in a single bar and more texture. And if you want to argue the nutritional aspects, Snickers has more protein thanks to peanuts.

Which Came First: 3 Musketeers or Snickers?

Snickers came out 1930, a full two years before the launch of the 3 Musketeers bar. Both of these products are from the same company, Mars, Incorporated, one of the world’s largest chocolate brands.

In the beginning, the 3 Musketeers were sold as 3 in one package. It had 3 bars: one chocolate, one strawberry, and the other vanilla. Hence, the Mars company gave it the name 3 Musketeers, an obvious reference to the famous adventure novel of the same name.

Snickers were originally named after the Mars family’s favorite horse. But it had a different name in the UK and Ireland, which was “marathon”. After 1990, the bar was titled Snickers worldwide and it has remained that way since.

In the end, the taste is entirely subjective and you are free to like whichever candy bar you prefer. Just remember to keep your sweet tooth in control when you are consuming any type of candy.