Easter jelly beans have a colorful history

They’re as common as eggs at Easter, but no one really knows exactly where the colorful, lovable jelly bean came from.

According to the National Confectioners Association, the jellied center of the sweet bean probably came from a middle eastern candy known as Turkish Delight, which was famous even in Biblical times.

The most modern part of the bean is the shell that gives the jelly bean its famous al dente bite. Today’s jelly bean is a descendent of a 17th-century process used to make the candy coating for Jordan almonds in France. In a panning process, almonds were rocked around a large bowl filled with sugar and syrup until they were coated with a candy shell. Today, machines now do the rocking and rolling.

The shell and the jelly came together in America by 1861, when the earliest known advertisement for the candy appeared. William Schrafft of Boston promoted the jelly bean and advocated sending the beans to Union soldiers at Christmas during the Civil War. By the 1930s the jelly bean had become a staple of Easter celebrations. In fact, about 16 billion beans are sold at Easter alone.

Jelly beans have also become part of the spicy candy trend that began around 2018, according to Candy Store. In 2021, the favorite flavor of the jelly beans was cinnamon. The second favorite flavor was also the most intensely hated: Black licorice — you heard that right. Coming in third was buttered popcorn and fourth was cherry.