Reese’s Big Cup Peanut Butter Lovers King Sized Cups Review

Reese’s peanut butter cups from Hershey’s candy company, whether big or small, have been my favorite candies for nearly a half-century. So I was quite thrilled when they introduced the Reese’s Big Cup Peanut Butter Lovers King Sized Cups a few years back, though my waistline didn’t like them. That signature combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter remains unrivaled to this day in my view. Others have tried to imitate it, but failed miserably.

Indeed, Reese’s stumbled upon a winning formula when they created their long-running line of peanut butter cups, and have increased the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate in this bigger version of their classic peanut butter cup, for peanut butter lovers like me. But the chocolate portion is still quite significant in the flavor. So chocolate lovers will still enjoy these cups for peanut butter lovers as well. It’s a taste that, like a good woman, never grows tedious — unless you eat twenty cups in one sitting, which I’ve been known to do on occasion. But even if I get sick of this candy one night, I’m eager the next day to go at it again.

Benefits, Advantages, Pros, and Features

Reese’s is a well-established name in the peanut butter cup industry. Indeed, no other brand of peanut butter cup has ever achieved the acclaim and longevity of Reese’s. So they can be found in just about any store that sells mainstream candy products.
Though I’ve heard of them changing the formula numerous times through the years, my tongue tastes no difference between today’s cups and those made in the 1960s and 1970s.
Though some candies have begun using trans fats in the form of partially hydrogenated oils in their recipes, None of that is found in these peanut butter cups.
If I ever do get tired of eating this candy, as sometimes does happen during the holiday season, all it takes is a week or two away from it, and once again, I long for that chocolaty peanut butter flavor once more.
Though these king sized cups are indeed a candy, percentage wise, they contain at least half their weight in peanut butter, which is nutritious to some degree. While there may be many of the so-called empty calories in this treat, you do get some essential vitamins and protein from the peanut butter as well.
In recent years, Reese’s made the wrappers for this candy less permeable. The result was that the peanut butter aroma stays inside the wrapper better, and outside odors are kept away from this candy. So you don’t get near the cross-contamination these days of the flavors of the various candies on the store shelves. These peanut butter cups nowadays retain their original, fresh and nutty flavor for many months, and never taste like any other candy.
It’s surprising that as delicious as these peanut butter and chocolate candies are, that you’d find much in them besides sugar and additives. Yet each big cup has 1.5 grams of dietary fiber and only 150 MG of sodium.
However, these big cups do contain 4 grams of saturated fat. Thus, as is true of most any candy, light consumption is key to enjoyment while avoiding weight gain and other health problems associated with eating large amounts of sugar and fat.
It’s impressive that Reese’s has been able to keep essentially the same flavor for so many decades. I suppose that means that this is a tried-and-true formula, like Coca-Cola, that generations of candy lovers have liked, including the current one.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns

At 200 calories per Big Cup, these peanut butter cups, due to how good they taste, can really pack on the pounds because it can be so hard to stop eating them. I wish they made a sugar-free version.
The 2-cup packs cost approximately $1.50 each; well over a dollar. This candy is getting pricey these days.
This candy is quite sensitive to warmer temperatures and melts easily in warmer areas; leaving a chocolaty mess on the fingers when eaten. However, if fixing this problem means that they’d have to add more saturated fats, then I’d suggest that they leave the formula as is.

Our Rating

So, if you could serve only one candy at a party, serve Reese’s, and if you do, be sure to provide lots of them. People will eat them up, definitely, and quickly. I’d highly recommend these peanut butter cups for snacking, and partying, as well as eating them for dessert. I often put mine in the freezer for fifteen minutes before eating them, to harden the chocolate coating and give these king-sized cups a bit of a crunchy shell. They taste good either frozen or warm, and in spite of the fat and added sugar, I’d rate these peanut butter cups at 90 out of 100.

Where To Buy Reese’s Big Cup Peanut Butter Lovers King Sized Cups

Look for Reese’s Big Cup Peanut Butter Cups at most any candy store large or small, or wholesale club in the bright orange wrapper with the yellow and brown lettering, and enjoy them many times over.

References

Revision History

2015-02-01: Moved this post to the Tom’s Diet Quest blog, added whitespace, adjusted ad placement, and tweaked the content.
2012-04-05: Originally published.