The "New Coke" of Reese's

Creamy & Crunchy Reese's Cups - Walmart

I want to share one of my favorite College Humor/DropOut videos of all time, Oreo CEO.

Please binge the rest of the CEO videos, Brennan Lee Mulligan is an absolute gift. 

Painfully accurate, right? Especially for junkfood people like me who remember the limited-edition-Oreo-hunting-days, but you know who else might be equally guilty? Reese's. 

They, "done did the good peanut butter cup," and instead of "resting on their laurels," they are back at it again with a smooth and a crunchy version of their classic peanut butter cup. Are these improvements? Or completely unnecessary? 

Clark Cups - Quickie Review

 

Quickie review because 1: I didn't even know Clark Bars were still around, and 2: I didn't know it came in cup-form. 

A quick google search revealed this really interesting article, from 2019, back when Clark Bars were saved from extinction. The new company that acquired the recipe weren't exactly given all the facts, so they produced a lot of misshapen bars. Apparently, in an effort to use the ugly, but still delicious bars, they made these Clark Cups and started rolling them out in stores in PA. I'm all for finding ways to minimize food waste, and I love crispy peanut butter products (I still miss Butterfinger BB's), so this sounded right up my alley. 

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cups

Reese's Ultimate Peanut Butter Lovers - Wawa

Back in 2005, (Which was when I graduated high school) Reese's came out with a Peanut Butter Lovers cup, and a Chocolate Lovers cup. The Chocolate lovers version had a thicker shell, which I remember liking, but still preferring the normal chocolate-to-peanut-butter ratio of the original cups. While the OG, non-ultimate, version of the Peanut Butter Lovers featured a confectionary peanut butter shell on top, normal peanut butter filling, and a very very thin layer of chocolate on the bottom. I tried it back in the day and wasn't a fan of the confectionary base.

Both flavors resurfaced in 2009, with the same formula, and now they're back again! This time with an Ultimate version, completely devoid of chocolate. 

Originally I was going to skip this one, but I saw a post somewhere online saying they might be disappearing soon. None of the new packaging says "limited edition" except for the minis, but the original announcement said limited edition...so I'm not sure what's going on here. Are they now a permanent item? Are just the mini-sized cups limited? I wanted to be safe rather than sorry, so I grabbed a pack to weigh in.

Innovation? Or Dud? - Reese's Big Cup with Pretzels

Reese's Big Cup With Pretzels - Walmart

Can you improve a Reese's Cup? It's so perfect as-is, that I really thought there was no way it could get any better, until the Reese's Pieces stuffed cups showed up and completely won me over. The addition of Pieces didn't change the overall flavor, it was more-so a textural change, but I was 100% into it. With that in mind, I was very excited about this pretzel version (and a limited run potato chip version that has yet to be released), since this would not only change the texture, but add some pretzel-y flavoring to the mix as well. 

Adding pretzels and potato chips to pretty much anything has become one of my favorite baking hacks. (All those broken little bits in the bottom of the bag? Dump it to your next batch of chocolate chip cookies and thank me later!) So, will adding pretzels make this better than a standard Reese's? 

BNutty Irresistible Pretzel Peanut Butter (Sample Review)

BNutty Irresistible Pretzel Peanut Butter - Sample from the Summer Fancy Food Show

Part of my pre-2017 stash busting includes finally getting to some of these samples from the Summer Fancy Food Show. That's right, SUMMER. Well, better late than never, right? 

There are people out there who LOVE peanut butter. I've never quite understood the obsession. Sure, peanut butter is great, and I enjoy PB&J sandwiches and Reeses cups from time to time, but some people take it to the extreme.

PB Crave Cookie Nookie Peanut Butter - Aldi $4.99

PB Crave Cookie Nookie Peanut Butter - Aldi $4.99

I bought the banana peanut butter for me, and this one I bought just for you guys. Looking at my older posts, and post made by my fellow food bloggers, the general public goes NUTS for cookie dough flavored stuff. I just don't understand it!

Don't get me wrong, cookie dough is amazing. Cookie dough flavored things? Not so much. I like to bake and I do so quite often, so I know what real cookie dough tastes like, and nothing "cookie dough flavored" has ever held a candle to the real deal. Do people just not remember what the real thing tastes like? Or do we all just turn a blind eye and accept it because of the convenience of not having to whip up a batch of dough ourselves? Maybe this peanut butter will prove me wrong, and I'll literally be eating my words, after all the banana version is great, but I'm pretty skeptical...