Tuesday, October 27, 2009

World’s Largest Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter CupsGo big or go home is kind of a mantra in the snack world. Bigger, bolder, stronger, faster, louder, saltier, fattier, sweeter, higher, longer, brassier, sourer and crunchier all grab market share. They draw our attention because we seek novelty and claiming to be the mostest of something is, well, at least some kind of claim. Things like taste, satisfaction or quality are irrelevant.

So that brings me to the World’s Largest Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It looks like an amped up version of the regular package. Same proportions, just bigger.

Hershey’s has been making variations on the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup for over 50 years. Big Cups, Miniatures ... shapes for different holidays like the Eggs, Trees and Pumpkins. (And of course all the other flavors, chocolate coatings & inclusions.) But this, is obviously different.

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The package is 10.5 inches long and 5 inches wide. Inside are two peanut butter cups, each is 8 ounces. So for $9.99 at CVS I was able to buy a pound of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. (Actually, a careful shopper would just buy the 40 ounce “Club Size” bag of miniatures for about $8.99.)

World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter CupsInside the wrapper is a white paperboard tray that holds the two cups. The cups themselves differ from their un-endowed originals in that they are not contained by a brown fluted paper cup. These are structurally coherent enough to need no containers. (Though they still have the classic fluted sides.)

They’re 4” around on the top and 3” around at the base. As you can already imagine there are some strange proportions at work here when dealing with gigantism. In order to structurally contain the peanut butter I found that they’d fortified the chocolate. I tried biting one but found that the sides and corners were quite thick milk chocolate. Almost a half an inch thick in some places.

World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

It’s really not a product for nibbling on. (Mostly because I simply don’t just munch on pieces of candy that weigh a half a pound. Like giant chocolate Easter rabbits, there’s a sanitary issue.)

World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

This violates one of my primary rules of candy, which is that it requires some sort of tool. In this case it’s a knife to portion it. Most large chocolate bars are scored and can be broken into pieces. There is no other way to eat this other than huge bites ... which pretty much means you’re not sharing or you’re intimate enough with the other folks or so wasted you don’t care.

When sliced though, I have to say it’s rather charming. The triangles are like little slices of pie. Since each cup is 8 ounces, it’s easy to score it into 1 ounce slices ... or just quarter it for hefty 2 ounce pieces. Technically the nutritional panel suggests that a single serving is 1/6th of a cup, but I’ve always found cutting things into sixths harder than quarters/eighths.

The chocolate tastes much sweeter and slightly cool on the tongue than I get from a regular Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. The center peanut butter filling is dry and crumbly with a good salty note and only slightly sweet component.

World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter CupsMy issue ultimately that there’s a lot of chocolate surrounding a large bulk of peanut butter. In the end I ate the top & bottom of the slice as well as the dense and grainy peanut butter filling but couldn’t bring myself to eat the super-sweet edge crust of chocolate.

I admit it’s a fun novelty and kind of a no-brainer inexpensive gift for a Reese’s Peanut Butter lover. I see it as a great option for social events, but hard to present as a “real” Reese’s peanut butter cup, since there’s no branding on it. (Maybe a disk to serve it on.)

In the end though it’s no replacement for the tried and true classic. So all it really does in the end is prove that the regular cups are ideal.

From the reports from the dear readers who alerted me to this monstrosity, they seem to be exclusive to CVS ... anyone else see them? (I’m hoping they’ll stick around for Christmas, as I think they’re a fun gag gift that’s actually functional.)

UPDATE December 2010: These are now in much wider distribution. I’ve seen them at 7-11 (for $12.99, I think) plus Target has them along with one pound Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars.

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Name: World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Reese's (Hershey's)
Place Purchased: CVS (Sierra Madre, CA)
Price: $9.99
Size: 16 ounces
Calories per ounce: 143
Categories: Chocolate, Peanut, United States, Hershey's, Reese's, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:16 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. haha, this post cracked me up!! “or so wasted you don’t care” !! haha! i love it. the ratio seems off to me. i think i’d want more peanut butter!

    Comment by christina on 10/27/09 at 2:48 pm #
  2. Someone needs to make a YouTube video of them eating one of these…Oh wait, it’s been done already.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMmToZgAdWo

    Comment by Marvo on 10/28/09 at 2:19 am #
  3. This must be a guy thing—something huge to wolf down. I know exactly the Christmas stocking this is going into.

    Comment by Tomi on 10/28/09 at 5:56 am #
  4. “...or so wasted you don?t care.”

    Hahaha!

    Comment by Sarah on 10/28/09 at 6:16 am #
  5. I’ve been trying to figure out if the regular Reese’s cups are smaller than they were in the 70s and 80s. It seems to me they are a lot smaller, but then, I know I’ve gotten bigger since then. Does anybody know?

    Comment by Jennifer on 10/28/09 at 6:19 am #
  6. Cybele's avatar

    Jennifer - they did used to be bigger, but not by much. In 2003 or so they went from 1.6 ounces per package to 1.5 ounces ... so each cup went from .8 ounces to .75.

    Comment by Cybele on 10/28/09 at 7:54 am #
  7. While i’ve never seen these Reese branded huge cups, i’e seen and tasted some other brands of artisan or home made over sized peanut butter cups before. A lot of the local chocolate shops around here make their own house brand of gigantor cup in various flavors and i’ve found I don’t like them much, despite being a huge peanut butter cup fan.

    Anything that requires me to whip out a knife or a saw (other than fudge, my one exception given it’s nature) to eat it is less than fun. I actually hurt my teeth trying to get through the impenetrably thick shell of one of these independent ones, and it proved resilient to gnawing.

    The local ones are sometimes a bit cheaper too- $8-15 lb for chocolate depending on where you go. This would be a fun Yankee swap gift for me, and that’s about it.

    Comment by Yurei on 10/28/09 at 8:50 am #
  8. These are awesome. My husband, who has a pathetic sweet tooth, does love PB cups. He’ll never eat the giant ones, but that won’t stop me from buying them for him anyway.

    Comment by chocolate and whine on 10/28/09 at 11:43 am #
  9. I was in the CVS today in Martinsburg,WV and saw a tag that read Reese Cup 9.99. To my amazement behind the regular ones were these monsters. Ok, I usually dont spend that on Reese Cups. But buying those little quarter size cups/snack packs are enough to make you mad. So, I thought what the heck. Its a novelty. Im a chocoholic, and this is awesome. I cut that baby in quarters. Would like some for gifts at Christmas. When everything else has been going wrong, it made my day!

    Comment by Therisa on 10/28/09 at 3:19 pm #
  10. that. is. heaven.

    Comment by pam on 10/29/09 at 8:33 am #
  11. I like to think that, after the apocalypse, the “cup” will be the new currency and these will be grudgingly traded for fuel and bullets.

    Comment by Travis Smith on 10/29/09 at 1:59 pm #
  12. whoa, each cup has 1144 calories. damn!

    Comment by Cassie on 11/01/09 at 4:43 pm #
  13. Eww, compared to the normal ones, the chocolate on these giganto-peanut-butter-cups looks a really unappealing grey!

    Comment by Richard @ The Bewildered Brit on 11/02/09 at 2:44 pm #
  14. i want one!!!!

    Comment by bre ann on 11/17/09 at 6:57 am #
  15. Does anyone know where you can order these online that delivers to Canada?  Hershey’s online carries them, but they don’t ship internationally.  I really would like to get my hands on one or two of these as a present for my nephew that lives in England and loves Reese’s peanut butter cups.  My email is sarahsidleATgmail.com if you do.  Thanks!

    Comment by Sarah Gauden on 11/30/09 at 1:33 am #
  16. I bought a package at the Hershey Store in downtown Chicago.  I bought it for my brother (a huge Reese PB fan) for a Chistmas “gag” gift that he hopefully will really enjoy!  You could check with them to see if they ship to other locations.  Good Luck!

    Comment by Angie on 12/14/09 at 12:37 pm #
  17. Those reese’s where humungis I LOVED THOSE I wish I could have those!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Aubrianna on 12/27/09 at 9:32 am #
  18. I got mine at the times square Hersheys store around Christmas time. I paid about 15 bucks for it though! Everything is more expensive in the city I suppose…I think it was worth it, though, to see the look on my brother’s face when he saw a pound of Reese’s sitting in his stocking.

    Comment by Haley on 1/07/10 at 12:16 pm #
  19. HHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now i craving chocolate( my mom has 2 boxes of reese’s, but if i touch it she goes wacko!!!)

    Comment by hailey on 3/04/10 at 3:55 pm #
  20. Im going to get this for a girl I know!! She will love it….lol

    Comment by scott s on 8/21/10 at 7:34 pm #
  21. Where can I buy this gigantic Reese’s cup besides CVS?

    Comment by Anne on 9/20/10 at 9:44 am #
  22. WHERE CAN I GET ONE!!!!!!!!!! i LOVE Reese’s. If i could find this for a good price i would TOTALLY buy it. especally with christmas coming up. [ive decided on wats going in my stocking this year.]

    Comment by Victoria Kelly on 10/26/10 at 6:27 pm #
  23. WHERE CAN I GET ONE!!!!!!!!!! i LOVE Reese’s. If i could find this for a good price i would TOTALLY buy it. especally with christmas coming up. [i have TOTALY decided on wats going in my stocking this year.](i did this twice because i mispelled my email adress sorry)

    Comment by Victoria Kelly on 10/26/10 at 6:29 pm #
  24. I saw these massive Reese’s peanut butter cups at Target this evening. $9.99. I was tempted…

    Comment by Riley Hunter on 11/08/10 at 8:55 pm #
  25. On my last trip to Niagra Falls I just saw the 1 pound peanut butter cup at the Hershey store there.  so tempted to buy one, but did not think I can eat the whole thing.

    Comment by Liza on 11/09/10 at 8:58 am #
  26. They’re at Target as well, with the Christmas candy and such. Also 9.99. Yum!

    Comment by Jessie on 11/11/10 at 9:02 pm #
  27. I WAS WONDERING WHERE I COULD PURCHASE SOME OF THOSE WORLDS LARGEST REESE CUPS AT. HOW MUCH ARE THEY AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME TO GET THEM. THANK YOU REGINA

    Comment by REGINA PROFITT on 11/21/10 at 6:55 am #
  28. Yes ...I mean Yes they are great….I went looking for these…One CVS was out so we went to a out of the way one and Yes….found them…just sitting on the shelf waiting for me. I grabbed the package then realized ...hey I got a 5 dollar off coupon from CVS so I bought the other 2 packages…..They are huge and actually do taste like their little brother and sisters. My fiance and I opened that baby in the parking lot and :OMG what a sugar rush..it took 2 of us to finish it…but once I did I didnt want to see another for a while .....ok it took me 3 days to look at the other .....The other 2 packages are in the freezer waiting for that next moment i need a sugar rush….O they were on sale for 7.99 minus the coupon…such a smart shopper…..

    Comment by Mike on 12/06/10 at 2:44 pm #
  29. is there a site you can order these from that ships to Canada?  unfortunately Hersheystore.com doesn’t and I’d love them!

    Comment by Paul De Cou on 12/07/10 at 3:22 am #
  30. I wonder how many I could eat in an hour…....time to find out!

    Comment by Matt on 12/10/10 at 11:40 am #
  31. Saw a similar display at a convienience store in town, but had Hershey bars instead. The clerk said that they had the PB cups, and they flew out of the store. They were charging 12.00 for each.

    Comment by tom on 12/13/10 at 9:43 am #
  32. just saw these in hawaii and was tempted to buy it smile

    Comment by kat on 1/05/11 at 7:14 pm #
  33. i wanna buy it,but theres no reeses or hersheys or anything in USA in turkey. :((

    Comment by Bora on 1/06/11 at 11:44 am #
  34. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were one of my favorite candies for my entire young life.  In the last 20 years, though, I have pretty much stopped eating them because I feel that the peanut butter is tasteless, and the chocolate is too sweet.

    However, my family still buys me the latest Reese’s creations whenever I visit them, and this Christmas was no exception.  My brother bought me one of these 1-lb packages, and I was very happily surprised by how tasty they were.  The taste totally reminded me of how Reese’s tasted when I was a kid.  While I feel that there was too much chocolate in these cups, the peanut butter was so flavorful—just like I remember it tasting when I was a kid.

    So, if you’re looking to taste Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups the way they used to taste (awesome!), then I recommend the 1-lb package.  Just try and make sure you get a fresh batch—there’s nothing like biting into a Reese’s and finding out it’s old and stale—especially when it cost $12.00 :(

    Thanks,
    Joe

    Comment by Joe on 1/13/11 at 9:31 am #
  35. i have been looking for theese for ever! ever since i saw them around christmas time i have not been able to find them!!!

    Comment by Jenna Zellmer on 2/22/11 at 6:39 pm #
  36. I just saw these at Kmart for $9.99..can’t wait to buy one for my brother for christmas smile

    Comment by Beki on 11/06/11 at 9:17 am #
  37. They sound okay (like some here mentioned) as “gag gifts”.. but as Cassie mentioned, WOW…. 1,144 calories per cup is a (((LOT)))!!

    I think for a personal treat I’ll stick to the normal size cups.. but if I ever need a gag gift, it’s something to think about :D

    Comment by hockeypuck on 11/06/11 at 8:44 pm #
  38. I found them at Kmart. They also had a 5 lb Hershey bar. For those of you freaking out over the 1,144 calories in each cup, the serving size does state that only 1/12 of the package be eaten. And if any of you knew how many calories were in some ice creams, you would really be in a panic just feeling your arteries clogging at the thought of one serving being over 3,000 calories.

    Comment by cyndi on 12/05/11 at 7:54 am #
  39. We got my husband one of these monstrosities, last year.  He’s a Reese’s cup fanatic.  He had no trouble biting into this thing though it isn’t the kind of candy one can sit down and finish in one sitting…even for him.  I blogged about it and had a good time taking pictures of his enjoyment of it.

    http://365happythings.blogspot.com/2011/03/76-silliness-part-two-gigantic-one.html

    Not my bag, but hey…each to his own.

    Comment by Jamy on 3/19/12 at 1:15 am #
  40. I finished both cups in 4 minutes… the chocolate shell is THICK!

    Comment by greg on 12/19/12 at 2:09 pm #
  41. My friend and I bought one for my mom at Sam’s Club for $7. Everywhere else we found them they were $9 or $10. I was wondering though, does anyone know if these are gluten free? The original, classic, reeses are but none of the fancy shapes are gluten free. Does anyone know if the giant ones are? The ingredients are exactly the same so I’m hoping!

    Comment by Stephanie on 12/23/12 at 7:40 pm #
  42. I found them last year coming down the escalator in Sears at Halloween.  Went back this year and had to search but found and purchased one.  Split one with my buddies 4 kids.  Set other one on the table for someone to claim.  His comment was"Theres so much peanut butter,it’s sticking to the roof of my mouth.”  He had chocolate all over his face and hands.  I was amused.

    Comment by james on 12/26/12 at 5:46 pm #
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