Review: Reese's PB&J Big Cups — Dynamic Duo Or Dud?

Peanut butter's roots harken back to ancient times in South America, but its rise as a go to delectable paste started spreading in the United States in the 20th century. It also didn't take long (as early as 1901) for someone to find the perfect partner for peanut butter — fruit jelly, housed between two slices of bread. By 1928, thanks to one H.B. Reese, the magic of peanut butter was encased with the perfect amount of milk chocolate to form the edible candy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Today, his confectionary legacy is carried on by the fine folks at Hershey's, which has since released all kinds of Peanut Butter Cup flavors. However, one filling never seemed to fit the bill — jelly, despite the Mandela effect belief by some consumers that such a product once existed.

Many candy and snack makers have created its own takes on PB & J, from Planters, to Mary Jane, and Abba Zabba. Some have taken things even further, wrapping it all up in chocolate, thanks to innovators like Cadbury and Trader Joe's. Russell Stover partnered with Welch's in the late 1990s for what consumers have long dreamed for — peanut butter cups with jelly. Well, a day after teasing fans with the April Fool's joke that it was getting into the sandwich business with the mythical Reese's Chocolatey Bread, Reese's is finally delivering a peanut cup with jelly. Welcome to this world, Reese's PB&J Big Cups.

Before we throw a parade in its honor, the real question are Reese's PB&J Big Cups true dynamic duo of flavoring, or just one giant dynamic dud? The Takeout went in with an open mind and mouth to find out where the truth lies.

Recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are finally being infused with jelly in this new limited time version called Reese's PB&J Big Cups. These cups come filled with one of two jellies — grape or strawberry, where they are layered below the peanut butter, which is surrounded by milk chocolate. These cups sit in the standard dark brown ribbed paper that other Reese's Cups typically do. They are packaged in the usual subdued orange packaging, which is accented with whatever jelly flavor color is featured within the candy.

In a statement, Melissa Blette, senior brand manager at Reese's said, "Reese's is all about having fun. Teasing the idea of us 'getting into the sandwich business' was a playful way to spark conversation." She added. "All kidding aside, this was the most obvious next move for us. PB&J is an all-time classic, and Reese's was always the missing piece — so we fixed it!"

Reese's PB&J Big Cups are launching on National PB&J Day, April 2, 2025 as a limited time offering, while supplies last. They will be available at nationwide retailers, both in-store and online, including Hershey's own online stores. These cups are available in two flavors — Grape or Strawberry, and are available in the following iterations: standard size, king, and snack size four-packs. Pricing will vary per retailer, but a quick check shows Walmart selling the King Size for $1.97, and Hershey's sells a box of the 16 of them for $15.99.

They are sold at room temperature, but of course storing them in a fridge or freezer is never a bad idea. Based on various best by dates printed on the packaging, these Reese's PB&J Big Cups will be fresh in the unopened package for up to seven to nine months.

Reese's PB&J Big Cups Grape is made up milk chocolate, peanuts, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, dextrose, hydrogenated coconut oil, and contains 2% or less of glycerin, salt, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, mono- and diglycerides, cellulose gel, natural flavor, tartaric acid, the artificial color blue 2 lake, red and 40 lake, lecithin, and BHO & citric acid to maintain freshness. The Strawberry version contains the same ingredients, minus the tartaric acid, but includes an extra dose of citric acid. Both are dairy-present Kosher certified, and contain the allergens peanuts, milk, and soy. The peanut butter and product as a whole is gluten-free.

The nutritional values for both the Grape and Strawberry Reese's PB&J Big Cups are identical. A single serving is one cup, which weighs in at 40 grams. That's good for 190 calories, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 22 grams of total sugars, including 21 grams of added sugars, and 3 grams of protein. It also contains 30 milligrams of calcium, .9 milligrams of calcium, and 110 milligrams of potassium.

Pulling a Big Cup of Reese's PB&J with Grape out of the packaging felt no different from doing it with a standard version of the confection. Same size, and design. A quick whiff of its exterior revealed the thin milk chocolate smell that quickly gave way to the much stronger peanut butter aroma that lay within.

I cut this baby in half and immediately was shocked at how the interior seemed to be such a pale compression to what was displayed on the packaging. The layer of jelly on the bottom of this cup was supposed to be vibrant and perhaps gooey. In reality, it's the thinnest of possible layers, and with a dark purple color that basically disappears between the plentiful filling of peanut butter and the bottom chocolate layer of the cup.

I started by tasting the grape jelly by itself and was able to do so by picking out a tiny dollop thanks to the tine of my fork. The purple here in the light stood out more, as if it was a sweat bead straight from Grimace's forehead. It didn't have a very jelly-like consistency, and was more akin to bubbly toothpaste. Its flavoring echoed grayness, which noted on the label and consumed by my taste buds was artificially flavored. Things got much better when the cup was taken as a whole, where the usual rich peanut butter flavoring was accented by the solid milk chocolate, and here shined in a different light with a pinch of grape flavoring. After a few bites, I started like it more and more, where the trio of elements played together rather nicely.

Like the grape-flavored one, this strawberry-flavored Reese's PB&J Big Cup held the same outward attributes of a regular peanut butter cup. It sat in a brown ridged liner, with its own matching grooved contours. This one also had an exterior aroma that leaned heavier on the peanut butter than the chocolate, but here a tinge of fruit rang through.

Cut in half, this cranberry red jelly stood out a lot more than its purple brother did. Also, when cut, this jelly appeared to be much more fluid, almost passing off the gooeyness advertised on the package

Again, I wanted to get acquainted with just the jelly itself, and a fork tine taste of it got an immediate thumbs up of approval from my mouth. The strawberry filling here is naturally flavored, with other natural flavors in tow, and that seemed to help part of its winning appeal. I almost wanted to keep trying just the jelly by itself, but alas, I needed to taste it in conjunction with the other ingredients. While on its own, the strawberry jelly filling stood out in flavor superiority over the grape, when eaten together with the peanut butter and chocolate, its flavoring seemed to get lost in the shuffle a bit. The more I nibbled away at the Big Cup I had hoped the strawberry would start to punch through, but that dream never was fully realized.

While I've had my share of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my life, I cannot say in all honesty that is one of my go-to's. Perhaps I should grill my next one and have my mind changed. Alas, I know what one tastes like, and, like most consumers, I was excited at the prospect of jelly being a new layer added to the ye olde standby that is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

While the results weren't exactly the ultimate dream pairing, it was nonetheless an inspired one that delivered a new tasty wrinkle for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Fruit flavoring mixed in with chocolate can be dicey, beyond chocolate covered strawberries, but these PB&J Cups made it work by injecting a lean amount of jelly into the equation. While I may have to wonder what it would have tasted like with more jelly on board, I'm sure Reese's tinkered plenty of times over before settling on just the right amount.

For maximum enjoyment, I recommend the following — store them in a refrigerator, and let the jelly's flavoring perk up with that chillness. The grape flavoring was more of a standout strawberry, but both are worthy a try. Also, if you happen to have a banana nearby, add a slice of one into the mix, to not only accentuate its taste, but also add more fun with its smooshy texture creating a great counterbalance to the rich density of the cup.

Before its national debut in stores, the fine folks at Hershey's sent over a pair of its new Reese's Peanut Butter Cup innovations, in the Grape and Strawberry flavors. I initially stored these confections at room temperature, and tasted them as such. Later, I stored the cups in a refrigerator to taste them at a cooler temperature, and the incidents in a more firm setting.

The ultimate criteria for this chew and review is flavor, smell, texture, uniqueness, its air of PB&J-ness, overall lovability, and the likelihood I would want to buy these in a store again. The quick answer is give them a go yourself, and remember, it is a dish best served cold.