REVIEW: Reese’s Puffs Treats (2018)

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Reese's Puffs Treats 2018

The reborn Reese’s Puffs Treats have cocoa and real Reese’s Peanut Butter. But don’t automatically think this is going to taste anything like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

As a wise man once said, “Don’t go looking to obtain something that can be easily obtained without looking.” Okay, I pulled that line out of the air, and I hope I’m not plagiarizing some minor Greek thinker. But what I’m trying to say philosophically is, why expect something to taste like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup when you can easily get that with the actual candy?

With that said, I’m someone who thinks Reese’s Peanut Butter doesn’t taste like the gritty stuff inside the famous candy. So I’m not expecting this cereal bar to be anything like the iconic candy. I’m also one of those people who, despite running a junk food blog for almost 15 years, did not try the original Reese’s Puffs Treats that

Reese's Puffs Treats 2018 2

Reese's Puffs Treats 2018 3

As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, this new version has real Reese’s Peanut Butter, but it’s not just in the stuff drizzled on top and dipped on the bottom. It’s also in the cereal, and there are Reese’s Peanut Butter-flavored chips. It’s a triple threat treat. Okay, say that five times really fast.

Triple threat treat. Triple tret treat. Tripper tret treet. Turple threat treat. Thurple thrat treat.

All that Reese’s Peanut Butter goodness amounts to a cereal bar that makes me say, “Oh, my goodness.”

If you enjoy Reese’s Puffs Cereal, you will adore this. It’s like eating an enhanced bowl of the cereal. The combination of peanut buttery coating, chips, and cereal create a nutty kick that makes it taste as if the I was eating a bowl of Reese’s Puffs with the leftover milk from a bowl of Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch.

Yes, with all that nuttiness, the cocoa takes a backseat. I’m not talking a car backseat. I’m talking school bus backseat. It’s hardly noticeable, but I hardly care because these are so good that my lack of willpower caused me to inhaled three of them within two hours of purchase.

As for its texture, it’s what you’d expect from a prepackaged mass-produced bar made with ingredients that have enough moisture to soften the usually crunchy texture of the cereal slightly. It’s not like chomping on dry cereal, but it’s also not super soft.

Overall, Reese’s Puffs Treats, the reboot, is a tasty snack that’ll satisfy fans of the cereal.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 8 bars/box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bar) 100 calories, 35 calories from fat, 4 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: White Chocolate Peanut M&M’s

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White Chocolate Peanut M M s

What are White Chocolate Peanut M&M’s?

Mars is continuing its

As far as I’m concerned, they can go years without even thinking of doing anything but new peanut flavors, because Peanut M&M’s are flat out better than regular M&M’s. Go ahead, admit it.

How are they?

The white chocolate is nice, but it’s very mild. It’s not as pronounced a flavor as regular chocolate, so it gets masked by the peanut and shell. I almost wanna call these “boring,” but that wouldn’t be fair.

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The texture and crunch of the peanut in the M&M makes up for the lack of bursting flavor. I still enjoy these a lot despite the fact there’s almost nothing going on flavor-wise.

It’s almost like Mars made a “low sugar” version of Peanut M&M’s, which of course isn’t the case.

These are an enigma. Regular white chocolate M&M’s probably taste better, but when you factor in the texture, and the idea that Peanut M&M’s destroy regular milk chocolate M&M’s, they’re basically on the same level.

Is there anything else I need to know?

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I’ve only seen these in a Sharing Size bag, so if you don’t feel like spending $3 for ten servings of White Chocolate Peanut M&M’s, maybe wait and see if smaller sizes hit convenience store shelves.

Conclusion:

White Chocolate Peanut M&M’s may be the least flavorful M&M’s I’ve ever eaten, but I didn’t want to stop eating them. They went down so easy that my “Sharing Size” bag was practically reduced to “Fun Size” before I knew it. I dig ’em, but wish they were a little sweeter. Maybe mixing these with regular White Chocolate M&M’s might make for a winning combo.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 9.60 oz. bag
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (14 Pieces) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Kit Kat Snack Mix

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Kit Kat Snack Mix

What is the Kit Kat Snack Mix?

The latest in the lineup of snack mixes from The Hershey Company; the Kit Kit Snack Mix contains pretzel balls, chocolate wafer bites, honey roasted almonds and of course, Kit Kat minis.

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How is it?

Quite tasty! I’ve tried just about all the snack mixes in the Hershey’s family, including M&M’s, Reese’s, Almond Joy, and regular Hershey’s (and there’s also a Take 5 version). Those all contain plain peanuts or plain almonds, but this one features honey roasted almonds, which makes it feel a little extra special and adds a more complex flavor to the entire sweet and salty mix.

At first, I thought the inclusion of chocolate wafer bites was a bit redundant because that’s basically what Kit Kats are, but the two chocolate varieties here worked well together.

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The Kit Kat minis have a fair amount of wafer, while the chocolate wafer bites seemed to be mostly chocolate, as you can see in the cross-sections. That gave them each a different texture and taste, so both were tasty on their own or in combination with the rest of the mix.

Is there anything else I need to know?

If I had to guess, I’d say almonds are the priciest of the ingredients in here, so it’s no surprise that there appear to be more pretzels than nuts in the mix. So if you want an almond or two in every bite, you might have to do a little digging and not get greedy with any three almond mouthfuls.

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In my particular canister, I found a pair of almonds and a pair of pretzels apparently making an attempt to procreate, so perhaps the pretzel couple was more successful and that explains the population disparity inside.

Conclusion:

None of these snack mix products are going to blow your mind, and with a price that works out to nearly $10 per pound, it would be much more economical to buy the components separately and mix it yourself. Of course, I’m too lazy to do that — and I trust you are too. So if you are looking to mix up your snacking, the Kit Kat Snack Mix is one of the best options out there.

Purchased Price: $3.58
Size: 5.7 oz. canister
Purchased at: H-E-B
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 oz. serving) 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 129 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Hershey’s Waffle Layer Crunch Dulce de Leche and Strawberry

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1 Hershey Waffle pkg

What is it?

Hershey’s has taken their chunky Cookie Layer Crunch bars (crunchy cookie bits + crème layer + traditional Hershey chocolate coating), given them new strawberry and dulce de leche crème layers and replaced the cookie bits with waffle cone pieces.

2 Hershey Waffle bars

3 Hershey Waffle Dulce

How is it?

Everything about these bars feels average. The dulce de leche and strawberry crème flavors weren’t particularly authentic, bright or rich. Just a run-of-the-mill caramel-y vanilla and Nesquick-style strawberry flavor. If you hate fake strawberry, I recommend you skip this bar.

4 Hershey Waffle cones

The waffle cone bits have a good crunch, but don’t texturally resemble waffle cones – they’re too thick. I can’t even see any telltale ridges on them. Without seeing the wrapper, I would identify these as cookie bits.

As noted in our

Is there anything else I need to know?

There’s a lot of air inside these bars. The solid crème layer does not really interact with the physically uneven crunch layer – it sits atop it, leaving empty space. Not a huge deal, but is a bit disappointing in a small bar.

5 Hershey Waffle Strawberry

Each bag contains 9 mini-bars, which felt like a good amount.

6 Hershey Waffle contents

Conclusion:

They taste OK and are new flavors in this series, but there’s nothing great or novel about them – and isn’t that why we’re all here? If you’re a diehard Cookie Layer Crunch fan, they’re worth a try. If not, there’s more interesting chocolates out there.

Purchased Price: $4.95
Size: 6.3 oz. bag of mini-bars
Purchased at: Hershey’s Chocolate World
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 mini-bars) 200 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 50 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, 17 grams added sugars and 3 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Brach’s Mini Candy Corn & Chocolate Peanuts

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Brach s Mini Candy Corn Chocolate Peanuts

What is it?

Brach’s has paired the mini version of its classic candy corn with sea salt peanuts coated in chocolate. That’s it.

How is it?

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I’ve often thought Brach’s has the best flavor and texture of candy corn, even though it’s not as cute as, say, Jelly Belly’s version. These mini corns are proportionally smaller, with the length being about 75 percent of the original. They are about as good as plain candy corn can be.

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The chocolate-covered peanuts are a tasty candy. The sea salt is a welcome addition to the current sweet-and-salty fad. The chocolate isn’t bad, but it’s obviously from a company that doesn’t focus on chocolate.

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The two components are fine as they are. But when you eat them at the same time, some kind of autumnal magic creates a wonderful treat that is better than either element on its own. It reminds me of a (somewhat inferior) Snickers or Baby Ruth, with the candy corn taking the place of the caramel and nougat. If they sold these in bar form, I would totally buy it. The peanuts and salt balance out the overly sweet nature of candy corn, and the chocolate bridges the gap.

Is there anything else I need to know?

I wondered if there was a magic ratio of peanuts to candy corn that made these taste the best, but I haven’t found it. It’s all good.

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Also, candy corn is supposed to look like harvest-time maize, but if they wanted to make it into a gross-out Halloween candy, they could make it look like the corns on your feet.

Conclusion:

I doubt this mix will convert any candy corn haters, but for those of us who enjoy (or at least tolerate) the fall standby, this is a delightful upgrade.

Purchased Price: $1.98
Size: 13 oz. bag
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/6 cup) 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar (including 16 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

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