Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Jam Session

Ben & Jerry's has a line of exclusive flavors that you can only get at Target.  Here's one: Peanut Butter Jam Session.  I'll give you three guesses on what it tries to simulate.

Yes, it's peanut butter and jelly ice cream.  It's this a good idea?  I would answer, "Moderately".  The vanilla ice cream is mixed with swirls of jelly and peanut butter, simply put.  They did one thing right here: the jam used here is raspberry jam, and it just works.  Strawberry would have been more boring, and grape would have been a disaster.  And while I'm biased toward creamy peanut butter, I think Ben & Jerry's use of the crunchy variety adds a texture that isn't entirely welcome here.  And unfortunately, peanut butter, jelly, and cream don't make the most natural of combinations.

It's good stuff, but the little things here detract from the experience.


Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Jam Session:- Good
Original Ben & Jerry's(Vanilla, for comparison):- Great

acquired: Target

Reese's Crispy Crunchy

Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.

Reese's Peanut Butter candies come in various shapes, but they also occasionally come in various versions that change their construction by adding other types of candy bases to them.  I give Reese's credit for consistently testing different variations like this.

One of the latest of these is the Reese's Crispy Crunchy.  Most of Reese's products of this ilk tend to be successful, so I went in with high expectations.

Unfortunately, this may be one of their least successful iterations, in my opinion.  You can think of this as a Butterfinger wrapped in a Reese's cup.  The inner part of the bar features a crunchy brittle whose texture is somewhere between a Butterfinger and traditional brittle candy.  I always thought that a crunchy texture such as this never belonged next to a supple chocolate coating, and I don't feel that the peanut butter that surrounds it improves the combination.  The peanut butter takes away from the brittle and vice versa, and all of it manages to get stuck in your gums and teeth.

This thing is laborious to eat, and the poorly combined elements of this candy take away from each element's value.  Unless you're a Butterfinger superfan, I'm not sure you'll find this one pleasant.



Reese's Crispy Crunchy: - (Passable)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup(for comparison): - (Great)

Nabisco Chewy Chips Ahoy! Made with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.

As far as I'm concerned, putting Reese's Peanut Butter Cups into other sweet foods is like putting bacon with savory food: it's a way to make something better that's so easy, it's like cheating.

Chewy Chips Ahoy! cookies seem to me like they need no improvement, but my curiosity was piqued by these.

These taste like about what you may expect.  The cookie is soft and pliable and yet resists a bit when you bite with a sublime chewiness.  The peanut butter cups offer an expected saltiness and peanut butter which goes just fine with the cookie, though it doesn't necessarily elevate it.

There's only one problem: Nabisco decided that the peanut butter cup pieces weren't enough to achieve the flavor they wanted, so they also added peanut butter chips/morsels to the cookie.  This move was detrimental.  The flavor and texture of the chips are completely different and inferior to Reese's peanut butter filling, and they serve as a distraction.

I'm inclined to knock this snack down a mark, but I just can't, because the Chewy Chips Ahoy! base is so, so good.  This is worth buying if you're a peanut butter fiend, but I would sooner suggest the original version of this product instead.

Chewy Chips Ahoy! Made with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: - Great
Original Chewy Chips Ahoy!(for comparison): - Great

acquired: supermarket

Reese's Peanut Butter Egg

Happy Easter!

One of the things I generally try to avoid reviewing on this site are strictly morphological variations on products.  There are plenty of seasonal and holiday versions of our favorite foods which change their shape and color, but not the way they taste.  Technically, Reese's Peanut Butter Egg falls into the category, but this time it's different.

The Egg is simply a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that is shaped like half an egg (bisected longitudinally).

Firstly, there's no paper wrapper stuck to the candy, so it's easier to eat.  Secondly, the shape of the Egg is different the Cup, and with each bite you will notice that it's a bit softer than a normal Reese's treat.  Thirdly and most importantly, this Egg shape offers a different chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio... specifically speaking, the amount of chocolate has lessened.  Somehow, this makes the Reese's Egg much better than the Reese's cup.  The Egg has achieved a more perfect ratio that elevates this snack more than you would think.  If you don't believe me, try it for yourself.  Thank god we get these every year!

Reese's Peanut Butter Egg: (Outstanding)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup(for comparison): (Great)




Acquired: supermarket