Will Reese’s PB&J Big Cups make its other flavors jelly?

It’s a big year for the “J” part of “PB&J” when it comes to the world of candy. We saw Peanut Butter & Jelly M&Ms hit shelves earlier this year, adding a fruity twist to their much-loved Peanut Butter M&Ms.

When it comes to candy, though, M&Ms merely adopted peanut butter. Reese’s Peanut Butter cups were born in it — which makes the release of Reese’s PB&J Big Cups a, well, big deal.

Where I found it

During a quick trip to Harris Teeter, I spotted these at the end of an aisle in a cardboard display.

What I paid

Each Big Cup was $1.59.

My thoughts

I’m on the record calling Reese’s Big Cups an S-tier candy because they’re “unrivaled when it comes to serving as a delivery system for add-ins like Reese’s Puffs, pretzels and now candy sprinkles.” But how would that delivery system work for something that instead of adding texture added a new flavor?

Let's dive into the science of a Reese’s PB&J Big Cup. You’ll note in the cross section above (take that, Binging With Babish), these fellas are still 99 percent peanut butter. The jelly — sorry, grape flavored filling — is a thin layer between the Big Cup’s peanut butter core and the bottom of its chocolate shell.

For both the grape and strawberry varieties, the Hersey Company boasts that we’re getting “a decadent layer” of filling. Hershey’s quite clearly has a different definition of “decadent” than what I’m working with over here at Snackology. This is not decadent. It’s, at best, adequate.

But there is just enough filling here to allow you to taste a bit of grape filling. I was never a big grape jelly fan as a kid, but this filling does a decent job of invoking that flavor.

The strawberry version of the Reese’s PB&J Big Cup is the winner between these too. It’s the same amount of fruit filling as its grape counterpart, but the strawberry pops better and shines through just enough more to earn the honor of being the flavor that I’d pick up again the next time I see them in stores.

Both the grape and strawberry versions of the Reese’s PB&J Big Cup get points for attempting to mimic an actual flavor of jelly/jam with their filling. The Peanut Butter & Jelly M&Ms only offered a mysterious “sweet jelly,” and who knows what that could mean in 2025.

Final verdict: BUY ... MAYBE

I’m not 100 percent sure on this, but I think you’ll be able to find the new Reese’s PB&J flavors in the traditional Reese’s Cup size in addition to the Big Cup.

This is going to sound sacrilegious coming from me, but I think the Big Cup is the wrong format for this release. The peanut butter-to-jelly ratio is off in a Big Cup. While the Big Cup is perfect to cram full of chips or other candy, it offers a level of peanut butter that blots out the level of jelly — ugh, filling — that Reese’s layers at the bottom.

I want to give the PB&J Reese’s Cups my recommendation ... but I need to find them in the normal size first.