Junk Food Nation, let’s talk about chocolate and peanut butter. In life, whenever we think of, and speak of, the combo of chocolate and peanut butter, the brand that always comes to mind is “Reese’s.” It just IS. Reese’s peanut butter cups were created in 1928, and since then, every other peanut butter/chocolate combo has been compared to it.

I’ve reviewed dark chocolate peanut butters, white chocolate peanut butters, silk chocolate peanut butters, peanut butter & chocolate on graham crackers, peanut butter & chocolate on Ritz, peanut butter & chocolate in a Pop-Tart, peanut butter chocolate S’mores, peanut butter chocolate Chex Mix, peanut butter pretzels dipped in chocolate, and competing peanut butter cups. The question and discussion always is “how close to a Reese’s is this product?” Most of them tasted good – but still no cigar. It wasn’t until Reese’s themselves paired with Oreo to make awesome cookies that I thought “Huh, these are pretty damn good, and taste damn near JUST like a Reese’s PB Cup.” But still, something felt SLIGHTLY lacking – like a 90-93% match, but not a total match.  Like every chocolate hazelnut spread, it would never be Nutella.

Oh, but then Reese’s went and did this:

BOOM. My goodness. What have you done, Reese’s? What have you done?  

Before we get into my review of the New Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread, EPISODE 42 OF THE NOSH SHOW IS HERE! I mention it because the guys and I discussed this Reese’s spread back in Episode 31. For the uninitiated, The Nosh Show is a podcast started by Marvo from The Impulsive Buy, featuring Ryan from GrubGrade, Dubba from On Second Scoop, and, of course, me, your friendly neighborhood Junk Food Guy.  And today marks the release of The Nosh Show, Episode 42: One of the Ingredients is Bubbles:

This week, “we share our thoughts on KFC’s Loaded Potato Bowl, Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch Cereal, Lay’s Dark Chocolate Covered Potato Chips, a pumpkin spice burger, Taco Bell’s mobile ordering app, lemon flavored hot dogs from Japan, and much more.”  Listen embedded here:

You can subscribe to The Nosh Show using various services: iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS, or, you can also download the episode.

Anyways, getting back to today’s junk food: New Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread!

Sweet mother of haminahaminahamina swwwiiiing badda. New Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread??? This is real? This is real life?

I mean, presumably, this spread tastes exactly like Reese’s peanut butter cups….in a jar, right? So, what do I eat this on?  I guess the easy answer is EVERYTHING, but is this one of those things that might be so good that the only real option is to spoon it directly into my mouth, like the Trader’s Joe’s Cookies & Creme Cookie Butter?

Yeah, this spread is loaded with sugar, but I didn’t expect anything less. Interesting point: the orange background color is a registered trademark???? WHOA.  So no other jar peanut butter, or maybe no other COMPANY, can use this color? How does THAT work?

Went I cracked open this New Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread, and ripped off the paper seal, I went weak in the knees and nearly fell over. This stuff SMELLED incredible; just like a Reese’s. Strong chocolate notes and with definite peanut butter smell.  Except what looked to be tiny bits of something, this stuff appeared as smooth as chocolate pudding.

My spoon cut through the New Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread like BUDDA.  SUPER smooth, but also with a good consistency – not super oily, not too thick, not too sticky. Just nice, soft peanut butter spread whose surface held and then broke with tiny bits coming to the surface. The consistency looked perfect – it would spread on bread easily without sticking TOO much and tearing whatever surface it was being applied to. I’ve had peanut butter do that before…it’s annoying.

Placing a big ol glob of New Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread into my mouth, there’s only one way to describe this: it tastes like a jar of melted Reese’s peanut butter cups. Plain and simple. The flavor is so perfectly spot on, that except for the texture, I honestly think you wouldn’t know the difference between this spread and a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

The flavor was a perfect balance between chocolate and peanut butter in the way that only Reese’s knows how to do it. The distinct Reese’s flavor comes, for me, from the very candy-like flavor of the combo. It was unmistakable that this was a CANDY SPREAD – this wasn’t peanut butter flavored to be Reese’s, this wasn’t some Nutella knock off….no, this was meant to be a REESE’S SPREAD. Like I took a bunch of Reese’s peanut butter cups, melted them into a bowl of nirvana, and bottled that ish.  That’s what this is. It was chocolaty. It was peanut butter-y. It was Reese’s.

If you like Reese’s you must run, no…SPRINT, to your stores to get it. To try it. To rub it all over your face. Buy it, NOW.

Here’s what I want to know in the comments below: What would YOU eat this on?  Apples? Pretzels? Fingers? Ice Cream? Or just spoon to face, spoon to face, spoon to face?  Tell me.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart, Germantown, MD

COST: $3.38

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy