Someone at Hershey’s has a crunch fetish. After 2016’s super hyped launch of the Cookie Layer Crunch Bars, the chocolate giant is back with the textural fixation via the release of Reese’s Crunchers.
Since the cookie bars didn’t have a peanut butter version at launch, it only seems right that the crunch train keeps rollin’ in the direction of one of Hershey’s strongest and most recognizable brands.
Reese’s Crunchers combine mini peanut butter chips, puffs, and peanuts covered in milk chocolate in a resealable bag so you can casually crunch the day away.
The aroma is immediately recognizable – the signature sweet and salty Reese’s perfume that all good orange packages ought to smell like. It’s a distinct smell that could be filed under “delicious” for the 97 percent of the world’s population who don’t have a nut allergy.
Chomping into these Crunchers delivers the same flavor that my nose perked up to and has that great balance of peanut butter and chocolate that Reese’s is known for, but just a bit more muted. The presence of the rice crisps dulls the impact of the peanut butter to make it a less rich and intense flavor, and essentially tastes like the peanut butter sibling to Nestle’s Buncha Crunch.
Although the package says there are chocolate covered peanuts I don’t get any distinct peanut flavor or texture amongst the sea of crisps, and I wish they were stronger as their snap would be a welcome addition to the snack party.
The only problem with this product is it really isn’t all that crunchy. Yes, the pieces are more crunchy than a standard creamy Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but definitely less crunchy than the Reese’s Snack Mix that gets a big chompy boost from pretzels and whole peanuts.
The Crunchers are a bit salty but not so much so that they elevate the flavor beyond an actual cup, and without any sort of variety in the bag beyond small and large pieces the eating experience isn’t as exciting as I had hoped it would be.
As much as I love some crunch to go along with my chocolate and peanut butter I would much rather have a single Reese’s cup and eat it alongside some pretzels or popcorn than what these Crunchers offer.
They do, however, seem like a perfect movie theater companion where I could blindly reach in and alternate from Cruncher to corn and corn to Cruncher while the big screen story unfolds before me without worrying about what kind of handful I was going to get in the darkened theater.
At the end of the day they taste like Reese’s, and Reese’s taste like mouth dreams.
(Nutrition Facts – 14 pieces (40g) – 200 calories, 90 calories from fat, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, and 4 gram of protein..)
Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 6.5 oz. bag
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Classic Reese’s peanut butter flavor. Ability to blindly crunch. The rebirth of Buncha Crunch. Textural fetish fulfillment.
Cons: Not as crunchy as the name would imply. Not enough peanuts. Rice crisps cut the richness of the peanut butter. Less satisfying than a regular Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
I agree with a lot of this, but I wouldn’t rate them so highly. I don’t like how the package makes them look much better than the white-coated pieces you actually get. It seems like they’re expired, even if maybe they’re not. I would much rather just have peanutbutter cups or Reese’s pieces. They’re not rich enough, and seem too light on the peanutbutter side.