26 Reese's Candy Products Ranked Best To Worst

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In 1928, Harry Burnett Reese introduced Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to the American candy market as part of the H.B. Reese Candy Company's large assortment. Now, 92 years later, Reese's products are part of the Hershey family, and its famous peanut butter cups have spawned a massive line of products, including candy, baking products, spreads, and even jars of Reese's-inspired peanut butter that can be used for everything from the most decadent peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to creative peanut butter-centric baking projects.

There are even seasonal favorites that some fans wait for all year long, like the monstrous, green-hued Frankencups for Halloween, and the fan-favorite line of Reese's eggs that comes out just in time for Easter. The late 1980s brought us the television ad campaign proclaiming that "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's," but the fact is that some Reese's candies are just better than others. While this is not a completely exhaustive list, we've ranked some of the most popular Reese's candies here, from best to worst.

Hershey's Take 5 Bar has always been a great piece of candy because of the way it combines sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy, to create a perfectly harmonious balance of texture and flavor. Even though Take 5 bars have literally always been chock full of Reese's peanut butter, in 2019, Hershey's decided to rebrand the bar as the Reese's Take 5 after tasters supposedly went wild during a test of the new Reese's-branded packaging. 

Reese's Take 5 bars arguably showcase the best application of the signature Reese's peanut butter filling. Because it is offset by crunchy, salty pretzels and peanuts, silky caramel, and Hershey's milk chocolate, the sweetness of the peanut butter just works better. The Reese's Take 5 is the candy bar equivalent of an everything bagel, and it is just as perfect. It also comes in standard, snack, and king sizes, so there is always a Take 5 bar that's perfectly suited to satisfy your cravings. 

Note the fact that these are called "White Creme" and not "White Chocolate," which is important, because the company was actually sued at one point for "misrepresenting white chocolate" on the product's label, according to TODAY. White chocolate has so many haters that many people don't even consider it to really be chocolate, so changing the name was probably only a helpful marketing tactic in addition to a legally sound decision.

The smooth white creme that enrobes the Reese's filling here is made from cocoa butter, sugar, and a bunch of other additives that we'd rather not think about too much because these are absolutely delicious. The thinner profile again gives a better peanut butter filling-to-coating ratio, and the creaminess of the white creme, which is sweet but not too sweet, plays very nicely with the filling. Like the dark chocolate variety, this is a more sophisticated Reese's product and definitely more of an acquired taste. 

Reese's Snack Mix is what every other kind of trail nut mix wishes it was. This is a frankly stellar combination of treats, that includes peanuts, pretzels, Reese's Pieces, and Reese's Minis all together in one bite. It makes for a salty and sweet snack that is simply loaded with peanut butter flavor (via Hersheyland). The Reese's Pieces are a nice twist on the traditional chocolate candies that come in other trail mix varieties, while the mini peanut butter cups are, hands-down, the absolute star of the mix.

Whether you end up eating a Reese's Pieces and a peanut together or a pretzel and a peanut butter cup, any combination of these ingredients will be delicious. This multi-purpose treat can also be incorporated into dessert recipes, such as one Influenster user who suggests topping a chocolate tart with the mix. "Whoever came up with this is a genius," another Influenster review reads. "It's so good that this is literally all I eat for lunch." 

If you're craving the classic combination of Hershey's milk chocolate and Reese's peanut butter filling, we think that the thin version is actually the best iteration. As with the other thins flavors, the ratio here is better, so instead of being overwhelming, the peanut butter filling provides a pleasant counterpoint to the classic Hershey's milk chocolate. 

According to the official Reese's website, the THiNs line of peanut butter cups is a full 40 percent thinner than the original standard-sized Reese's cup, which is a pretty significant difference. In this format, we find not only the most balanced flavor profile but also a more pleasing texture. The thinner chocolate coating has more snap than smush, which is the best part of the classic milk chocolate Reese's THiN. It has a satisfying crispness when you bite into it that is not unlike a potato chip, except it's a peanut butter cup — so better.

Out of all of Reese's attempts to crack into the candy bar sphere, the Reese's Peanut Butter GIant Bar is the one that stays the most true to the flavor of the original Reese's peanut butter cup. The chocolate is smooth and melts in your mouth to reveal the gooey Reese's peanut butter filling that has just the right consistency. It's like a regular Hershey's bar with that signature peanut butter-lover's twist that works so well. We think this is a really versatile product that could work well added to cookies, s'mores, and more. 

If you're someone who prefers Reese's products that have a higher ratio of peanut butter to chocolate, then be aware that this may not be your favorite candy option on the list. But if you like it, then chances are that you're really going to like this treat. "After having my first Reese's "Giant" bar (actually the 4.2 oz size) I was spoiled. The traditional 'cup' version I'd loved since childhood unexpectedly lost their appeal," one Amazon customer wrote.

This is one of those cases where the original is really good but just slightly less good than the modern spinoff. Enter the Reese's NutRageous, which was released in 1994. This is a candy bar that has a bit of an identity crisis. When it first debuted, according to Snackhistory.com, it was called the "Acclaim," which doesn't quite conjure up the peanut buttery delight that this candy bar truly is. However, focus groups made up primarily of children did not respond well to the original name, so the Hershey company rebranded the bar as the Reese's NutRageous, which has a much better ring to it.

The NutRageous is exactly the same as the Outrageous but with roasted peanuts instead of Reese's Pieces. In 2014, four years before the Outrageous debuted, Hershey made the NutRageous smaller and rebranded it again as the Nut Bar, which also is not a particularly appealing moniker. It's now available again under the NutRageous title, but it can be a little bit tricky to find. 

For many people, no matter how many variations and spin-off products the Hershey company can dream up, there is just nothing that can ever compare to a classic Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Filled with classic Reese's peanut butter filling and enrobed in Hershey's milk chocolate, this classic candy isn't trying to be anything other than exactly what it is. 

It's pretty good straight out of the package, it's better chilled in the fridge, and it's best when it has been taken out of the freezer a minute or two before it's eaten, but as the commercials told us, there's no wrong way to eat one! This is the peanut butter cup that formed the basis for every other product in the Reese's line, and for that, it deserves some serious respect. This is a classic treat that has been winning fans for generations, and it shows no signs of stopping. 

Let's be real — when popular snack brands try to make "healthier" versions of fan-favorite products, the taste of often what suffers the most. Yet the reason that Reese's organic version of its candy deserves to be so high on the list is because it's mostly indistinguishable from the original. The things that are different, like the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter being a bit more skewed toward the former, make the candy better. The chocolate flavor is richer and more intense than the non-organic version, while the peanut butter is a little less sweet. 

While Reese's Organic is slightly different from the original, it won't be very noticeable to someone who only enjoys a Reese's cup once in awhile. "If you're looking to enjoy a classic candy with better for you ingredients than this is the answer to your search," one Influenster user wrote.

Released in 2016 via a social media campaign that seemed to encourage the candy fandom rumor mill, Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cups take the classic milk chocolate Reese's cups and stuff them full of tiny Reese's Pieces, resulting in a candy-inside-a-candy. It's easy enough to understand why some people love this candy, but unfortunately, it can also be a bit too cloying.

The combination of Reese's Piece and classic Reese's Peanut Butter can work really well when it's placed in the context of another ingredient like caramel, as is the case with the Reese's Outrageous candy bar. However, when it's just peanut butter and Reese's pieces inside of a standard milk chocolate shell, the flavor profile ends up falling flat. The crunch of the candy coating isn't particularly satisfying. Eaten at room temperature, everything can be a bit too soft, but freeze these peanut butter cups, and the Reese's Pieces inside can become unpleasantly hard. This is a good candy for those who love it, but it definitely isn't a must-have. 

Reese's Snack Cakes seem like they were meant to compete with the Little Debbie and the Hostess snacks of the world, but the result is a bit different. Instead of going toe-to-toe with a Zebra Cake or Zingers, we think this is a pretty good mash-up of a candy bar and a baked good that lands in a category all its own. The inside is dense and filled with chocolate cake and peanut butter cream, which is then given a milk chocolate coating. It's a unique item that gets some props for an inventive design, but this treat could still use a little tweaking to become one of Reese's better products. 

The main downfall is the texture of the cake, which is a major bummer considering the product is advertised as a snack cake. It's super dense and almost tastes stale, though the other elements are executed well. Walmart customers have pretty mixed feelings about the Reese's Snack Cakes, too. "Pretty tasty, but was expecting an actual snack cake. This has the consistency of a protein bar, meaning very heavy," one customer review read. 

The Reese's Fast Break feels like Hershey's best attempt at competing with the Butterfinger, but unfortunately, this is a candy bar that just falls flat. The Fast Break is a combination of peanut butter filling, nougat, and milk chocolate, but the marriage of flavors is not a harmonious one. There is not enough salt in the mixture, which is one of the biggest problems we have with this candy bar.

The nougat is tasteless, chewy, and sticks to your teeth in a decidedly unpleasant manner. The texture of the whole bar is another big problem. It's neither satisfyingly chewy like a Three Musketeers bar, nor is it crisp and crunchy like a Butterfinger, and the peanut butter flavor kind of gets lost in the mix of ingredients. Freezing does nothing to improve the taste or texture, and when eaten at room temperature, it is lackluster at best. 

The Reese's Peanut Butter Lover's peanut butter cup feels like an idea that probably should have died in whatever marketing team brainstorming session during which it was generated. Here we have a more or less regular Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, which is a fine enough beginning. But then, the top half of the chocolate coating is replaced with a layer of peanut butter creme.

What exactly is peanut butter creme? That's kind of hard to say. It has the taste and texture of the white creme that is used on other Reese's products but with just a hint of peanut butter flavor and a strange pale beige color. For true peanut butter lovers, this will wildly miss the mark. The peanut butter flavor is not particularly pronounced, there's no extra salt to offset the sweetness of the candy, and there is nothing interesting happening at all in terms of texture or crunch. 

Reese's Potato Chips Big Cup is an imaginative dream brought to life. But just because some strange food combinations sound interesting in theory or even taste good when created in the wild, that doesn't always mean that brands should make them a reality. Reese's Potato Chips Big Cup is a prime example of this conundrum.

It's the off-putting mouthfeel of this candy that ruins the experience of the cup. At the point that notice this issue, you're likely already overwhelmed by an outrageous amount of peanut butter. That filling is pebbled with sad, soggy pieces that claim to be potato chips. Yet the pieces inside resemble nondescript salty bites more than they do rippled chips. 

You're better off putting a Reese's cup and a potato chip in your mouth at the same time. At least then the texture of the chip will be preserved. As others noted, it may also just taste weird. "I had hopes for this product, but it's very dry, extremely salty and tasted like chemicals," one Amazon customer wrote. "I gave it to a friend who loves Reese's products and even she couldn't stomach it."