9 Reese's Knockoffs, Ranked

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If Reese's peanut butter cups were what you always picked out of the candy bag while trick-or-treating, this article is for you. If you are on the hunt for milk chocolate peanut butter cups with high-quality ingredients and vibrant flavor profiles, this article is for you. And if you are looking for a nostalgic treat to enjoy any time of the day, this article is for you. A man named H.B. Reese essentially invented the peanut butter cup in his basement in 1928, and since then, the Hershey Company has sold millions of them. In fact, 25 million cups are produced each day at the company's factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Needless to say, Reese's cups have shaped the appetites and cravings of folks around the globe, and for good reason: Together, silky chocolate and creamy peanut butter are a textural masterpiece, and the sweet yet savory flavors of a peanut butter cup can satisfy and fill you up like few other candies can.

These days, though, Reese's peanut butter cups are not what I find myself reaching for at the grocery store when I am perusing the chocolate aisle. Over the past decade or so, I have tried several brands' takes on the mainstream treat and found alternative products that I enjoy even more than the original. I took to ranking some of the most readily available milk chocolate peanut butter cups on the market based on their texture and flavor. More notes on my methodology can be found at the end of this article.

Chocolove makes some of my favorite chocolate bars on the market, including a handful of the best vegan chocolate bars. The brand's raspberries in dark chocolate bar and 88% extreme dark chocolate bar are in my regular rotation. And don't even get me started on the cherries and almonds in dark chocolate bar. But the milk chocolate peanut butter cups? After giving them a shot, I'll take a hard pass on these next time I see them at the grocery store. Before getting into the details, it's worth noting that these cups, which come in sleeves of two, have a cocoa content of 33%. I have tried the brand's 55% dark chocolate cups and enjoyed them much more.

Though this review is all about the milk chocolate peanut butter cups — and these were not up to par. Perhaps it was the organic butter oil, the organic palm fruit oil, and/or the soy/sunflower lecithin that gave them a weird, sour twinge. I can't say for sure, but it was not pleasant. And while the peanut butter filling was composed of dry roasted blanched peanuts, I felt that the nuts could have been roasted a little more. Aside from their unique and aesthetic shape, the only thing going for these cups was their smooth texture.

Lily's has made a name for itself in the chocolate world for offering sugar-free alternatives to some of consumers' favorite products. Personally, I love the brand's dark chocolate-style baking chips for making cookies, as well as its intensely dark chocolate-style bar for everyday snacking. Lily's milk chocolate-style peanut butter cups are individually wrapped and sold in pouches of six. Unfortunately, they did not live up to my expectations.

The inevitable reason for my disappointment was that the necessity for sugar-mimicking substances is much higher in milk chocolate than dark chocolate. When I first bit into the peanut butter cup, I could not immediately tell that it contained erythritol, isomalt, and stevia extract. However, the telltale licorice-like flavor of stevia, which some folks describe as bitter, was evident in this chocolate's aftertaste. I am not certain whether erythritol or isomalt imparted flavors as well, but their flavor profiles are generally considered to be quite similar to sugar. While I was grateful for the high ratio of peanut butter to chocolate, which helped mask the stevia's flavor, it could only do so much. Additionally, I found that these cups were not quite as rich and creamy as those produced by some of the other brands on this list. To use up the rest of these cups, I will be adding them to desserts like ice cream, Rocky Road bars, or cupcakes.

SkinnyDipped satisfies your craving for nuts and chocolate, with less sugar and no gluten or artificial ingredients. Don't let the name fool you, though: Many of SkinnyDipped's products are quite lovely, and I am certainly a fan of the brand's nuts. Although SkinnyDipped made its debut in 2016 by selling chocolate-dipped almonds, the company has since diversified its product line to include treats like dark chocolate salted caramel bites and, yes, both milk chocolate and dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Sadly, the milk chocolate peanut butter cups, which are sold individually wrapped in pouches of six, left me yearning for something more.

I'll start with a note of praise: This product was not obviously lacking in sugar. It contains both sugar and maple sugar in its ingredients list and tastes perfectly sweet, yet only clocks in at 4 grams of added sugar per cup. Even so, that's partly to do with its size; its cups are smaller than its competitors. I found the imagery on the packaging to be deceiving because the cup's layers were thin, not lusciously thick. This cup did not melt in my mouth to the same extent as some of the other products on this list, and the chocolate layers pulled away from the peanut butter filling a little too easily. Neither the flavor of the chocolate, nor the peanut butter impressed me much, though they were not bad. I recommend saving your hard-earned money and skipping this product in favor of another brand.

Nassau Candy manufactures, imports, and distributes wholesale candy to stores like Whole Foods, which is where I found its milk chocolate peanut butter cups. My 11.5-ounce plastic bin contained 22 cups, or 11 total servings. This product reminded me of childhood, when I would eat pieces of milk chocolate nearly every day. Light and sweet, there was no doubt that milk chocolate was what these cups were enrobed in, and indeed, sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract were all accounted for on the ingredients label. The vanilla extract stood out in particular, giving these cups vibrant, slightly floral tasting notes. However, it slightly masked flavors that may have been present in the cocoa. Because vanillin is present in Reese's Pieces, but not Reese's peanut butter cups, I found this product to be more similar in flavor to the former.

Meanwhile, the peanut butter filling in these cups was clearly made using dry roasted peanuts and powdered sugar, with just a hint of salt detectable. The filling was creamy and soft, but I was disappointed to find that it fell away from the chocolate too easily. I might have given this product a higher ranking if it had melted in my mouth more smoothly and its percentage of cocoa was just a smidge higher.

Like Good & Gather, Favorite Day is one of Target's store brands, but the two differ in their product lines and purposes. Favorite Day is designed not necessarily to offer consumers healthy snacks and everyday cooking ingredients, but instead to provide them mouthwatering treats like milk chocolate-filled waffle cones and peach cobbler ice cream. The brand's milk chocolate peanut butter cups are made with relatively simple ingredients, including sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, vanilla extract, peanuts, palm kernel oil, lactose, salt, and soy lecithin. The cups are sold in pouches of about 30 pieces, each one wrapped in the brown paper you may be used to seeing on Reese's cups. Because they are rather small in size, there are three cups in a serving.

At this point in the review, I would recommend giving this product, as well as any subsequent products, a try. I found these peanut butter cups to be delightful and shockingly similar to Reese's cups. They possessed a similar amount of sweetness, and the milk chocolate flavor was gentle, and (for better or worse) not too bold in flavor. Plus, the peanut butter filling was very creamy and smooth. Size is therefore the main difference between Reese's cups and Favorite Day cups. I also observed that these cups melted in my mouth more easily than Reese's cups did, in part because of their size.

It came as no surprise to me that Trader Joe's milk chocolate peanut butter cups hit the spot. I'm not exactly a diehard Trader Joe's fangirl — I think the brand's pre-cooked rice dishes, for instance, have a lot of room for improvement — but if there is one thing the grocery store chain does right, it's desserts. From the coffee lover's espresso beans that I could eat for breakfast to the hefty Pound Plus chocolate bars, Trader Joe's knows its chocolate. These milk chocolate cups are sold in plastic bins that hold nearly 40 peanut butter cups. There are three cups in a serving, though I wouldn't judge if you exceeded this suggestion. One of the best parts about this product is how affordable it is. It's worth noting that many people prefer the dark chocolate variation of this product, though I could happily munch on both.

Admittedly, the chocolate in these peanut butter cups contains a few ingredients that are not typically associated with top tier chocolate, including soy lecithin and natural flavors. Nevertheless, they come through on taste without seeming artificial. These cups aren't too sweet; in fact, the chocolate carries a complex and satisfying array of flavors unlike those possessed by any other brand on this list. I appreciated the generous ratio of peanut butter to chocolate in these cups. My only critique is that the layers did not meld together quite as well as they did in the top three brands on this list.

365, Whole Foods' in-house brand, is a reliable source for everything from satisfying snacks to frozen burgers to maraschino cherries. I have not tried many of the brand's other chocolate products, but these certainly piqued my interest in doing so. The 365 milk chocolate peanut butter cups blew me away with their flavor and texture. Sold in pouches with around one dozen cups each, these foil-wrapped, bite-sized chocolates offer a clean, easy way to sprinkle in little desserts throughout your day. The serving size is three cups, so why not have one after each meal?

The ingredients in these cups appear to make a few concessions for cost, such as the inclusion of soy lecithin and fractionated expeller-pressed palm oil (both of which forgo the need for additional cocoa butter). Regardless, I swooned for the way each cup melted in my mouth and how the peanut butter filling did not pull away from the chocolate. I also loved that neither the peanut butter nor the chocolate was too sweet. The peanut butter filling was soft and not at all grainy, and the flavor of the dry roasted peanuts was readily apparent. Meanwhile, the chocolate was smooth in texture and featured well-defined ridges. If I could make one change to this product, it would be a more nuanced chocolate. I was not able to taste many flavors in the cocoa itself.

The first thing I noticed about the Theo milk chocolate peanut butter cups, which come in sleeves of two, was the high bar set by the layers of chocolate. This was to be expected, given that Theo is a chocolate brand that specializes in offering organic, Fair Trade, and soy-free chocolates, and its top-notch products have helped secure the brand a high reputation among its competitors. The chocolate used in these cups has a 45% cocoa content and consists of just a few ingredients — namely, cocoa butter, cocoa beans, cane sugar, and whole milk powder, all of which are organic. Because the chocolate consists solely of high-quality ingredients, the complex flavors of the cocoa can more easily shine.

I was pleased to find that the peanut butter layer was just as delicious as the chocolate. Consisting of roasted peanuts, peanut flour, powdered sugar, and sea salt, it is likewise composed of simple ingredients that pack a punch. Neither the chocolate nor the peanut butter was too sweet, and yet, the combination reminded me of Moose Tracks ice cream. Together, the layers possessed an immensely satisfying texture, with the top layer being thicker than the bottom. On a superficial level, I was also pleased that these cups were uniquely molded into the shapes of hearts. I have no complaints with this product, and it puts up an admirable fight for the number one ranking on this list. On some days, it might even win.

Justin's began as a nut butter company and has since evolved into offering a wide range of nut butter products and chocolate candies that feature sustainable, organic ingredients. Since I am mostly vegan, the brand's dark chocolate peanut butter cups have long been my treat of choice when I am craving a Reese's cup. I had never tried the milk chocolate variation, but the two turned out to be strikingly similar. In fact, I had to double-check the wrapper to make sure I had purchased the correct product because the chocolate layers were so rich. These cups, which are sold in pairs, do contain dairy after all, in the form of organic full-cream milk. Plus, their cocoa content could be a lot darker (just check out the brand's super dark chocolate cups). Despite its origins and top performance in the nut butter business, if you value high-quality chocolate, Justin's will not disappoint you.

The peanut butter layer was equally spectacular. Unlike many of the other brands I reviewed, these cups contained a generous amount of sea salt, which balanced the sweetness of the chocolate and gave each cup an extra layer of lip-smacking flavor. The peanut butter layer pulled away from the chocolate layer ever so slightly, while still allowing for some melding to occur. This fine balance was not struck by any other product on this list. I recommend trying not only these cups, but also the brand's dark chocolate, white chocolate, and quinoa-topped variations. One note I have is that this was the only cup that melted on my way home, so be cautious in hot weather!

I chose these products based on what was readily available in brick-and-mortar stores, then ranked them according to their flavors and textures. In making my assessments, I did not consider how closely each product mimicked a Reese's cup because, as much as it might surprise my 10-year-old self, I truly believe that several of these products are far superior to the mainstream candy. 

For each product, I took notes on the quality of the chocolate as well as the peanut butter filling, giving fewer kudos to those that felt grainier. Though I have commented on the size and packaging of several products, I did not consider these factors in my review.