Take another little piece of my heart now, baby

[venta]

A little bit of loose-end tidying I forgot the other day: Following discussion of the Peanut Butter Heresy a while back, ringbark insisted I should try Reese's Pieces.

While I was in Whitby, I popped into one of the look-massive-jars sweetshops on the East side (keris made me) and discovered they also had a bunch of American import sweets. I don't wish to give the impression that I'll follow any instruction issued on the internet by a person I have never met[*] but I immediately purchased a packet.

They are indeed like Smarties to look at, though in line with Reese's branding they only come in orange, yellow and brown. Instead of having chocolate insides, they are filled with massively oversweetened peanut butter.

And do you know what? They're bloody marvellous. I didn't read the nutritional information on the packet because I figured it would be terrifying. And having them for breakfast on Monday was probably a mistake.

But I concede that Ringbark is completely correct, they are way better than the peanut-butter cup things.

[*] I mean, it's pretty much true, but I don't wish to give that impression :)

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

They are indeed like Smarties to look at, though in line with Reese's branding they only come in orange, yellow and brown. Instead of having chocolate insides, they are filled with massively oversweetened peanut butter.

And do you know what? They're bloody marvellous.

Whilst I certainly agree they're infinitely superior to peanut butter cups, I don't see why anyone would want them over peanut M&Ms. (And not just because M&Ms have blue ones in the pack^[1].) Can you make a convincing case for them?

---

[1] I sometimes worry that the only reason I love blue M&Ms so much is because there were no blue Smarties when I was a kid.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I can't think when I last had peanut M&Ms, so my memory may be a bit vague... but I think they are peanuts with sugar shells rather than dollops of peanut butter-esque substance with sugar shells. Is that right?

So I think Reese's Pieces are much sweeter. This doesn't make them inherently better, but it does make them different. I've always been slightly confused by peanut M&Ms, because they're not quite sweets and not quite peanuts. Mostly when I've eaten them I've thought I'd probably rather be eating peanuts.

I think I actually regard blue M&Ms/Smarties with vague suspicion because there weren't any when I was a kid :)

(And the new environmentally-friendly Smartie packaging is rubbish! You can't even fire the lid across the room or anything. Though you still can with the giant tubes, we checked recently :)

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

And the new environmentally-friendly Smartie packaging is rubbish!

I know! But never mind. If it saves an environment or two then fair enough.

Your recollection of peanut M&Ms is based on fact, but it a little off: between the sugar shell and the peanut is a layer of chocolate, which is why they're about the size of marbles instead of peanut sized. They're definitely sweets in my view. The upside compared to Reese's Pieces is the texture. Why would I want my food as mush when it doesn't have to be?! (I reserve the right to revisit this question in a less rhetorical way when I have no teeth left.)

[venta.livejournal.com]

If it saves an environment or two then fair enough.

I suppose so :) I can definitely manufacture pop-guns out of other things, too.

You're right, I had forgotten peanut M&Ms were much larger than the chocolate ones. I don't think I found the inside of Reese's Pieces "mushy" - probably less solid than an actual peanut, but not noticeably softer than, say, chocolate.

So I think I'll confine myself to saying they aren't necessarily superior, but they are differently good.

[eniel]

M&Ms do actually make a peanut butter variety, sold in an orange bag, which was started in the early nineties, so a good ten years after Reese's Pieces. However, I really don't know if they were marketed outside of the US/Canada area.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I've never seen peanut butter M&Ms in the UK, and I've certainly heard people say that they were never marketed outside the US. I think in general peanut butter is a much bigger deal over there than over here :)

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you can only get peanut butter M&Ms (and the wonderful almond M&Ms) in the US/Canada, or from specialist shops like Cybercandy. They are amazing. I can demolish a whole huge bag in a sitting (and then feel very sick and hyper).

[venta.livejournal.com]

You can get almond M&Ms? Now you're talking! Presumably they're like low-rent sugared almonds?

[tigerfort.livejournal.com]

And the new environmentally-friendly Smartie packaging is rubbish! You can't even fire the lid across the room or anything.

You can chop them up to make models of the giant's causeway, though, so it isn't all bad.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Please tell me you have a picture of a Smarties-tube Giant's Causeway. I need this for, erm, work.

[venta.livejournal.com]

That just made me laugh out loud :)

[lnr]

Now I have a huge craving!

[lnr]

Bah, newsagent in town sells cups but not pieces - foiled. I bought fizzy cola bottles instead.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! Being a grown up is all about being able to buy fizzy cola bottles when you want to :)

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Reeces pieces are one of my all time favouritest sweets. And one I can still have now I'm non-dairy

EDIT: well, the ones on sale in the UK were at one point non-dairy. The ones online were not

But BOO HISS that the one shop near me that I knew to sell them now no longer does. Booo! Booo!

[keris.livejournal.com]

Shall I add you to my Reese's buying list when I go to the US in the summer?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Obviously I encourage people to bring me sweets :) However, I think there's a risk I won't see you til October, at which point I can buy my own in Whitby!

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

Thank you, venta, for those kind words about my recommendation.
There are some mainstream shops that sell these in England - I think I saw some at a Sainsbury's recently. My usual supplier is http://www.americansoda.co.uk/ but they are not cheap there. I get no commission from this site.
Yes, they are (and I quote) bloody marvellous.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Er... actually they sound disgusting! The horror of sugar-grit American chocolate with extra sweet filling. Nauseating.

I'm not one to comment though, I prefer my sweets not-sweet, so Choco-covered, on-the-savoury-side, unmessed-with nuts are ideal.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I think I agree they are disgusting, I just happen to like them :) (And I don't think they have a chocolate component.)

I wouldn't want them very often. Contrary to my permanent cake-munching image, I don't actually have a hugely sweet tooth either.

Do you like the horrible aniseed-y sugar coated things you sometimes get at the end of a meal in an Indian restaurant? I approve of them in principle, but am really not that down with aniseed.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

The aniseedy things are comfits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfit

I think the ones you get in Indian restaurants usually have a fennel seed in the middle, hence the rather medicinal taste.