Nestlé Butterfinger: Peanut butter cups

Product name: Nestlé Butterfinger: Peanut butter cups
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 42.5g pack of two cups (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 230 per pack
Country of origin: USA

A few months ago, Nestlé launched a Butterfinger version of Peanut butter cups. As a huge fan of the Reese's version, I was a bit sceptical about this – surely they just wouldn’t compare? After all, Butterfinger bars are an unusual concept in that their peanut butter comes in the form of a brittle rather than a smooth, soft filling, so I wasn’t sure how well this version would satisfy my desire for a more standard centre whilst maintaining the brand’s unique selling point.

These cups came in a very glossy yellow and blue wrapper that fitted with the usual colour scheme and I was both pleased and intrigued too see that they were described as being both smooth and crunchy. The image on the packaging suggested that the cups would be more square-shaped than circular and this turned out to be the case. They were served on a cardboard tray but, unlike Reese's, they did not come in paper cases. However, I was pleased that they did still have ridged edges.

When I first opened the pack, I immediately noticed a butterscotch-like smell, but this was only from a distance. They smelt more like nuts up close but, unfortunately, the aroma wasn’t of the greatest quality and I didn’t enjoy this aspect of it.

On opening up a cup, I must confess I winced at the inner hue – it was so orange it was almost red! It just didn’t look right at all for peanut butter. However, the interesting-sounding ‘peanut toffee pieces’ inside did look quite nice interspersed in this.

Milk chocolate (not just a flavoured coating – yay!) was the main ingredient and, whilst it didn’t bend away from the peanut butter filling in the same way I enjoy with Reese's, it was chunkier and pretty enjoyable. I found that the cocoa did a good job of mellowing the very salty and nutty flavour on offer from the peanut butter and I was pleased I could detect hints of toffee in the sweet crispy bits too. As I always find with chocolate and peanut butter combinations, the sweet and salty contrast worked really well and, as these cups were particularly salty, they had the pleasant effect of leaving a cooling sensation in the back of the mouth. This saltiness was the main feature, for me, so I was surprised that the whole pack only contained 120mg of salt which meant it scraped into the ‘low’ range.

The peanut butter’s texture was certainly different as it didn’t have the much-loved quality of sticking to the roof of the mouth. However, I did quite like the crispiness as a welcome change, and these toffee pieces also left a slightly bitter aftertaste which was something new in this kind of product.

The difficulty I had with these Butterfinger: Peanut butter cups was that, by their very nature, I was constantly comparing them to the more-established Reese's variety. I think most people would do the same thing which is why I chose to highlight the differences in this review (even Nestlé acknowledge the competition by putting the phrase ‘The cup just got crunchy!’ on the packaging). However, that’s the point – the initial concepts may be very similar but the end results that these two products bring to the table are actually very different. Yes, if I had to choose, I’d usually still go for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but I’d make that choice in the same way that I’d choose between a tin of baked beans and a tin of spaghetti – I enjoy them both and I like one a little more than the other but they’re not identical products and it’s nice to switch it up a bit sometimes!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.13/10