Peanut butter cups have been making their way into various ice creams for as long as I can remember. Each individual company has their own way of including the popular mix-in inside their flavors, but there aren’t many currently available that combine their chocolate-coated cups with even more peanut butter. Then again, Ben & Jerry’s rarely follow the rest. On my recent trip to Vermont to tour their facilities and factory, I learned that Peanut Butter Cup flavor had managed to push and shove its way into their top 10 best selling flavors list; nudging past Red Velvet Cake for the 9th position. Although it had flown under my radar up to this point, apparently this simple combination of peanut butter cups and peanut butter ice cream had been doing something right for a long time. I had experienced these same peanut butter cups while reviewing Everything But The, but I hadn’t been able to fully recognize their potential when they had been mixed with a simple chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
The abundant amount of peanut butter cups and dense, heavy ice cream do come at a premium though; 350 calories per serving to be exact. The peanut butter ice cream is beige in color and can require some effort to extract from the carton. Ben & Jerry’s adds an ample amount of sweetness to the natural salty characteristics of the peanut butter, resulting in a smooth, yet full-bodied flavor. The peanut butter base isn’t terribly complicated, but the added thickness and slow-melting nature of the extra fat involved allow for full appreciate of the simple flavoring. Much like Everything But The, Peanut Butter Cup is a pint you’re forced to take your time with. The incredible amount of peanut butter cups crammed inside makes it difficult for your spoon to dive more than a few millimeters at a time. No matter the angle you plan your attack from, you’ll soon find an entire half (or even a whole cup on occasion) of solidified chocolate and peanut butter blocking your path.
This requires you to snake your spoon around each obstacle before being able to bring perhaps the biggest chunk in Ben & Jerry’s repertoire. After a struggle, I was finally able to bring out one of the peanut butter cups dripping in peanut butter ice cream. These Reese’s cup impersonators last much longer than the surrounding base, making the tail end of each bite a full-on candy experience. The outer coating of chocolate slowly melts away, leaving a dense concentration of sweet, smooth peanut butter filling to provide the finishing blow. After ignoring this flavor for such a long time, I now see why Peanut Butter Cup has managed to make its way into Ben & Jerry’s best-sellers list.
Where I Found It: Super Wal-Mart
