Flavors Tried: Reese’s & Hershey’s Cookies N’ Creme
Nutrition (Reese’s): 250 Calories, 11g Fat, 25g Carbs (6g Fiber & 3g Sugar), 18g Protein
Nutrition (Cookies N’ Creme): 230 Calories, 9g Fat, 25g Carbs (5g Fiber & 3g Sugar), 18g Protein
My favorite candy on Earth, Reese’s, and another top 5 candy in Hershey’s Cookies N’ Creme, made my dreams come true.
Never in a million years did I think I would see these in protein bar form, but here we are.
ONE bars announced this collab recently, and I can’t remember the last time I was this excited. Actually, I take that back- I can remember, and it did not end well: it was the Cinnamon Toast Crunch protein bars, and they were incredibly disappointing.
This “collaboration” feels a little bit less exciting once you learn that Hershey actually owns ONE. I had no idea this was the case, so using the Hershey name on flavors makes a ton of sense. I mean, considering these sold out on Amazon within hours of launching, it’s clear that the Hershey name is doing some real heavy lifting here.
If these bars can capture just a fraction of what makes the candy so special, we’ll have some real winners here.
Nutritionally, these are right on par with what you’d expect, but maybe a slight downgrade over regular ONE bars. With 230-250 calories and 18 grams of protein, they are slightly higher in calories and lower in protein than what you’d typically find from this brand.
But hey, if the extra calories are due to superior flavor and mix-ins, I will never complain. Let’s find out.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Lovers Protein Bar Review
First impressions: this is a beautiful looking protein bar. With a smooth peanut butter coating and peanut butter chips on top of the bar, this was truly made for peanut butter lovers.
And if you’re curious: it smells as good as it looks.
If you’ve had the peanut butter pie bar from ONE bars before, it looks very similar to this minus the chips on top. When looking at the ingredients, this bar’s main ingredients are peanuts and peanut flour, which is not true of peanut butter pie (protein is the main ingredient in that one) so I was very hopeful that the peanut butter flavor would deliver on this one.
The texture is exactly what you’d expect from the other ONE bars. It’s a thick and slightly chewy bar, but not so thick that you feel like your jaw is going to fall off from all the chewing.
The interior of the bar is, you guessed it, peanut butter, and there are peanuts scattered throughout the interior.
Everything is aligning for this to be a top-tier protein bar, but does it actually taste like Reese’s?
Eh, sort of.
The peanut butter flavor is delicious. If this were just a regular peanut butter-flavored protein bar, this would take the top spot on the Mt. Rushmore of ONE bar flavors. But, it doesn’t exactly scream “Reese’s” to me.
If you’ve ever tasted or used the Reese’s peanut butter baking chips in a recipe before, that’s exactly what these taste like. It’s a prominent peanut butter flavor with a great sweetness, but it doesn’t quite capture what makes Reese’s cups so special.
Reese’s peanut butter is so recognizable largely thanks to the unique texture, so you lose a bit when you can’t replicate that. I liken it to the jarred Reese’s peanut butter you can buy at the grocery store- it tastes good, but it doesn’t taste like a Reese’s cup.
I’m not disappointed in the flavor of this bar, and I think any peanut butter lover will enjoy this bar. But if you’re hoping for a protein bar that tastes like you’re eating Reese’s cups, you’re going to be let down.
Hershey Cookies N’ Creme Protein Bar Review
Considering the Reese’s bar was delicious, but not quite the flavor of a real Reese’s, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this Hershey’s Cookies N’ Creme protein bar.
Immediately upon opening the bar, it looks to be packed with a ton of cookie pieces inside. The bar smells very sweet, and you’re hit with a strong aroma of white chocolate that almost resembles frosting.
This flavor is noticeably dryer than the Reese’s bar, and it has more “snap” to it when breaking it in half.
I was pleased to see lots of cookie pieces inside, but when I bit into this bar, it tasted pretty similar to the ONE birthday cake bar. The chocolate cookie pieces don’t add a ton of flavor, but they do enhance the experience by giving you a solid crunch in every bite.
Much like the ONE birthday cake or fruity cereal flavors, it is very sweet, but that’s what you expect from a white-chocolate based bar. If you like the Hershey’s Cookies N Creme bar, you definitely get similar flavor notes here.
When I first tried this bar, I was actually pretty disappointed. In fact, my feelings were very similar to the cookies & cream flavor in my ONE bar flavor ranking:
This bar should be called “Very Sweet White Chocolate With Tiny Crunchy Cookie Pieces.”
If you’re looking for an Oreo flavor, you’re not going to find it in this bar. Overall, you mostly taste white chocolate, and very sweet white chocolate at that.
Since my initial review, I’ve worked my way through an entire box, and this flavor has grown on me a lot. In fact, I like it more than the Reese’s flavor now.
It’s certainly not on the same level as a real Cookies N Creme bar, but the white chocolate is smooth, the crunchy cookie pieces add great texture, and the bar as surprisingly filling.
Hershey x ONE Bar Overall Thoughts
I set the bar way too high for these, and that’s my own fault, but they don’t quite capture the flavors of the candy bars that they are modeled after.
But for what they are, they are still damn good.
In terms of overall flavor, the Reese’s peanut butter bar is very good and the triple-layer of peanut butter does not disappoint.
It’s a balanced sweetness, there’s no artificial flavor, and there’s tons of peanut butter chips on top… but it doesn’t quite taste like Reese’s peanut butter. It’s solid for a peanut butter protein bar, but you’re not going to be fooled into thinking you’re eating the interior of a Reese’s cup.
The Cookies N’ Creme bar was unimpressive upon the first taste, but it continues to grow on me. I really enjoy the sweetness of the white chocolate contrasted against the dark crunchy cookie pieces inside the bar.
Like the Reese’s bar, it’s not going to fool you into thinking you’re eating a candy bar, but it captures the essence of the candy bar enough to make it thoroughly enjoyable.
If you’re on the fence about which flavor to go with, I recommend trying them both, because you may just find your enjoyment growing as you work your way through the box the same way it did for me.
Now, having eaten nearly a full box of each flavor, I put these firmly at the top of my ONE bar flavor ranking.
