The Best Cheese Pairing For Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, According To The Pros
Americans really love cheese. According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, people in the United States consumed approximately 40 pounds of cheese per person in 2020, with their favorite cheese being cheddar. Americans also really love candy, with the average person eating approximately 8 pounds of sweets each year according to "Advances in Nutrition." You've likely paired cheese with nuts, fruit, and wine, and you may have even paired candy with wine or beer, but have you ever considered pairing cheese and candy?
Candy and cheese may seem like an odd match because they have very different flavors, textures, and nutritional properties, but there are several reasons why they can enhance each other in surprising ways. Take Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, one of the most popular candies in the U.S., for example. At first thought, chocolate and peanut butter don't seem a likely partner for cheese, but the combination can absolutely work — you just have to choose the right one.
Blue cheese complements Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
To elevate the taste of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, pair them with blue cheese. Michelle Molier, an ACS-certified cheese professional and the manager of education and events for Murray's Cheese, told The Kitchn that this pairing is great because blue cheese has a fudgy flavor. Eaten with chocolate, the duo creates a smoother and fuller chocolatey taste, akin to a candy bar. Minnesota's Caves of Faribault, home to America's first commercially-produced blue cheese, also gives a thumbs up to the pairing and notes that not only does chocolate soften blue cheese's astringency, but the "roasted, savory flavor" of the peanuts is compelling against the "sharp flavors in blue cheese."
Texture is another essential part of creating a flavor profile, and one of the reasons that blue cheese and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups go well together is because they both have a creamy-yet-gritty consistency. But contrasting textures can go together just as well. For example, Dairy Farms of Wisconsin's Molly Browne tells Better Homes & Gardens that Reese's-adjacent peanut butter truffles can be paired with a chewy, nutty alpine-style cheese.
Tastes are subjective, so what might work well for one person won't always work for another. You can mix and match until you find the right cheese and candy pairing that you like best. The good news is there's plenty of candy and cheese on the market to choose from.
Finding your perfect cheese and candy pairing
While Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and blue cheese make a perfect team, many types of candy can be used to elevate your cheese of choice. Are you a fan of Hershey's Special Dark? Try some with parmesan. The bittersweet flavor will balance the cheese's sharp, nutty saltiness. If you find yourself with a glut of candy corn after Halloween, certified cheese professional Christine Clark suggests in The Cheese Professor that you reach for some young manchego because of their shared inherent waxiness. Meanwhile, on TikTok, That Cheese Plate founder Marissa Mullen opts for coupling manchego with — you guessed it — Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. In case you were apprehensive, she says, "don't be afraid, this tastes like cheesecake."
If you've ever paired cheese and fruit, or fruit and chocolate, then you understand why candy and cheese complement each other. Candy is high in sugar and cheese is high in salt. Together, the two foods create a pleasing contrast of sweet, salty, and savory flavors. This goes right along with the growing trend of combining seemingly disparate ingredients to create bold new tastes.
The pairing of candy and cheese is exciting and it challenges long-held assumptions about what flavors can go together. So, the next time you find yourself in the possession of some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, consider picking up a wedge of unique blue cheese like Gorgonzola or Shropshire Blue to go with them.