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Peanut Butter Cups…With Protein for Workouts?

Get your protein in candy-form? We try it.

Get your protein in peanut-butter-cup form? We try it.

It almost sounds too good too be true: chocolate peanut butter cups that are infused with protein with no sugar added. But that’s exactly what Quest has created, Cravings Peanut Butter Cups, which the company claims is candy that’s actually good for you. While we’re not ready to say that they’re as good as, say, Brussels sprouts and salmon, we agree that when it comes to peanut butter cups, they’re about as good as you can get.

With 240 calories per two-peanut-butter-cup package, you get 20 grams of protein, 10 carbs (three that are active) and 3 grams of fiber, along with 7 percent of your potassium and 20 percent of your iron needs for the day. In addition, these have no soy, trans fat or sugar added. And the ingredient list is dang clean (our only pause was sucralose). Each cup is a decent size, too—about the size of a regular Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Unfortunately though, the wrapper is harder to get the cup out of than Reese’s design, leaving little bits of protein peanut butter behind. Just a little design quirk.

So cinnamon-y and good---especially after warming up in the microwave for a few seconds.

So cinnamon-y and good—especially after warming up in the microwave for a few seconds.

But how do they taste? Is it really too good to be true? Well, sort of. The nutritionals rock, but these do have a strong fake-sugar, sugar-alcohol aftertaste. At first, they seriously taste just like the real candy thing. It’s amazing how good they are. But after a few bites, the sugar-substitute really kicks in. I could kind of accept it for what it was (I really liked eating one peanut butter cup before a workout and one after), but my husband really, really disliked the aftertaste enough to not want to eat them again. An easy guideline: if you regularly use sugar substitutes (artificial or not) and don’t mind the aftertaste, you’ll probably be okay with the taste of these. If you hate the aftertaste of non-sugar sweet stuff, steer clear. At $27.99 for a box of 12, these are pricey enough to make sure you really like ’em.

In addition to the Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups, we also got to taste-test a few of the new flavors of their Quest Bars. And similar to what we said in this review of Quest’s original flavors, it’s hard to find much fault with these (they do have a slight aftertaste, but it’s pretty dang minor). The nutritionals rock, the ingredients don’t make you cringe, and the protein count is nice and high while the sugar is low. Coconut Cashew—while not exactly all that coconutty—was tasty, while Lemon Cream Pie was nice and refreshing. Strawberry Cheesecake was tasty, too, and had a nice graham cracker flavor. And the Cinnamon Roll? Well, that was our hands-down fave. Especially when slightly warmed up in the microwave. Oh. My. God. Good.

Anyone else tried the Quest Peanut Butter Cups? Agree or disagree with our review? Let us know! —Jenn

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!