How many Reese’s Pieces are in a bag?
Introduction
What could be better than chocolate?
Peanut butter?
Perhaps?
Or how about peanut butter and chocolate? Peanut butter goes with many things, and chocolate is certainly one of them.
In fact, the flavor combo is a harmony made in heaven.
The two just work together, which is why Reese’s Pieces are so enormously popular.
The Hershey Company is probably the best-known chocolate maker in the USA and is extremely popular in other parts of the world as well.
While Hershey’s chocolate is enjoyed globally, in the USA, it is their peanut butter produce that goes down especially well.
As well as their Peanut Butter Cups, there are also Reese’s Pieces, which are much more convenient.
Reese’s Pieces are vibrant, colorful, moreish, chocolaty, peanut buttery, rich, creamy, and extremely delicious.
They’re also a chocolate candy, and because of that, you need to know your portions.
We’ve got you covered as we’ll be looking at how many Reese’s Pieces are in a bag, as well as their nutrition per serving, and some fun facts along the way.
What are Reese’s Pieces?
Reese’s Pieces are not only E.T.’s favorite candy, but they’re also a staple in many a US household.
They’re a small, round-shaped peanut butter chocolate candy coated in a sugar shell which are brown, yellow, and orange in shape, making them a great treat to enjoy in the Fall and Halloween seasons.
In all honesty, though, you don’t need to wait for Fall to enjoy these delicious morsels, as you can enjoy them any time of the year.
During the 1970s, Hershey’s developed a new recipe for sweetened peanut butter meal, which had the consistency of chocolate.
This would be the basis of Reece’s Pieces, which were a product extension of Reese’s Cups.
The main difference, however, is that the cups also contained chocolate, whereas the Pieces did not.
Fun facts about Reese’s Pieces
Before we can look at how many Reese’s Pieces are in a bag, first we’re going to look at some fun and exciting facts about these nutty and colorful candy treats, that you probably weren’t familiar with.
E.T.’s favorite candy was Reese’s Pieces
In 1928, a Hershey’s employee by the name of Harry Burnett Reese, created Reese’s peanut butter chocolate candy, and, eventually, Peanut Butter Cups.
Fast forward to the 70s, and Reese’s Pieces were launched, though back then, they were called PB’s, which didn’t have the same ring to it.
The candy was a hit, however, as sales went through the roof. Gradually, though, sales dropped, and the public appeared to have fallen out of love with Pieces.
That all changed in the early 1980s, when Universal Studios gave Hershey a call, stating that Steven Spielberg intended on using Reese’s Pieces in a new movie he was making.
The two came to an agreement in which Hershey would promote the movie with packaging, posters, promotions, etc, while the movie itself would advertise Reese’s Pieces.
E.T. turned out to be an enormous Box Office smash and is still one of the most popular movies ever made. The movie did wonders for Reese’s Pieces, as sales increased by over 300%!
Reese’s Pieces weren’t Hershey’s first sugar coated candy
Contrary to popular belief, Hershey had actually already produced a sugar-coated candy before Reese’s Pieces, in the form of Hershey-ETs, which were produced in the 1950s.
These were basically chocolate discs coated in colorful sugar candy shells.
They were designed to be Hershey’s version of M&M’s, though they didn’t prove successful, and were discontinued.
Incidentally, the name ETs obviously had nothing to do with the E.T. movie, which would be released more than 3 decades after Hershey-ETs. Did this product subconsciously influence Spielberg?
Who knows.
Pieces have different fillings to Reese’s Cups
People often assume that Reese’s Pieces contain the same filling as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
They don’t.
Despite tasting similar, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups contain chocolate, whereas the Pieces contain a sweetened peanut butter meal, that tastes and feels like chocolate, despite being made from sweetened peanut butter.
ALSO READ: How and when to take Pepto-Bismol
Reese’s Pieces have been combined with Peanut Butter Cups
What could be better than Peanut Butter Cups and Reese’s Pieces?
How about a delicious, tasty, and rich snack combining the two together?
Reese’s knew what their customers wanted, and so they combined the two treats together into the hugely indulgent ‘Reese’s Big Cup.’
This was basically an oversized Peanut Butter Cup stuffed with Reese’s Pieces. You don’t get more decadent than that.
They’re hugely popular at Halloween
Pieces are most popular around Halloween time. According to market research, Reese’s Pieces are the most popular Halloween candy in Virginia and Indiana.
Halloween is, of course, commonly associated with candy for Trick or Treaters, so there’s that.
There’s also the fact that the candy is predominantly orange, yellow, and brown, all of which are Fall colors and associated with Halloween.
Incidentally, 50% of the colors are orange, 25% are brown, and 25% are yellow.
These are the colors you find on Reese’s packaging.
ALSO READ: How many Candy Corns are in a bag?
How many Reese’s Pieces in a bag?
If you’re watching your figure and monitoring your caloric intake, it pays to know how much of something you’re consuming.
A 48-ounce bag of Reese’s Pieces contains a whopping 1,700 pieces of, well, pieces.
A recommended serving size of Reese’s Pieces is 51 Pieces, which will provide 200 calories, making these tiny handheld peanut butter snacks perfect for treating yourself, without over-indulging.
Peanut Butter Cups used to be called ‘Penny Cups’
Yes, we know we’re talking about Reese’s Pieces, but a quick bonus fact you might enjoy is the fact that, initially, Peanut Butter Cups were actually known as ‘Penny Cups.’
ALSO READ: How many Hershey’s Kisses in a bag?