You’re standing in the candy aisle, looking at a "King Size" pack, and you think you’ve reached the peak of peanut butter engineering. Honestly, you haven't even scratched the surface. Most people think the "Big Cup" is the final boss of the Hershey’s lineup, but the rabbit hole of the biggest Reese's butter cup goes way deeper than a gas station snack.
We’re talking about massive, pie-sized discs of chocolate that weigh more than a professional laptop and fan-made monsters that required a literal swimming pool to mold.
The 3.4-Pound Official Heavyweight
In 2021, Reese’s decided to stop playing around. They released what they called the "Thanksgiving Pie," which was basically just a biggest Reese's butter cup masquerading as a holiday dessert. It wasn't a pie. There was no crust. No flour. Just 3.4 pounds of solid peanut butter and milk chocolate.
To put that in perspective:
- A standard Reese’s cup is about 0.75 ounces.
- The "Big Cup" is roughly 1.4 ounces.
- This monster was 54 ounces.
It measured 9 inches across. If you tried to eat it in one sitting, you were looking at roughly 8,000 calories. Hershey only made 3,000 of them, and they sold out in hours despite the $44.99 price tag. It remains the largest official product ever sold under the Reese’s brand name.
The World Record That Required a Kiddie Pool
If we step away from what you can buy on a website and look at the "World Record" category, things get weird. Very weird.
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The current reigning champ doesn't come from Hershey, Pennsylvania. It comes from a small town in Ontario, Canada. In 2016, Chantelle Gorham of the Northwest Fudge Factory shattered the previous record by creating a peanut butter cup that weighed 600 pounds.
She used a customized "mold" that was basically an 80-inch wide basin—roughly the size of a kiddie pool. The math behind it is staggering. You’d need to unwrap tens of thousands of regular cups to equal the mass of this thing. It consisted of roughly 300 pounds of peanut butter filling and 300 pounds of chocolate.
Before the Canadians took the crown, the record was held by a Los Angeles candy shop called The Candy Factory, which built a 440-pound cup in 2015. They also used a kiddie pool. Apparently, when you’re dealing with the biggest Reese's butter cup on a global scale, the local toy store is your best source for industrial equipment.
Why the Jumbo Cup is the New Standard
For those of us who can't wait for a limited Thanksgiving drop or drive to Ontario, the "Jumbo Cup" is the new king of the shelf. Launched fairly recently, it’s a 2.8-ounce beast.
It’s about the diameter of an air hockey puck.
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The interesting thing about the Jumbo Cup isn't just the size; it's the ratio. If you're a "chocolate person," you'll love it. The top layer of chocolate is significantly thicker than a standard cup to support the weight of the extra peanut butter. However, if you're a purist who likes the thin, snapping chocolate of the original, the Jumbo might feel a bit like biting into a brick of fudge.
Understanding the "Cup" Hierarchy
Most fans get confused by the naming conventions. Here is how the current lineup actually stacks up in the real world:
- The Thins: 0.41 ounces (The "I'm on a diet" lie).
- Regular Cup: 0.75 ounces (The classic).
- Big Cup: 1.4 ounces (The one with the ridges).
- Jumbo Cup: 2.8 ounces (The hockey puck).
- The Half-Pounder: 8 ounces (Usually sold in pairs during the holidays).
- The Thanksgiving Pie: 54.4 ounces (The legendary biggest Reese's butter cup).
The Engineering Challenge of "Going Big"
You can't just keep making a peanut butter cup bigger without physics getting in the way. Chocolate is heavy. Peanut butter is soft.
When Nick Monte at the Village Chocolate Shoppe tried for a record in 2013 with a 230-pound cup, he ran into structural issues. If the chocolate isn't tempered perfectly, the walls of the cup will bulge and collapse under the weight of the peanut butter core.
This is why the biggest Reese's butter cup (the 3.4lb pie version) is sold in a reinforced tin. Without that metal ring holding it together, the 9-inch diameter would cause the chocolate edges to slump, especially in a warm room. It’s less of a candy and more of a geological formation.
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Where to Actually Find Them
If you're hunting for the biggest Reese's butter cup today, your best bet isn't the local 7-Eleven.
- Hershey’s Chocolate World: The flagship stores in Times Square or Las Vegas often stock the 1lb "World's Largest" 2-pack that isn't always available at grocery stores.
- Secondary Markets: You'll see the 3.4lb "Pies" on eBay occasionally, but honestly? Don't buy them. They’re years old at this point.
- The "Super King": This is a 12-inch long package, but don't be fooled—it's just six regular cups in a long tray. It’s big on "shelf presence" but doesn't actually contain a giant individual cup.
Actionable Steps for the Hungry
If you want the experience of the biggest Reese's butter cup without waiting for a record-breaking event, you should actually make one. It’s surprisingly simple because you don't need to bake anything.
1. Get a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. This is the secret. It gives you those iconic ridges on the side.
2. Use high-quality milk chocolate melting wafers. Grocery store chocolate chips often have too much stabilizer and won't flow smoothly enough to create that flat top.
3. The Filling Ratio: Mix 2 cups of creamy peanut butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. This mimics the slightly "dry" and crumbly texture of the real Reese's center.
4. Layering: Pour the bottom, let it set in the fridge, add the PB disc (leave room at the edges!), and pour the top chocolate.
By making it yourself, you control the "chocolate-to-PB ratio," which is the main complaint people have about the commercial Jumbo versions. You can finally create a 5-pounder that actually tastes like the original. Just make sure you have enough people to help you eat it—or a very large glass of milk.
To get the best results, always melt your chocolate in 30-second intervals in the microwave to avoid scorching, and tap the pan firmly on the counter after the final pour to pop any air bubbles. This ensures your DIY giant cup looks as professional as the ones from the Hershey factory.