One of the joys of being a food blogger is learning about food products that would otherwise easily go under my radar. When a representative for Sun Cups contacted me, I immediately checked out their website to find out what’s so special about them. A substitute for peanut butter cups? I’m not allergic to nuts nor do I need to eat gluten-free food. I was just curious, period. They sent me samples of all available four flavors:
- Delightfully Delicious Dark Chocolate
- Yummy in the Tummy Milk Chocolate
- Ooey-Gooey Goodness Milk Chocolate Caramel
- Terrifically Tingly Dark Chocolate Mint
What makes Sun Cups different from, say, the classic favorite Reese’s peanut butter cup?
Four words: roasted sunflower seed butter. Instead of peanut butter, they use sunflower butter so those who are allergic and/or gluten-intolerant can embrace their sweet tooth without fear. That’s what hooked me into trying this product.
As you can see from the packaging, all their ingredients are certified organic or all-natural. The cacao they use is from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. The only allergen? Dairy. No gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, corn or soy. No eggs either. Heard they’re working on dairy-free cups, so that’s something to look forward to.
During my tasting session, I cut off little portions from each cup, then labeled them accordingly. That way, I don’t forget which piece I was sampling.
- Delightfully Delicious Dark Chocolate – I tasted a hint of sunflower seed that I missed from the other three. Strangely, the filling looked like the Dark Chocolate Mint filling.
- Yummy in the Tummy Milk Chocolate – Not a lot of ways to mess up milk chocolate, if you ask me. This was good!
- Ooey-Gooey Goodness Milk Chocolate Caramel – Looks-wise, I expected to see the “Ooey-Gooey Goodness” of caramel, but it didn’t look like that. Taste-wise though, it was as sweet as the caramel I know and love.
- Terrifically Tingly Dark Chocolate Mint – I love the subtle mint flavor, not the kind of minty treat that knocks you over the head with its minty taste.
As you can see from the pictures above, all the different samples were flatter than the regular Reese’s cups. Of the four flavors, my heart was won over by the two milk chocolates. That’s hardly surprising since I’m really the milk chocolate/white chocolate kinda gal. That’s not to say that the dark chocolates were bad. They were actually pretty good. For ranking purposes though, I tend to lean towards milk chocolates. Dark chocolates are more right up to hubby’s alley. Anyway, I thought the sunflower taste would be overpowering, but it really wasn’t.
Sun Cups are surprisingly chocolatey. They really didn’t skimp on its chocolatey goodness. While it’s touted as as an alternative to peanut butter cups, I believe that Sun Cups can easily be in a niche of their own whether or not your health status requires you to go nut-free or gluten-free. Your sweet tooth will thank you for it.
Disclaimer: Sun Cups contacted me to review this product. I received samples in exchange for writing a review on the blog. All opinions are my own.