The Worst Coffee Cake Mix On Store Shelves, According To Our Taste Test

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Exact preparations can vary, but when foodies hear "coffee cake," they can expect some version of spongey white cake ribboned with cinnamon sugar and topped with crumbly streusel ... or, you would think so, anyway. This portrait surely does not apply to Reese's Coffee Cake Mix, which fell to last place in Tasting Table's ranking of six store-bought coffee cake mixes.

Don't get us wrong, it's a tasty peanut butter cake. We aren't trying to squelch any innovative uniqueness (three cheers for path-clearers). But, ultimately, the resulting product here isn't similar to any baked good that we would identify as a "coffee cake." As our reviewer noted, "Its peanut butter flavor is strong, and it also has peanut butter chips studding the inside. I can't call either of those a bad thing, but [...] the top layer of streusel was the only element that signified what type of bake this was." Also notably, Reese's alleged coffee cake was the only contender in our taste-test that skipped the middle cinnamon sugar layer — arguably a fundamental component.

Its citizenship to the "peanut butter cake" realm rather than the "coffee cake" realm is perhaps further evidenced by the official Better Crocker website's recommendation to serve this dessert with "a cup of ice cold milk" (not coffee). Customer reviews on the company site echo our take; as one writes, "[I]t's not my favorite but it tastes great. I would definitely recommend it though for people who like REESE'S or peanut butter."

On the whole, it seems that peanut butter lovers will still like this product. After all, Reese's candy has the peanut-butter-chocolate flavor game on lock (duh), and that PBC profile certainly comes through in its spinoff coffee cake mix — which could be welcome, if that's your thing. By our count, however, it deviates too far from "traditional" coffee cake to deliver on what our taste buds wanted to experience when we took a bite.

Elsewhere online, Amazon customer reviews further emphasize the box mix's non-coffee-cake-like result ("Peanut butter cake [...] VERY peanuty"). Walmart reviewers agree, adding a few quality critiques, like "I think it could have use[d] a layer of crumble in the middle to break up the cake," and "It'll do..."

Our advice? Go the homemade route and take a cue from our nutty coffee cake recipe, which bakes in 35 minutes (not far off from box mix bake time). Or, stick to Krusteaz Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake Mix, the boxed coffee cake mix that took first place in our product ranking. With its rich flavor, ultra-moist mouthfeel, and "undeniably thick layer of cinnamon mixture lining the coffee cake's interior" (as our taste-tester raves), we wouldn't have believed it came from a box if we hadn't baked it ourselves. This praise, alas, certainly could not be extended to Reese's contender, which misses the quintessential coffee cake mark by a long shot.