REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Mixes (S’mores and Peanut Butter)

What are Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Mixes?

They combine edible cookie dough bites with another mix-in you might see in a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream pint. At this time, there are two varieties you can find in the freezer aisle —- S’mores and Peanut Butter. The former features graham cracker cookie dough with marshmallow truffles, while the latter has peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough and mini peanut butter cups.

How are they?

Maybe it’s just me, but the dough pieces taste noticeably blander than previous cookie dough chunks I’ve had from Ben & Jerry’s. So much so that if I looked into these pouches and saw there were only dough pieces left, I might not want to finish them. Although maybe I feel that way because there’s a stark flavor contrast between the cookie dough and the candy pieces.

The graham cracker cookie dough pieces are confusing because I’m not sure anyone would identify them as graham cracker anything. They taste more vanilla-ish and have a slight butteriness. While that makes sense in cookie dough, that doesn’t help me think of graham crackers. As for the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough chunks, the chips buried in them don’t have much chocolatey flavor and whatever nuttiness they have is mild.

The much sweeter candy pieces provide the flavor boosts that make these a worthwhile purchase, and thankfully the candy mix-in to cookie dough ratio appears to be almost 1 to 1. The mini peanut butter cups taste exactly like what you’d find in pints. They have a strong chocolatey and peanut butter taste that dwarfs the dough chunks’ flavor. As for the marshmallow truffles, they were as delightful as the peanut butter cups, maybe even better. They have the perfect balance of chocolate and marshmallow flavor, and the latter helps intensify the vanilla in the dough. Now, if only those chunks had some graham flavor.

Anything else you need to know?

I’m not going to take credit for the Cookie Dough Mixes idea, but a year ago, well before they debuted, in a review of Ben & Jerry’s The Tonight Dough Chunks, I wrote, “Ben & Jerry’s should sell bags of its edible cookie dough with its non-dough mix-ins. It could be called Mix-In Mashups (feel free to use that, Flavor Gurus).”

Also, it seems as if the marshmallow truffles haven’t been in any other Ben & Jerry’s products. Feel free correct me, internet.

Conclusion:

Despite the somewhat bland cookie dough chunks, I enjoyed popping Cookie Dough Mixes into my mouth. Well, um, after making sure there was at least one candy piece before doing so.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product samples from Ben & Jerry’s. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 8 oz pouches
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 7 out of 10 (both)
Nutrition Facts: (2 Tbsp./28 grams) S’mores 130 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 20 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar (13 grams of added sugar), and less than 1 gram of protein. Peanut Butter – 130 calories, 7 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (9 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.