REVIEW: Baskin-Robbins The Grahammy Ice Cream

/ / Reviews / 3 Comments

Baskin-Robbins The Grahammy Ice Cream scoop

I don’t remember the last time I watched The Grammys. Heck, I can’t remember the last time I sat through the hours of nominee reading, pharmaceutical commercials, musical performances, car commercials, speeches, cell phone plan commercials, walking on and off stages, and cutaways to celebrities in the audience of any awards show.

However, I do remember the last time I ate The Grammys, I mean, Baskin-Robbins’ January 2026 Flavor of the Month, The Grahammys. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment or its wonderful name.

As you might guess by its name, it leans heavily into graham. Its base is a graham cracker-flavored ice cream, and floating in it are chocolate-covered honeycomb pieces and honey graham cracker swirls. It sounds so grahnd, and it’s a wonderful flavor to break your only eating healthy New Year’s Resolution with.

Baskin-Robbins The Grahammy Ice Cream honeycomb

Think of The Grahammy as s’mores adjacent, but unlike actual s’mores, the chocolate and marshmallow play second and tenth fiddle to the graham crackers, respectively. While the ice cream base has a mild flavor, the honeycomb pieces and graham swirls enhance it and push the honey flavor forward. They also provide outstanding textures to the scoop. The honeycomb has a hearty crunch, while the gritty honey graham cracker bits in the swirl offer smaller bursts of crispness.

However, this scoop isn’t perfect. While the chocolate on the honeycomb pieces cuts through the graham and honey flavors, making the ice cream a bit more complex, its taste and waxy texture remind me more of confections that are labeled “chocolatey.” It’s not a complete dealbreaker, though. I still thoroughly enjoyed this ice cream because of the other ingredients that make up for the less pleasing chocolate, and because it’s something unique to my taste buds. It’s delightful enough that I want it to come back every year for Grammy season, but it’s rare for Baskin-Robbins to rerelease flavors.

If you’re into honey graham, you grahave to grahb this Baskin-Robbins flavor while it’s still around. You won’t be disappointed, unlike all the nominees who didn’t win a Grammy.

Purchased Price: $5.09
Size: Single Scoop
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 310 calories, 16 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 28 grams of sugar (including 23 grams of added sugar), and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Oreo Snowdrift Blizzard

/ / Reviews / 1 Comment

Dairy Queen Oreo Snowdrift Blizzard cup

I’ve always had a bone to pick with Dairy Queen in that it usually gives its Blizzards boring, unimaginative names, and most new flavors look the same with some shade of brown populated by chunks of a similar hue. But after the new Oreo Snowdrift Blizzard, I consider that bone to be sufficiently picked, whatever that means. And even better, this tastes as good—or perhaps even better—than it looks. I do have a smaller bone to pick with DQ, however, and that’s the lack of proofreading that goes into their website, as the included screenshot from January 5 shows the wrong name for this Blizzard when you select the Mini size.

Dairy Queen Oreo Snowdrift Blizzard website mistake

But what really matters is how this thing tastes, and I can tell you it tastes wonderful and unlike any Blizzard I’ve had. I know it’s my job to describe to you what to expect when a spoonful hits your mouth, but this one is tricky. Obviously, it includes Oreo cookies, along with sky-blue cake batter (the same was used in the briefly available Superman Blizzard to promote the movie this past summer) and a marshmallow swirl.

Dairy Queen Oreo Snowdrift Blizzard blue is so pretty

The cake batter is where I’m going to struggle. My taste buds didn’t get anything that had them thinking about batter, and yet they were still quite pleased. My best attempt to explain the flavor is somewhere between a sugar cookie and angel food cake. What makes this spectacular is the marshmallow swirl, which makes this taste how I imagine a sugar cookie-infused angel food cake would taste with marshmallow creme frosting. And then for an added bonus, there’s the beautiful chocolate crunch and a bit more creme from the Oreos. It’s really one of the best of the Blizzards I’ve tasted.

Dairy Queen Oreo Snowdrift Blizzard mix-ins

As an extra added bonus, you get to consume what I believe to be two of the best-named ingredients known to humankind. This includes something called “Brilliant blue FCF,” which sounds awesome until I learned it’s derived from petroleum and is “generally considered safe” by the FDA as long as you don’t exceed a certain amount per day. Luckily, I got a small Blizzard.

The other component is called “Superman base” on the DQ website. I was disappointed yet again because this has nothing to do with the Fortress of Solitude, where Superman hides out somewhere in the Arctic. Rather, it’s something that, as far as I can tell, DQ just made up and consists of various sugars, flavors, and dyes, including the aforementioned Brilliant blue FCF. I’m sure it’s all fine.

That minor concern about the ingredients notwithstanding, this one is definitely worth a trip to DQ, even if you do have to drive through a snowdrift or two.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 670 calories, 22 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 340 milligrams of sodium, 107 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 82 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Oreo Cookie Dough Cookies

/ / Reviews / 1 Comment

Limited Edition Oreo Cookie Dough Cookies package

Ugh! Just give us an Oreo and Chips Ahoy mashup already, Nabisco!

Not doing that is a big miss, yo! Can you imagine all the ridiculous clickbait-y titles that would spawn from a major snack announcement like that?

“Oreo and Chips Ahoy Create A Mind-Blowing Cookie That I Need In My Life Right Now or Else My Life is Ruined”

“Two Iconic Nabisco Brands Give Birth To A Cookie Baby That I Want To Hug With My Mouth”

“This Chips Ahoy and Oreo Mashup Will Make Me Set Up A Ring Alarm System Around My Cookie Jar”

Limited Edition Oreo Cookie Dough Cookies row in packaging

Instead, we get the next sandwich cookie in the Oreo Cookie Dough Choco Chip Trilogy that began in 2014 with the original Cookie Dough Oreo, continued in 2016 with the Choco Chip Oreo, and ended recently with the return of the Cookie Dough Oreo, except instead of the chocolate wafers that the original had, it comes with the chocolate chip cookie-looking wafers that came with the 2016 version.

Limited Edition Oreo Cookie Dough Cookies wafer

Limited Edition Oreo Cookie Dough Cookies creme

However, the creme’s flavor also seems slightly different from the 2014 version, which had a noticeable coffee-like flavor. With the creme in this, I taste a slight brown sugar flavor, a hint of chocolate, and a bit of marshmallow in the aftertaste. That sounds like an absolutely winning combination, but I found this sandwich cookie to be lacking a crazy delicious flavor that would put it in the upper echelon of limited edition Oreo varieties.

Limited Edition Oreo Cookie Dough Cookies side view

While a decent tasting Oreo, I think the chocolate flavor needs to be amped up a bit. It’s so mild that it makes the cookie dough image on the packaging seem misleading. The chocolate makes a huge difference in what makes chocolate chip cookie dough so good, but it’s too bad that these Oreos don’t really offer that in the creme or wafers.

This updated version of Cookie Dough Oreo is not a flavor that makes me want to stuff a row down my cookie hole in one sitting. I’ve had the package for over a week, and I still have one-third of it left. Maybe a decade from now, there will be another reboot of the cookie. Or, even better, an Oreo and Chips Ahoy collaboration.

That would be a mondo-lez mashup, Mondelez!

Purchased Price: $6.19*
Size: 10.68 oz package
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and less than 1 gram of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Taco Bell Confetti Cookie Freeze

/ / Reviews / Leave a Comment

Taco Bell Confetti Cookie Freeze cup

Ah, the holidays! A season of peppermint, eggnog… and, if recent product releases are to be believed, confetti? I guess it makes sense with so much to celebrate this time of year, and as someone whose wedding cake was Funfetti, I for one couldn’t be happier with this trend—especially Taco Bell’s Confetti Cookie Freeze.

When I think of Freeze flavors, I think fruity: strawberry, margarita, Baja Blast… so my attention was piqued by a flavor on the different side of the sugary spectrum, more “bakery counter” than “produce section”. I’ll admit, though, I was a little thrown by the premise of a “confetti cookie” rather than “confetti cake,” and a bit disappointed to realize that there would not be real chunks of cookies blended in there.

I wasn’t disappointed for long, though. After some light misadventures—an employee who forlornly informed me “We don’t have that right now… and we might never get it…,” a chilly mile-long walk to the next nearest Taco Bell, and a flurry of mild terror from the new trainee who took my order—the Confetti Cookie Freeze was in my gloved hands. Nothing like a cold drink on a cold night, eh? Well, when a drink is as delicious as this one, I’ll enjoy it any time.

Taco Bell Confetti Cookie Freeze from above

The base is a vanilla slushie, which is swirled quite thoroughly with a “pink sugar cookie flavored syrup.” The Freeze is also studded with tiny round rainbow sprinkles, more for aesthetic than taste (when cold, they’re extremely hard, and I wouldn’t recommend chomping down directly on them). Though Taco Bell’s website states that this drink also includes “a swirl of creamy vanilla crème,” I couldn’t visually distinguish that from the white base. Visually, the whole thing is reminiscent of Mother’s Animal Cookies—which I, of course, mean as the highest compliment.

Taco Bell Confetti Cookie Freeze sprinkles

It should come as no surprise to you that this drink is very sweet. However, I was surprised by how rich it tasted for something primarily consisting of ice. That’s where the crème comes in, lending some dairy-like smoothness to round out the grittiness of the slush. The pink syrup is also a powerhouse, reminding me of frosting with its powerful sugariness. Could those pillowy technicolor Lofthouse cookies be another inspiration? (Wow, I never realized how many different desserts are pink and sprinkled.) When I tried to ascribe a more specific flavor to the syrup, the idea of bubblegum briefly crossed my mind—perhaps because of the slight synthetic aftertaste, perhaps just because of the drink’s color—but that’s not quite right. Even if the sweetness is a bit generic, though, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Taco Bell Confetti Cookie Freeze sign

The Confetti Cookie Freeze is a creative, fresh idea that I was excited to see on Taco Bell’s menu. If you’re curious, go try it for yourself; like fallen confetti, I don’t think it’ll stick around long. But despite that, I have a feeling that, like the stray confetti pieces that you might unearth from the corners of your house months later, the sweet memories of this dessert will stick with me even longer.

Purchased Price: $4.34
Size: Regular (16 oz)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 220 calories, 1 gram of fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 55 grams of carbohydrates, 53 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal

/ / Reviews / Leave a Comment

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal box

When I saw Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal on the grocery store shelf, I didn’t realize it was a new product. Even though it is new cereal season (and new ice cream season—the most wonderful time of year indeed), I thought I had tried the product before.

I may have gotten Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal confused with Peanut Butter Toast Crunch, which this site reviewed in both 2004 and 2013. However, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal is a different product. Unlike the previous variety, which boasted a purely peanut butter flavor, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal combines peanut butter flavor with the brand’s signature Cinnadust.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal back of box

The package doesn’t make this distinction obvious, unless you read the back of the box. I was not motivated to read the back of the box because I hadn’t done so since cereal boxes promised prizes inside. My cereal-related memory is so long that the only prize I look for now is added fiber.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal in a bowl

With the cereal’s identity clarified, Cinnamon Toast Crunch’s latest decennial experiment with peanut butter is just okay. The familiar toasty, crispy squares do not have a consistently noticeable amount of peanut butter flavor. The cinnamon sugar taste is more prominent, although the cereal appears to use less Cinnadust than standard Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The result is a lightly spiced, subtly nutty cereal.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal close up

If you are dubious about peanut butter and cinnamon complementing each other, the flavor combination works and is reminiscent of cookie butter. In this cereal, the flavors aren’t bad, just diluted. Imagine spreading peanut butter on your toast, scraping it off, and applying a little cinnamon sugar instead. Maybe you only have a few grains of cinnamon sugar left, or maybe a small gust of wind blows through your kitchen and lifts the Cinnadust right off your toast. What a way to start the morning—you should have gone with the fiber.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal in milk

In milk, the peanut butter wakes up and asks to be noticed. It still is light compared to other peanut butter cereals, but the milk gives the peanut butter flavor a richer, creamier vibe while weakening the Cinnadust. The cinnamon milk that gets left behind still satisfies.

Compared to original Cinnamon Toast Crunch or really good peanut butter cereal (see: Peanut Butter Lovers Reese’s Puffs), Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal tastes like a partial attempt at both cinnamon and peanut butter. To everything, there is a season, and maybe Cinnamon Toast Crunch will produce a perfect peanut butter pairing next time.

Purchased Price: $5.69
Purchased at: Giant Eagle
Size: 12.3 oz (348 g) box
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 cup) 170 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 270 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Scroll to Top