REVIEW: Limited Edition Birthday Cake Cookie Crisp Cereal

/ / Reviews / 5 Comments

Limited Edition Birthday Cake Cookie Crisp Cereal

I think that it’s pretty much every kid’s dream to get to eat dessert for breakfast every morning. At the same time, I think that it’s also pretty much every parent’s dream to get their kids to eat something at least somewhat nutritious before they load them onto the school bus.

Luckily for sugar-hungry kids and sleep-deprived parents everywhere, Cookie Crisp is here to bridge the gap! With cookies for the kids and 12 vitamins and minerals to keep the parents happy, who can complain, right?

Since they’ve already succeeded in bringing miniature chocolate chip cookies into the cereal bowls of millions of kids everywhere, Cookie Crisp has seemingly set its sights on an entirely new confection to cereal-ize: birthday cake!

After unsealing the bag to appreciate the aroma of freshly-opened cereal, I have to say, this is one of the most delicious smelling cereals I’ve ever bought! It literally smells like an ice cream parlor, and it made me super excited to have a bowl of these crispy cake-flavored-cookies as my post-workout snack.

Limited Edition Birthday Cake Cookie Crisp Cereal 2

Weighing out a proper portion quickly quieted any excitement that I had, though. I’ve never really thought about it much before, but 26 grams of cereal is so small! It barely even fills my cereal bowls halfway. If you’re eating this as a meal, expect to double or triple the serving size, along with the nutrition facts.

Birthday Cake Cookie Crisp looks the same as regular Cookie Crisp, only it seems that it’s traded the usual chocolate bits on the cereal for a sprinkling of Fruity Pebbles dust instead.

Limited Edition Birthday Cake Cookie Crisp Cereal 3

I decided to eat a handful of them by themselves before I poured milk into the rest of my bowl, and any anticipation that I may have had left quickly dissipated. They don’t taste like birthday cake at all! The flavor of the corn completely overpowered everything else, and all I tasted was a generic cereal!

I mean, it’s not awful or anything, but it doesn’t taste different from anything else out there. Certainly not like the cookie-cake-cereal hybrid that I was promised. Eating the cereal with milk nuances the intensity of the corn flavor, but it still doesn’t bring out any cake flavor.

If I hadn’t seen the box before eating this, I would just tell you I was eating regular cereal puffs or something. In brief, this is one limited edition item that’s not worth your trouble to seek out.

Limited Edition Birthday Cake Cookie Crisp Cereal 4

It does work to make some pretty good miniature ice cream sandwiches with, though. Just sayin’.

(Nutrition Facts – 3/4 cup without milk – 100 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: $3.98
Size: 19.8 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Smells delicious! Decent cereal in its own right. Holds up well in milk.
Cons: Doesn’t remind me of either birthday cake or cookies. Most generic-tasting cereal ever.

QUICK REVIEW: Dairy Queen Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard

/ / Reviews / 13 Comments

Dairy Queen Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard

What is it?

One of two new blizzards available on Dairy Queen’s Summer Blizzard menu. The Summery Berry Cheesecake Blizzard adds real raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries along with cheesecake pieces to vanilla soft serve.

The emphasis on the use of “real” berries begs the question, does that mean the cheesecake and ice cream are part of the illusory world that is Ed Sheeran’s dream?

How is it?

The only flavor that distinguishes itself is blueberry despite equal representation of raspberries and blackberries. This created a mildly blueberry flavored ice cream base that was unexpected but welcome. Unfortunately, when it comes to whole berries mixed with soft serve, the cold most certainly does bother me.

Dairy Queen Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard 3

While cheesecake topped with fresh, succulent berries isn’t Ed’s dream come true, these icy berries are texturally unpleasant and muted in flavor. Fortunately, the stark reality of boring berries is somewhat offset by the fantastic cheesecake pieces. They bring a deep cream cheese flavor with a bit of tanginess upfront and finish with graham cracker in all its soft, crumbly, brown sugary glory.

Dairy Queen Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard 2

Enrobed in a creamy cloak of the blueberry-infused base, the intense cheesecake pops and almost delivers on the promise of its lofty name, sans frigid fruit faux pas that is.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Whoever said patience is a virtue is a big fat liar as letting the ice cream temper didn’t help matters. The fruit was no longer as problematic in the polar molars department, but that served to underscore that fresh off the vine these berries are not.

Conclusion:

In what I suppose works out to be the equivalent of taking a purple pill from Morpheus, the Summer Berry Cheesecake is seemingly two worlds colliding. The unreal cheesecake highs are brought down by the real lows of frozen, bland fruit that isn’t berry good.

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Small
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 560 calories, 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 79 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 64 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack

/ / Reviews

Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack

What is it?

The Cholula Buttery Jack features a double dose of the hot sauce, which I hope isn’t applied straight from an actual Cholula bottle with a drip top. Because that seems inefficient in a fast food kitchen where speed is important.

Along with the Cholula, the burger also has a 1/4 lb beef patty, garlic herb butter, lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and crispy jalapeños on a gourmet bun.

How is it?

With all its ingredients and flavors, I can’t help but think the Cholula Buttery Jack tastes like I’m eating a taco in a bun. It’s got ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, and hot sauce. That’s taco filling.

Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack 3

While I could taste the popular hot sauce, the garlic in the butter, crispy jalapeños, and tomatoes elevate the condiment’s flavor. Those enhancements make this burger taste great. Sure it tastes like a taco, but I love tacos too and I like that it tastes the way it does.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Cholula isn’t too spicy to begin with and the crispy jalapeños are as hot as the sauce, so when combined it’s not overly spicy. There’s a tinkling of heat, but I didn’t feel the need to chug a Jack in the Box Oreo Shake or even water to temper any angry taste buds.

Jack in the Box Cholula Buttery Jack 2

The lettuce that came with my burger was mostly green, which was surprising. The crispy jalapeños do add a slight crunch and make this burger a little messy since they easily fall out. I’m not sure my burger got pepper jack cheese, because it doesn’t look like it, but whatever came with mine added a nice creaminess.

Conclusion:

If you visit the Cholula website, it recommends adding it to burgers. If you’re visiting this website, I’m recommending this burger with Cholula sauce added.

Purchased Price: $6.19*
Size: N/A
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 770 calories, 46 grams of fat, 22 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 120 milligrams of cholesterol, 1170 milligrams of sodium, 53 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 37 grams 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: Ben & Jerry’s Limited Batch Gimme S’more Ice Cream

/ / Reviews / 4 Comments

Ben Jerry s Limited Batch Gimme S more Ice Cream

Yes, Ben & Jerry’s already has a s’mores flavor, but not why s’more?

S’rry.

Limited Batch Gimme S’more Ice Cream seems to be influenced by what Ben & Jerry’s did two years ago with its Flavor Flip line, which involved taking its popular varieties and “flip” them. For example, it turned Chubby Hubby (vanilla malt ice cream with peanutty fudge-covered pretzels and fudge and peanut buttery swirls) into Tubby Hubby (peanut butter ice cream with sweet and salty pretzel swirls and fudge swirls).

While the original S’mores Ice Cream features chocolate ice cream with fudge chunks, toasted marshmallow, and graham cracker swirls, this upended s’mores has toasted marshmallow ice cream with chocolate cookie swirls, graham cracker swirls, and fudge flakes.

I’ve eaten Ben & Jerry’s S’mores and find it to be heavy on the chocolate. While this new s’mores variety has a noticeable chocolatiness, the use of the toasted marshmallow ice cream and graham cracker swirl help balance the flavor. By itself, the base is vanilla-ish with a tinge of something else.

But what I like about Gimme S’more are the swirls, and there were a lot of them in my pint. They say too much of a good thing is bad for you. Well, if those folks eat this ice cream, they will also eat their words.

Ben Jerry s Limited Batch Gimme S more Ice Cream 2

Unfortunately, as I dug through the container, I’d occasionally come across the graham cracker one, but most of them were the chocolate cookie swirls, which give off an Oreo vibe. Because the latter dominates the pint and the base is similar to vanilla, as a whole it tastes like a better cookies and cream ice cream.

As for the fudge flakes, they’re now fudge shards, and I did a little dance when I realized that. Okay, not a little dance. I jumped up, screamed “YES,” pumped my fists, and thrust my hips at a rhythm matching my yelling of “That. Is. How. It. Should. Be.”

As long as I can remember, fudge flakes were more like fudge plates. They were these half-inch long rectangles that, if you scooped one up, would dominate whatever else was on your spoon. I’ve complained they are larger than they should be, but in this flavor, they’re not.

It’s as if Ben & Jerry’s reads my reviews. Hi, Ben & Jerry’s!

Gimme S’more doesn’t make me think of s’mores, but neither did the original S’mores Ice Cream. Despite that and the fact it tastes like cookies and cream, I found myself quickly eating through the pint. It’s not s’mores to me, but I do want s’more of it.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample from Ben & Jerry’s. Receiving it for free did not influence my review in any way.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – 310 calories, 160 calories from fat, 18 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 130 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: It’s like a slightly better cookies and cream, but I still really like it. Fudge flakes are broken into smaller pieces (you don’t know how happy this makes me). Lots of swirls in my pint.
Cons: It’s like a slightly better cookies and cream, not s’mores. Need more graham cracker swirls. Kind of miss the squishy marshmallow swirl.

QUICK REVIEW: Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard

/ / Reviews / 4 Comments

Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard

What is it?

One of two new Blizzards available on Dairy Queen’s Summer Blizzard menu. What better time to release your summer specials than the second week of spring? The Jurassic Chomp mixes “colossal” choco dipped peanut butter bites with fudge topping blended vanilla.

How is it?

If you love peanut butter and chocolate, hold onto your butts. Listed in the ingredients as buckeyes, the choco-dipped peanut butter bites are colossal in taste if not size. While pleasantly abundant, they do not appear to be any larger than what I normally find in a Blizzard.

Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard 2

The candy is dominated by nutty peanut butter deliciousness with just the right amount of salty grittiness and a chocolatey finish. The choice to infuse the vanilla base with fudge topping hatches an Indominus rex of a flavor by exquisitely balancing the heavier peanut butter of the buckeyes. The resulting combination had me devouring my Blizzard faster than a hungry Tyrannosaurus stumbling upon a lawyer in an outhouse.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Apparently, dinosaurs love peanut butter and chocolate as much they love wreaking havoc on theme parks. This is second time these flavors have been featured by Dairy Queen in Jurassic Blizzard.

Dairy Queen Jurassic Chomp Blizzard 3

Despite the similarity in name and general flavor, the Jurassic Chomp is significantly different than the Jurassic Smash Blizzard that was a cross promotion in 2015. Released alongside Jurassic World, the Smash was comprised of “smashed” peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter, and choco chunks.

There is no Jurassic World themed container or other advertising for the Chomp currently, but that can change if this becomes June’s Blizzard of the Month to coincide with the new movie.

Conclusion:

With a peanut butter and chocolate flavor as impressively large as it’s real world namesake, this is one Blizzard I’m chomping at the bit to sink my teeth into again.

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 660 calories, 29 grams of fat, 19 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 86 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 73 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein.

Scroll to Top