REVIEW: Baskin-Robbins M&M’s Monster Cookie Ice Cream

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Baskin-Robbins’ Flavor of the Month for August 2025 is the M&M’s Monster Cookie Ice Cream, which should not be confused with Baskin-Robbins’ blue Cookie Monster Ice Cream. The limited time only scoop features brown sugar ice cream with M&M’s Minis milk chocolate candies, cookie dough pieces, and peanut butter cookie swirls.

First off, let’s start with the brown sugar ice cream, which wasn’t as satisfying as the brown sugar base I’ve had from Ben & Jerry’s. Something was lacking from it to make the brown sugar stick out and convince my taste buds that a cookie inspired the Flavor of the Month.

What sticks out are the peanut butter cookie swirls. They were sweet, salty, and had a satisfying, gritty, and crunchy texture. Some might find them to be too salty, and that might’ve happened because of the ice cream base’s lack of flavor, but I enjoyed that salty kick, and I found these to be the highlight of the scoop.

Unfortunately, due to the luck of the scoop and that mine was the first drawn from the tub, I ended up with just four M&M’s Minis in my order. I wish there were as many of them as there were in the store window’s poster because the chocolate added a sweetness that cuts through the peanut butter cookie swirl, making things a bit more balanced between sweet and salty. But I felt like that job should’ve also been done by the base.

Finally, the cookie dough pieces were another lowlight. They added a weird, mild savoriness that reminded me of Japanese rice crackers. However, they had a chewiness that gave the scoop another textural dimension to go along with the creamy ice cream, crunchy and gritty swirls, and crunchy M&M’s.

After trying the Baskin-Robbins M&M’s Monster Cookie Ice Cream, I kind of wished I had accidentally ordered the Cookie Monster one. The new flavor isn’t awful, but parts of it were unsatisfying or weird, and I wouldn’t order it again.

Purchased Price: $3.79
Size: 2.5 oz scoop
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 200 calories, 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of sugar, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 19 grams of sugar (including 16 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Argentinian Style Steak Potato Chips

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Lionel Messi, one of the most celebrated and decorated soccer (ahem, football?) players of all time, has a new collaboration with one of the oldest and most celebrated chip brands, Lay’s. Paying homage to Lionel’s home country of Argentina, which he helped win the most recent FIFA World Cup for in 2022, the newest limited edition creation from this power duo is Argentinian Style Steak.

When I think of Argentina and steak, I think of chimichurri, and the bold graphic of perfectly vibrant medium-rare steak covered in chunky green goodness on the bag lets me know my brain has gone in the right direction. For those unfamiliar with chimichurri, it is a delicious uncooked sauce made up of olive oil, fresh herbs, and garlic. I love chimichurri. Unfortunately, I don’t love these chips.

The chips aren’t bad by any means, but they don’t deliver the flavors I want and enjoy from steak with chimichurri. What the chip gets right is the beef flavor, as it’s certainly there and notably meaty from the first salty bite to the last. Where it goes wrong is in the lack of complexity and vibrancy of the chimichurri.

When I think of a good chimi, I think first of garlic, then maybe some parsley and a hint of basil, all enrobed in a velvety smooth fatty olive oil. The seasoning on these chips leans into the beef first, followed quickly by an aggressive onion flavor. I like onions and onion powder, but being the dominant flavor here is far from satisfying. The end result is a chip that tastes more like beef and onions than Argentinian Style Steak, which isn’t bad, but disappointing. Sour cream and onion, hold the sour cream, feels closer to home than a spiced-up steak.

In their purest form, this new limited edition chip reminds me of fast food French fries that sit in a paper bag on the drive home next to a juicy burger with onions on it. The fries absorb a bit of that beef and onion aroma, but still mostly taste like potatoes. I don’t mind fries with some beef and onion juice on them, but I certainly can’t put that kind of profile into the Messi-inhabited GOAT conversation.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Size: 2 1/2 ounces
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (15 chips, 28g) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 140 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Chipotle Hash Brown Wake-Up Wrap

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I love fast food wraps. I’m basically the anti-Sir Mix-a-Lot anaconda, because I actually want some if you ain’t got buns, Hun.

It’s a great time for me because it’s basically the summer of the wrap, with more and more fast food joints jumping into the wrap trap. Popeyes has some solid new tortilla’d strips, “Taco Bell is a chicken place is a taco place is a chicken place,” burritos are really good despite the annoying commercials, and hey, who could forget the much-ballyhooed return of McDonald’s Snack Wraps? I know I didn’t. They’re not the same, but I’ll still throw ’em down.

Here’s the thing, amongst all that hype, I almost completely ignored the best new wrap of them all. While those chicken retreads soak up the spotlight, allow me to ballyhoo Dunkin’s new Chipotle Hash Brown Wake-up Wrap. Ballyhoo, I say!

… I don’t actually know what “ballyhoo” means, but I do know that Dunkin’s Wake-up Wraps are criminally underrated, and it’s about time you people, well, woke up.

Wake-up Wraps are a great little economical breakfast in a pinch. Sure, the eggs are rubber, the bacon is borderline inedible sometimes, the cheese might as well be made by Elmer’s, and the wraps usually have hard edges, but I still kinda love ’em for some reason. Adding hash browns and chipotle sauce brings them to a whole new level.

Dunkin’s hash browns remain arguably my favorite in fast food. I’ve actually been adding the zesty, crispy coins to my Dunkin’ sandwiches and wraps for years, so it’s nice to see the restaurant finally catching up.

I wrote a diatribe about how I don’t love “sauce” in my recent Goldfish review, little did I know that just a few weeks later I’d be adding Dunkin’s Chipotle Aioli to the A-tier on my Sauce Tier list that ABSOLUTELY took the internet by storm.

The chipotle aioli works so well on a breakfast wrap. It’s very similar to the sauce Taco Bell uses in their Breakfast Crunchwrap, which, as we all know, is the breakfast G.O.A.T.

Another thing I like about this wrap is that you can customize both the protein and the cheese, and every combo works. I enjoyed sausage, but I think bacon pairs better with the aioli and hash browns. As long as the bacon is actually cooked, I’d recommend that with American cheese, but white cheddar is no slouch.

There’s no wrong way to eat a Dunkin’ Chipotle Hash Brown Wake-up Wrap. I came up with that slogan. It’s an original.

How can it get any better, you ask?! They’re included in the current $5 Meal Deal! It might not seem like anything amazing, but two of these and an iced coffee for five bucks might be the best deal Dunkin’ has had since its questionable app update.

I think these are a perfect breakfast for anyone on the go. Even if you order two, they won’t bog you down, and they should leave you satisfied. Take advantage of the $5 Meal Deal before the summer wraps up.

Purchased Price: $3.99 each
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 340 calories, 24 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 110 milligrams of cholesterol, 910 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of fiber, and 10 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Burger King Iced Coffee with Cold Foam

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It’s not surprising to see Burger King offer cold foam with its iced coffees. After all, it plopped a cold foam layer on top of a slush last year. What’s surprising is how long it took for said cold foam to eventually end up on BK’s iced coffee. Has it been in a deep freeze for the past year? Burger chain bureaucracy? Ketchup red tape?

Well, whatever the case, BK now plops cold foam on its Vanilla, Mocha, and Black iced coffees. My sweet tooth convinced me to purchase a Mocha one.

This order was the first time I’ve experienced BK’s cold foam, but I’ve had several Starbucks drinks with a creamy top layer, and the burger joint’s version seems to be a little thicker. It has an almost pudding-like texture, and its flavor reminds me of vanilla frozen dairy dessert. While my order came with a straw, I took my first taste by sipping from the cup, just as I would with a Starbucks order. Well, I tried to drink it this way, but the foam’s thickness makes it hard for the coffee to break through, and I ended up with a whole lot of foam and very little java in my mouth. Not ideal when I’m trying to get caffeine into my bloodstream in the morning. After a few more sip attempts, I gave in and used the straw to mix everything.

When combined, the cold foam dilutes the chocolate and coffee, which defeats the purpose of getting a flavored coffee. The sweetness satisfied my sweet tooth, but my taste buds wanted more. Perhaps Burger King should look into developing flavored cold foams. Additionally, alongside cold foam flavors, I would like the chain to offer a Frappe or Frappuccino-type drink again, as I think the creamy layer would pair well with it, similar to the new Starbucks Strato Frappuccino Beverages.

Unless I’m desperate for caffeine, I’m not sure I’d purchase any BK Iced Coffee with Cold Foam again because of how the cold foam dilutes everything. I’d probably just get a standard iced coffee instead, although something else that BK needs to get through the ketchup red tape is to make its large iced coffee as big as McDonald’s..

Purchased Price: $4.89*
Size: Large
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 380 calories, 21 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 45 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 38 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate Bar

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In the Venn diagram of candy lovers and the chronically online, those in the middle intersection are particularly enamored by viral food trends and their ability to provoke excitement and curiosity. How many kinds of Swedish candy are there? Does a bowl of tiny pancakes make cereal? Why is this chocolate bar so expensive?

I overheard a guy at Walmart ask the last question out loud as he passed the display of Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate bars. At nearly $15 for a 5.3 oz bar, Lindt’s newest product boasts costly ingredients, eye-catching green packaging, and generally stylish vibe. Invented by a Dubai chocolatier and popularized by social media, Dubai chocolate is a milk chocolate shell filled with sweet pistachio cream and kadayif, or shredded cooked phyllo pastry. Lindt’s riff on the sought-after confection consists of Swiss milk chocolate made in Germany, with the addition of almonds, hazelnuts, and sugared pistachios in the filling.

So, is the bar worth the splurge? I guess you could say I’m still dubai-ous.

Look, I like Dubai chocolate, I like Lindt chocolate, and I’ve often wondered if I’m singlehandedly putting my local candy store owner’s children through college. Despite these truths, Lindt’s Dubai Style Chocolate Bar left me unimpressed.

The milk chocolate itself is wonderful—lushly silky, sweet, and creamy, with notes of caramel and vanilla that make its flavor distinctive.

The filling felt like a letdown, especially compared to the viral photos of Dubai chocolate that depict overflowing green goo like something out of a Nickelodeon cartoon. (Did the Rugrats Reptar Bar foretell Dubai chocolate? Discuss.) Lindt’s filling is a modest layer of sweetened pistachio paste rich with texture: gritty bits of nuts and threads of phyllo that remind me of crispy shredded wheat cereal. It tastes nutty, salty, and good, but the flavor is a mixed medley of almond, hazelnut, and pistachio—the latter of which should be the star. In the context of the Dubai trend, the almonds and hazelnuts add more filler than filling.

The milk chocolate outshines the filling. Even with a better chocolate-to-filling ratio, the filling would benefit from a substantial addition of pistachio cream to boost the pistachio flavor, balance creamy and crispy textures, and stand a chance against the chocolate’s unique taste.

The Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate Bar is difficult to rate because, while a nutty bar of Swiss chocolate is always a pleasure, it does not fulfill the creamy, crispy, and pistachio-y promises of Dubai chocolate that—to some—justify the hefty price tag. If you are willing to part with the green in your wallet, look for a brand that provides more green filling in its chocolate.

Purchased Price: $14.97
Purchased at: Walmart
Size: 5.3 oz (150 g) bar
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 2 pieces, or 1/5 bar) 170 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 35 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

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