Tag: Blizzard

Sometimes I really dislike being an adult. I’m not talking about paying taxes, having a job, or things like that. I just don’t like how it changes what is appropriate when it comes to food. If I were a toddler, it would be no big deal if I took off my shirt and ate mac and cheese with my hands, and people would say how cute I was when I got sauce in my hair. If I try that as an adult at Applebee’s, I’ll probably be asked to leave. If I were in kindergarten, a fluffernutter sandwich would be a perfectly acceptable lunch. But if I suggest we have peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwiches at a work meeting, then some co-workers might suggest I’m a bit immature (but I know others would secretly think it’s an awesome idea). Thankfully, Dairy Queen has the new Royal Reese’s Fluffernutter Blizzard that both mature and immature adults can purchase without being judged.

If you are not familiar with the “Royal” line of Blizzards, they have the bonus of a hidden core, which, in this case, is filled with marshmallow topping. I thought about bringing a small handsaw so I could conduct a Blizzard autopsy and show you exactly how it looks inside, but I figured that would be frowned upon and maybe a little dangerous. Besides, the DQ website features a cross-section view if you are interested. Surrounding the marshmallow core of this Blizzard are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, peanut butter topping, and, of course, vanilla soft serve. The core might be hard to see in the photos, and as the Blizzard around it melts, it all blends together, but trust me that it’s there.

I’m not sure if this is the case everywhere, but at my local DQ, the Royal Blizzards will set you back an extra $1. After having this one, I can tell you that’s a buck well spent. The standard PB Cup Blizzard is already one of my favorites, but it becomes truly glorious with the marshmallow flavor running down the center. The marshmallow topping by itself is quite sweet — almost too sweet — but it is balanced out perfectly by the decidedly less sweet peanut butter flavor. The smooth, creamy texture of the marshmallow topping also pairs wonderfully with the chunkiness and thickness of the pulverized peanut butter cups in the soft serve. I tried to think how I would improve this Blizzard, and I’ve got nothing to suggest. I think it’s my new all-time favorite.

My only disappointment is that I ordered a small, which really limits the real estate available for the marshmallow core. So my suggestion is to live like a king or a queen and at least order the medium for this one. Nah, just get a large.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: Small
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 750 calories, 31 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 390 milligrams of sodium, 104 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 87 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of protein.

We all have some beliefs that we know with certainty are true, and no amount of debate or evidence will ever change our minds. For me, one of those tenets is this: sprinkles are wildly overrated and borderline useless in society. I know others disagree, including the group of small children I saw at a Fourth of July picnic fighting over a shaker of sprinkles for their ice cream. Perhaps they had been studying the Declaration of Independence and thought acquiring said sprinkles would help them successfully achieve their pursuit of happiness. I contend that those kids were misguided. Try eating a handful of just sprinkles and tell me I’m wrong.

At this point, you might assume that my review of Dairy Queen’s July Blizzard of the Month is trending toward a big thumbs down because the Cake Batter Cookie Dough Blizzard has a double dose of sprinkles. The colorful pieces of nothingness are mixed into the cake batter-flavored soft serve and embedded into the confetti cookie dough pieces.

There is a hero, however, that saves this Blizzard. While the standard vanilla soft serve base of most Blizzards is perfectly fine, this cake batter variation is sumptuous. It somehow manages to amp up the sweetness of the ice cream without going too far, and it delivers a subtle extra flavor that seems like a little bit of icing mixed with cake. I would definitely eat cake batter ice cream by itself.

Despite my professed indifference, or perhaps even disdain, for sprinkles, I must say this is a decent Blizzard. And I will begrudgingly say the sprinkles are not completely useless here. They bring a rainbow of color, which I guess is great if you are posting on Instagram, and they contribute a bit of extra texture, which is pleasant. But because sprinkles have virtually no taste, they contribute virtually nothing to the flavor of this Blizzard.

The cookie dough nuggets in here can best be described as sugar cookie-flavored. Again, there are some sprinkles in the cookie dough, as shown in the photo after I dissected one, but, again, they don’t add any flavor.

The quibble I have with this Blizzard — other than my excessive diatribe about sprinkles — is that the cookie dough pieces are overshadowed by the cake batter ice cream. The dough had such a mild flavor that I almost forgot about it. This one might be worth doing a little experimenting and asking for some M&M’s or Oreo cookies to be added to the mix.

Even though this one missed the mark a bit for me, it is certainly worth trying just to experience the cake batter-flavored ice cream.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 610 calories, 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 320 milligrams of sodium, 95 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 71 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein.

It is with some trepidation and a bit of embarrassment that I ask you, the fine readers of The Impulsive Buy, am I the only one? Did you all know that puppy chow is a tasty mix of cereal, chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar, and not, as the name implies, food for young dogs?

Ok, so puppy chow is actually both of the above, but I had no idea it could be something tasty for humans to eat. My wife seems to think that I’m the only one so clueless, and I’m hoping to find at least one kindred spirit on here who is similarly ignorant. After some reflection though, I do recall having puppy chow in the past and enjoying it, but I guess I never thought to ask what it was called.

Why all the talk about puppy chow? Well, the Peanut Butter Puppy Chow Blizzard is one of the new additions to the Dairy Queen menu for April (and not an April Fool’s gag as I originally thought). According to my extensive research on Wikipedia, puppy chow is primarily popular in the Midwest and generally contains a mixture of cereal (like Chex or Crispix), melted chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. There are also a bunch of other names for it, like reindeer chow, doggy bag, or muddy buddies. Apparently, the canine-inspired name comes from the fact that it looks like dog food, so why wouldn’t it be a great Blizzard flavor?

Well, it’s good but not great. The DQ website says its version includes crispy puppy chow pieces, peanut butter topping, and choco chunks. As promising as those ingredients sound, I didn’t think they really worked together in harmony. I could definitely taste the Chex-like cereal, but it had a slightly stale flavor and not much crunch. This also had a very salty taste, and indeed it does have more sodium than the average Blizzard. As for the powdered sugar, it is listed in the ingredients, but it was not noticeable, either by taste or looks as it blends in with the vanilla soft serve. This really didn’t taste much different than a peanut butter cup Blizzard except that it adds an odd-tasting cereal. Did I finish this Blizzard? Of course I did. It’s still a sugar-packed ice cream treat, but this one didn’t have me barking for more.

If you really love puppy chow (of the human food variety), then perhaps you will probably find this Blizzard enjoyable, but I was a bit underwhelmed. In honor of the start of baseball season, this one is a nice single to the gap that might get stretched to a double, but it’s not a home run.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 720 calories, 32 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 320 milligrams of sodium, 97 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 77 grams of sugar, and 16 grams of protein.

If you mosey on over to the search feature on this site and type in “Oreo Blizzard,” you’ll be greeted with a long list of reviews for Blizzard variations with words like zero gravity, firework, cookie jar, and dirt pie. It would seem that Dairy Queen has tried just about every flavor combination possible using the popular chocolate cookie and creme sandwich.

But now it has introduced yet another new one, the Oreo Brookie Blizzard, which of course, features Oreo cookies and brookies (brownies and cookies baked together). It sounds like a humdrum flavor considering DQ has already paired Oreo with fudge brownies and chocolate chip cookies, among many other ingredients.

Except that it’s not!

This one caught me by surprise. It’s rather simple, but it’s also rather delicious. One of the things that enhances the Blizzard experience is having a variety of textures, and this one really delivers in that department. Oreo cookies, as we all know, are crunchy and chocolatey, and when they are pulverized and mixed with vanilla soft serve, they can make for a tasty Blizzard all by themselves. But the addition of the brookies is a game-changer here. They bring in a pleasant soft chewiness to offset the Oreo crunch and provide a subtle chip cookie flavor combined with some brownie fudginess. To my surprise, I really could pick out the Oreo, cookie, and brownie flavors, and they all played together perfectly in my mouth. A great mix of flavors and textures all adds up to a brilliant Blizzard combination.

Dairy Queen sometimes goes a little overboard in trying to pack too many components into a Blizzard so they can call it outrageous or splendiferous or something like that. This one, however, proves again that sometimes less is more.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 860 calories, 39 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 520 milligrams of sodium, 116 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 77 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.

What is it?

It’s the December Blizzard of the Month featuring sugar cookie pieces, icing, and sprinkles. It shares the December spotlight with the Candy Cane Chill Blizzard, but that one is not new. This one is different than the similarly named Frosted Animal Cookie Blizzard from a couple of years ago.

How is it?

I did not have high expectations for this one based on the lackluster components and my notion that the sugar cookie flavor would not stand out in a vanilla ice cream base. Even with the bar set low, this was a miss for me, both in taste and presentation.

Now I’m not one who normally cares what a Blizzard looks like, and sometimes the top layer can be deceiving. At first sight, this gives off a bland and boring vibe, and it backs that up with a bland and boring taste. As you can see in the photos, my local DQ was apparently experiencing a sprinkle shortage. The DQ website notes the sprinkles are “festive” but fails to mention they have absolutely no taste. So it didn’t really matter that my particular Blizzard only had a smattering of festiveness.

I can’t really tell you what the icing brought to the table because I could only faintly distinguish that flavor in this. So that left the sugar cookie pieces as the only ingredient left to pick up the ball and score, but since sugar cookie pieces don’t have arms or legs, the ball remained on the field and no touchdown was recorded. Maybe I just got a bad batch of cookies, but they were not “soft” as the DQ website promised. They were quite crumbly and really had no flavor that I could describe, other than generic vanilla-ish cookie.

The sum of the parts of this Blizzard adds up to disappointment.

Anything else you need to know?

I don’t remember having the Frosted Animal Cookie Blizzard in 2020, but another reviewer on this site loved it. While that one has almost the same name, it does seem that it had a more complex variety of flavors, so maybe it’s time to petition DQ to bring that one back and sit this new version on the sidelines.

Conclusion:

I’ve never tried a new Blizzard that I didn’t finish, and I can confirm that my amazing streak of consistency is still intact. But if I had ordered a medium or large instead of a small, then I’m not sure if I would have completed the task. This is still ice cream and cookies, so it’s far better than anything containing kale or carrots, but it definitely ranks as one of my least favorite Blizzards.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 700 calories, 30 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 290 milligrams of sodium, 95 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 74 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.