REVIEW: Dairy Queen Ultimate Cookie Blizzard

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I am by no means an expert on calendars. Yes, I can name the 12 months in order and even know which ones have 30 or 31 days. OK, I mostly know. August always gets me. I also know that early April is what people like to refer to as spring, and summer doesn’t come around until sometime in June. The fine folks at Dairy Queen apparently know even less than I do about how a calendar works, as they have just released their Summer Blizzard Menu, which includes three new concoctions and three returning flavors. After trying the new Ultimate Cookie Blizzard, I am quite happy about DQ’s complete disregard for chronology.

As you might have guessed, the Ultimate Cookie is loaded with cookies, and I mean loaded. It includes Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and Nutter Butter cookies, and the ultimate moniker of this version is spot-on. This might be the crunchiest Blizzard I’ve ever had, and that made it delightful. Every bite had the satisfying texture of the soft serve offset by a constant cookie crunch.

As for the taste, that also landed in the ultimate range. The Oreo cookies bring that famous chocolate flavor that is a part of so many Blizzard combinations, and the Nutter Butter cookies contribute a strong peanut butter taste but in a different way compared to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I love having PB cups in a Blizzard, but Nutter Butter might be even better. They seem to provide a more robust peanut butter flavor that can stand up to the chocolate without being secondary, as PB cups can sometimes be because they also contain chocolate. This Blizzard gave me more of a chocolate and peanut butter vibe than an Oreo and PB cup version.

And I didn’t forget about the Chips Ahoy. Actually, I kind of did. I saw evidence of their inclusion in the blend, but other than bringing some added crunch, it was hard to pick out the Chips Ahoy flavor compared to the Oreo and Nutter Butter.

Most fast food creations with ultimate or supreme in the name fail to deliver as promised, but this one does. If the words chocolate, peanut butter, and crunchy make you hungry, then you won’t want to miss this Blizzard. And thanks to DQ stretching the meaning of the word summer, you’ll have plenty of time to pick one up.

Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: Mini
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 480 calories, 20 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 67 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 49 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Blue Bell Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream

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I must admit that I know precious little about the city of St. Louis. I know that arch thing is there, and…well, that’s about it. I did not know what people from St. Louis were called until just now, and even after finding out they are generally referred to as St. Louisans, I’m not sure exactly how to pronounce that. But I am proud to say that I have expanded my base of St. Louis knowledge a bit more, thanks to the new Gooey Butter Cake ice cream from Blue Bell.

It turns out that gooey butter cake, which are three words I’ve previously never typed together in my life, is a delightful, sugary treat that is native to St. Louis. I cannot explain why Texas-based Blue Bell decided to use it as its newest concoction, but I’m glad it did.

For those of you who are not St. Louisans or not well-versed in Midwestern culinary culture, gooey butter cake is a somewhat thin yellow cake that is dense like a brownie and often has a layer of cream cheese on top. The Blue Bell label describes this version as “cake batter ice cream combined with a luscious cream cheese swirl and rich gooey butter cake pieces.”

I would not have known the ice cream base was cake batter-flavored if not for the label, as it seemed to me just like the regular Blue Bell vanilla flavor. But the important parts of this ice cream are the cream cheese and gooey butter cake pieces, and they really deliver a home run. The cream cheese swirl is wonderfully silky and creamy with a strong cheesecake-like flavor, and you never know how much you will get because the color blends in almost seamlessly with the ice cream.

The cake pieces are a mixture of small, crumb-size morsels and larger square chunks, and that’s another mark in the plus column in my book. When you get a spoonful with just the crumb pieces, there is more than enough flavor to satisfy. And then, when you luck out and get a big nugget, you get to enjoy the chewy, buttery, sugary bliss it provides. After one bite, I regretted buying the pint size instead of the half-gallon, and I’m pretty sure the contents of my pint are not going to live to see tomorrow.

Having never eaten real gooey butter cake, I cannot say whether Blue Bell nailed the flavor profile with this ice cream. But it certainly nailed a delicious, creamy treat, and you can bet that if I ever find myself in St. Louis, that I’ll be hunting for some gooey butter cake. In the meantime, I’ll probably head back to the store and pick up a half-gallon.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 280 calories, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Tillamook Chocolate Collection Ice Cream

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I decided to take up significant space in our freezer to store all four flavors of Tillamook’s Chocolate Collection Ice Cream. Did I have to heat up and eat bags of frozen broccoli, peas, and edamame to make room for the tower of 1.5-quart tubs? Yes. So, thank you, Tillamook, for making me eat a bunch of green vegetables so I could eat a bunch of brown chocolate ice creams.

Brownie Batter

Since the following is the case with three of the four flavors, I’ll get it out of the way here. The ice cream-to-mix-ins and swirls ratio leans heavily to the dairy side, making it hard to get everything in one spoonful. With this flavor, there are brownie dough pieces within the dark chocolate brownie batter ice cream, but they are few and far between. Well, at least, throughout the one-fourth of the container I’ve eaten so far. The smallish pieces have a bold fudge flavor and a pleasant chew that contrasts nicely with the base’s creaminess. But the lack of mix-ins isn’t all that bad because the base has a tasty brownie batter-ish flavor. It definitely tastes different from the bases in the other three varieties, which have a standard chocolate ice cream flavor.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar (including 18 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Chocolate Hazelnut

Hoping for Nutella vibes here? You’re not getting that. The container contains dark chocolate ice cream with hazelnuts and a hazelnut butter swirl. There are decent-sized hazelnuts, but, oddly, they don’t provide much of any hazelnut taste, only the snap of the nut when I bite into them. Doing all the hazelnut flavor lifting is that stiff hazelnut butter swirl that stands out within the dark chocolate base. Get a spoonful with a hazelnut, some of the swirl, and the base, and you’ve got yourself a Ferrero Rocher on a spoon. But, again, since the mix-ins and swirls aren’t plentiful, most spoonfuls taste like chocolate ice cream.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar (including 17 grams of added sugar), and 6 grams of protein.

German Chocolate Cake

I didn’t think I’d like this one because I’m not a fan of German Chocolate Cake. But the ingredient I dislike about the dessert, shredded coconut, doesn’t show itself much in this flavor, which contains dark chocolate ice cream with a brown sugar coconut swirl, pecans, and chocolate cake pieces. It’s not very coconutty because the swirl is sparse. I’ve gone through about one-fifth of the container and can recall tasting something coconut only twice. But I did bite through three pecan pieces and two cake pieces, which were chewy but not as much as the brownie chunks in the other variety. But, much like the flavor above, there were too many spoonfuls that were just the ice cream base. This was probably the least memorable of them all.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 230 calories, 13 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar (including 19 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream

Finally, we have a simple flavor that features dark chocolate ice cream with crunchy cookie pieces. “Crunchy” is how Tillamook describes the cookies on the container, but inside, most are as soft as cookies super soaked in milk. But Tillamook didn’t just add chocolate wafers and dust off cookie crumbs from its hands. It included sandwich cookie chunks, so there are also white creme bits. Oddly, that frozen creme does add some texture that should’ve come from the cookies. Unlike the other varieties, this one had a decent amount of mix-ins. However, I will admit that the photo above doesn’t represent the slightly scarcer layers under it. The cookies add a different, dark chocolatey burst than the ice cream. But like the previous two flavors, get a spoonful without a mix-in, and it’s total choco ice cream.

Rating: 7 out of 10<
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 230 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar (including 19 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Tillamook Chocolate Collection Ice Cream Mix.

Because I had all four flavors and for funsies, I combined them all, and that changed nothing because the chocolate base still dominated most spoonfuls.

I enjoyed all the flavors, but none of them wowed me, even the Brownie Batter one. With most, because the chocolate base is so bold and there are limited mix-ins, they tasted like I was eating regular chocolate ice cream 65-70 percent of the time. I can’t believe I’m kind of complaining about eating regular chocolate ice cream. What kind of monster have I become? Maybe these would’ve been better as pints, so the ice cream-to-mix-in ratio would’ve been better.

Purchased Price: $4.99 each (on sale)
Size: 1.5 quart containers
Purchased at: Safeway

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Confetti Cake Dipped Cone

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A major cornerstone of my life philosophy: I must sprinkle my week with the joy of little treats when I can. What better way to sprinkle joy than with edible confetti?

Dairy Queen agrees with me, and its newest release proves it. The Confetti Cake Dipped Cone is the latest offering in Dairy Queen’s springtime tradition of releasing limited edition dipped cones. Past flavors have included Churro, Fruity Blast, Orange Dreamsicle, and Cotton Candy.

No offense to the past flavors, but Confetti Cake is the perfect flavor for everyday celebrations. Combining butter, sugar, vanilla, and sprinkles, the flavor exemplifies all things sweet, indulgent, and colorful. Unlike its cousin, Birthday Cake, Confetti Cake is not occasion-specific, so you do not need to worry about popped balloons or the crushing weight of how quickly time passes.

I ordered a medium cone and had to take a moment to admire the beauty of the thing. Topped with Dairy Queen’s signature curl, the curvy mounds of vanilla soft serve were generously coated with the confetti cake shell. The shell’s crisp white base, decorated with rainbow flecks, perfectly represented confetti cake. Somehow, the colorful speckles didn’t muddy the white base or add any texture to disturb the absolute smoothness of the dip. The result was so pretty that I need an artist and/or scientist to dismiss my accusations of soft serve sorcery. Maybe Steven H., who made my cone, just knows what the hell he’s doing.

Texturally, the coating was perfect, cracking satisfyingly with each bite before melting away into creamy smoothness. Its flavor, however, was disappointingly one-note. I expected white chocolate or vanilla to flavor the base, but all I could taste was a combination of butter and almond extracts. While the shell was sweet, the perfume-y, artificial quality of the extracts threw off the flavor balance for me.

I almost completely stripped the shell from the cone before I realized what the taste reminded me of. Once, I made homemade buttercream frosting using powdered sugar that was over a year past its best-by date. (This was an accident, of course, not some cruel birthday prank.) The end product was creamy and rich but tasted off, like butter held together by the memory of something sweet. My neglectful baking fail was a much worse offense than the Confetti Cake Dipped Cone, but both experiences ended in disappointment.

When eaten with soft serve, the confetti shell’s flavor was mostly overwhelmed by the ice cream’s coldness. In my eyes, Dairy Queen’s vanilla soft serve is literal perfection, a sweet and creamy dream in any form, so I couldn’t be mad about having that cone in my paw. While the shell itself would rate around 4 out of 10, the ice cream bumped my overall rating up to a squarely-average 5. Colorful sprinkles can brighten up any occasion, but for the Confetti Cake Dipped Cone, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

Purchased Price: $3.89
Size: Medium
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 470 calories, 23 grams of fat, 19 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 43 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Marshmallow Sky Ice Cream

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When you stroll into the grocery store ice cream aisle, one thing will usually jump out at you more prominently than most — the Ben & Jerry’s section. It’s usually more prominent than any others in the area, and with as many limited, new, and classic flavors as they have stocked, you would think that is all Ben & Jerry’s has to offer…but it is not.

Ben & Jerry’s keeps some of its treasured flavors quietly close to the chest and only available in Scoop Shops. One of my favorites, a dairy-laden version of Seven Layer Bar, can only be found in the dip case, and if you make it into one of B&J’s shops, you may find a couple of other surprises, too.

Good news for those without a shop nearby: a Scoop Shop exclusive has become a Limited Batch pint for the first time in a long time (ever?). Marshmallow Sky features marshmallow ice cream with marshmallow swirls and gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough.

The blue base ice cream, colored naturally with spirulina extract, is delightfully creamy with a robust vanilla flavor that isn’t as aggressively sweet as I was anticipating, and I’m totally okay with it. Marshmallow is usually a two-note flavor — sugar, then vanilla — and this base has the same two notes, but it’s much more vanilla than sugar, which is a welcomed surprise given the presence of the mix-ins. The marshmallow swirl is sticky and sweet and brings both the sugary element and texture to the mallow-sperience, thoroughly doing its job to bring the sweet taste of the summer sky to the spoon.

The double punch of dough chunks is prominent throughout and helps bring some much appreciated texture to the bites. The classic chocolate chip cookie dough’s brown sugar flavor blends in a bit with the bold vanilla backdrop of the base. But its gritty, chewy crunch and hints of chocolate poke through well. However, the bells of the ball are the chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough gobs, which REALLY make their mark with deep bittersweet notes of cocoa that cut through the base like butter. The blast of chocolate really delivers the dynamic pop I want from a good mix-in that elevates marshmallow sky oh so high into a pint that you should certainly buy.

This flavor is essentially B&J’s classic cookie dough on steroids. The base is a more robust and full-bodied vanilla than the original, and the double chocolate dough gives it a layering that the original lacks, all tied together with the sweet, sticky bow of a marshmallow swirl. Coming from the company that created cookie dough ice cream, this eats like a love letter to those who consider the classic their favorite flavor and shouldn’t be missed by those who adore the gobs of dough and vanilla with a colorful twist.

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

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup, 132g) 340 calories, 15 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 47 grams of carbohydrates,0 grams of fiber, 35 grams of total sugars, and 5 grams of protein.

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