REVIEW: Blue Bell Brookie À La Mode Ice Cream

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Blue Bell Brookie A La Mode Ice Cream pint

No one likes to admit when they are wrong. But I’m here to tell you, I was wrong. How, you ask? It involves the phrase “à la mode.” We all know it means “with ice cream on top,” right?

That’s what I always thought, and that’s somewhat accurate. But here’s where I was wrong—way wrong. I must confess that I somehow thought it was derived from Greek or Latin, which makes no sense at all because I’m pretty sure ice cream wasn’t a thing back when that Plato guy was around. It’s actually a French phrase that means “fashionable” or “in style,” but sometime around the late 1800s or early 1900s in America, it came to mean the then-trendy practice of putting ice cream on pie. I was also wrong in thinking the little mark above the a in à la mode is called a tilde. It’s a grave accent, which seems like how you would describe what Beetlejuice speaks with.

Blue Bell Brookie A La Mode Ice Cream topless

Now that everyone except for punctation nerds and etymology buffs has moved on, let’s get to the review of the new Brookie À La Mode ice cream from Blue Bell, which the Texas-based creamery says is brown sugar ice cream with chunks of brownie and soft chocolate chip cookie pieces. I’m not even going to get into the fact that Brookie À La Mode is a silly name, because it is ice cream, so I’m not sure how you can put ice cream on top of it. And simply putting brownies and cookies together in the same general vicinity does not constitute a brookie. But you came here to find out if you should run out to buy this, right? Well, maybe not run, but you should saunter, or sashay if you prefer, over to your local store. It’s not worth breaking a sweat or anything like that, but it’s still plenty good.

Blue Bell Brookie A La Mode Ice Cream spoonful

Blue Bell Brookie A La Mode Ice Cream brownie pieces are wonderful

The showstopper here is the brownie chunks. They are little pieces of rich, heavenly, chocolatey goodness that magically stay moist and chewy without getting soggy in the ice cream. I would eat a pint of just the brownie chunks. The other two components are good, but nothing special really. The brown sugar ice cream has just a faint hint of something to differentiate it from vanilla, but it gives off more of a cookie batter vibe. It’s perfectly fine, but don’t expect a lot of brown sugar flavor. The cookie pieces are about as expected, and although they have a similar texture to the brownie chunks, when you get one of the chocolate chips, there is a nice crunch and extra pop of flavor.

Blue Bell Brookie A La Mode Ice Cream lid

Aside from a name that doesn’t make much sense and that it made me feel a little bit foolish for being off base on the whole à la mode thing, this is a nice addition to the Blue Bell lineup.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 240 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Snickers Crunchy Peanut Butter Minis Ice Cream Bars Review

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Snickers Crunchy Peanut Butter Minis Ice Cream Bars box

Why are these Snickers Minis Ice Cream Bars not called Snickers Fun Size Ice Cream Bars? They’re roughly the size of regular Snickers Fun Size bars, not the square-ish regular Snickers Minis. Calling them “Fun Size” would’ve been, well, fun — and more accurate.

Nomenclature aside, one of the genuinely fun things about these mini ice cream bars is the four varieties available. Along with these Snickers Crunchy Peanut Butter Minis, there are also Original Snickers, Salted Caramel, and Almond varieties. Sorry, fans of Snickers Butterscotch Scoop, Pecan, Hazelnut, or Fiery. Maybe they’ll show up next year, if these sell well.

Snickers Crunchy Peanut Butter Minis Ice Cream Bars individually wrapped

I think there’s a chance they will, because these Snickers Crunchy Peanut Butter Minis are good. Each bar features caramel, peanuts, and crunchy peanut butter ice cream in a chocolate coating, and there are ten individually wrapped bars per box. If you want to eat all ten in one sitting, the box has already read your mind, offering the nutrition facts for that scenario: 920 calories, 61 grams of fat, 31 grams of saturated fat, 5 grams of fiber, 68 grams of sugar, and 18 grams of protein.

While they taste great, with their strong nutty flavor from the ice cream and nuts (though mostly from the latter), with a hint of chocolate from the coating, they aren’t so compelling that I’d eat all ten in one sitting. With an actual Snickers Fun Size candy bar, because it’s denser, just one satisfies my sweet tooth. With these ice cream bars, it takes two to get that same feeling.

Snickers Crunchy Peanut Butter Minis Ice Cream Bars cross section

As someone who prefers crunchy peanut butter, I’m thrilled there are added peanut bits in the peanut butter-flavored ice cream in addition to the usual nuts on top, guaranteeing some crunch in every bite. What I didn’t really get enough of was the caramel. I could feel its gooey texture and see it ooze out from under the chocolate layer, but thanks to the strong nuttiness from the other ingredients, its flavor was nearly nonexistent. But I guess that’s okay since these are Snickers Peanut Butter Minis Ice Cream Bars.

Snickers Minis Ice Cream Bars cross section

While that’s fine, I also purchased the regular Snickers Minis Ice Cream Bars to compare, and there isn’t a significant difference in nuttiness and flavor between the two, even though the Peanut Butter version has more nuts and peanut butter-flavored ice cream. With the regular one, the peanuts stand out, while the caramel flavor is lacking, which sounds very familiar, if you read the previous paragraph, and not very Snickers-like.

A difference was somewhat noticeable when I was double-fisting them, but if you were the ruler of a country and I were your Official Snickers Ice Cream Feeder, and you had only eaten regular Snickers Ice Cream Bars, and if feeding you anything else meant I’d be thrown into a dungeon — I’m pretty sure sneaking in these Snickers Peanut Butter Minis would keep me out of a cage.

I guess that’s a long-winded and confusing explanation. A more accurate way to put it would be that these taste a bit too close to regular Snickers Ice Cream Bars to my liking.

Purchased Price: $5.49
Size: 9.5 fl oz box/10 0.95 oz bars
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bar) 90 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 40 milligrams of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 7 grams of sugar (includes 6 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Ice Cream Bar Review

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Reese's Crunchy Peanut Ice Cream Bar orange box

Over the last year or so, there has been a growing line of Reese’s frozen novelties — almost more than you could shake an ice cream bar stick at. You’ve probably seen them with their striking orange boxes. The latest addition is the Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Ice Cream Bar, featuring Reese’s peanut butter-flavored sauce, ice cream, peanut pieces, and a milk chocolate-flavored coating. Yes, it’s made with 100% real ice cream, but it’s not keeping it 100 because that coating is decidedly not 100% real milk chocolate.

Reese's Crunchy Peanut Ice Cream Bar milk chocolate flavored coating

It’s shaped like a standard candy bar — a Snickers, a Milky Way. That got me thinking: wouldn’t it be infinitely cooler if these were shaped like Reese’s peanut butter cups, like those frozen novelties that were available several years ago? It would give the packaging some shelf appeal beyond the already shelf-appealing Reese’s orange boxes.

What about a stick, you ask? HA! Don’t make me laugh. A peanut butter cup-shaped ice cream bar doesn’t need a stick. The only stick to be concerned with is sticking it in your mouth.

Now, I know some of you might be put off by the milk chocolate-flavored coating because that makes it sound cheap. But I assure you it tastes, melts, and shatters fine — for what it is. However, if this not-quite-chocolate showed up on an actual Reese’s peanut butter cup, I would take back my pitchfork from Lucifer, make my way to Pennsylvania, and turn Hershey into Hellshey. I will not stand for that. But on an ice cream bar that’s already working with a Reese’s peanut butter flavor that doesn’t quite taste like the stuff in the actual candy, I can extend the same grace to the coating.

Reese's Crunchy Peanut Ice Cream Bar peanut pieces, ice cream, and peanut butter sauce.

The smooth peanut butter sauce and the crunch of the peanuts do a great job of making me not care about the chocolatey coating, and the combination of all the components makes this genuinely enjoyable. After eating a couple of bars — not in a row, I should clarify — I’m not entirely sure that the ice cream itself is peanut butter-flavored or something else, but the bar’s nutty flavor as a whole is quite strong regardless.

The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is one of the great flavor pairings, and even a product with a milk chocolate-flavored coating can still be pretty good. What this Reese’s product need more of, though, is the sweet-salty contrast that makes an actual Reese’s peanut butter cup so addictive — the thing that makes me want to eat the second cup in a regular pack and all four in a King Size. These are good, but not that kind of good. If you want the peanut butter and chocolate combo in ice cream bar form and you’re okay with the trade-offs, this will 100% do the job.

Purchased Price: $10.99
Size: 12 fl oz box/6 2 fl oz bars
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bar) 140 calories, 4 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar (includes 8 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

Blue Bell Honey Vanilla Ice Cream Review

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Blue Bell Honey Vanilla Ice Cream pint design

Honey goes great with many things, such as mustard, Nut Cheerios, badgers, Baked Ham, and Boo Boo. Honey clearly has range, but how does this sweet bee vomit pair with ice cream? Blue Bell offers up an answer with its new Honey Vanilla flavor.

I’ll get right to it: this is very vanilla, as in almost just vanilla. After my first taste, I truly thought someone at the Blue Bell factory forgot to push the “add honey” button. Only after a second taste, and a fair amount of Zen-like concentration, was I able to confirm that there was indeed a faint hint of honey.

Blue Bell Honey Vanilla Ice Cream vanilla spoonful

Blue Bell Honey Vanilla Ice Cream so vanilla looking

I did enjoy this as a vanilla ice cream, but I’m not sure I would have picked up on the honey part if a stranger came up to me, offered me a taste, and asked me to identify the flavor. (It probably wouldn’t be wise to accept ice cream from a stranger, but I totally would.)

Blue Bell Honey Vanilla Ice Cream with added honey

Given the lack of honey flavor provided by Blue Bell, I thought I’d go the extra mile, or at least a few extra feet to my pantry, and try adding some. Surprisingly, at least to me, due to my general lack of honey-related knowledge, the viscous goo became even more viscousey (apparently not a real word, but I like it and I’m using it) when it hit the cold ice cream. It almost turned into a giant honey gummy worm on my ice cream. As for the taste, it was pleasant enough, but even with the added honey kick, it was not anything spectacular.

Blue Bell Honey Vanilla Ice Cream honey doesn't make a difference

So if you are looking for vanilla ice cream with just a touch of honey, then maybe this is for you. Otherwise, this will be a disappointment for anyone looking for a complete honey experience.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Brookshire Brothers
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 200 calories, 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Baskin-Robbins Banana Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Review

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Baskin-Robbins Banana Dulce de Leche Ice Cream a double scoop because I loved this flavor so much

I have banana bias. So read this Baskin-Robbins Banana Dulce de Leche Ice Cream review with your BS detector on. BS stands for “banana skewed,” of course.

But maybe there is no banana bias in this review because I imagine banana custard and brown butter ice creams with crunchy toffee pieces and dulce de leche swirls would make just about any sweet tooth dance with excitement. If that sentence made your sweet teeth shimmy, then let me tell you that it is as delightful as it sounds. Even before trying it, I knew I’d love this flavor, and I doubled down on my prediction by ordering a double scoop instead of my usual single. Or maybe I have ESP.

REVIEW: Baskin-Robbins Banana Dulce de Leche Ice Cream a closeup of a spoonful

Going into the scoop, it was a little disappointing that the banana custard ice cream made with banana puree had to share some space with a brown butter base. But it turned out pretty well for my banana-loving taste buds. While there were occasional spoonfuls in which the banana faded into the caramel-y background, most bites delivered the sweet, fruity flavor I was after. It’s not an in-your-face, overly artificial banana, and even though the sweet, buttery dulce de leche swirls, toffee pieces, and brown butter base outnumber it, it still stands out as the star of the scoop.

The dulce de leche swirls were gooey and sweet, though they tasted more like a mild caramel than a true milky dulce de leche. That said, the other sweet and buttery components in the scoop helped elevate the swirl’s flavor. The toffee pieces added a satisfying crunch, making the spoonfuls that included them a little more exciting with their textural contrast. The combination of components was extremely delightful and I so glad I got two scoops. I might have to get a few more before it goes away.

Baskin-Robbins’ Banana Dulce de Leche is easily one of my favorite scoops from the ice cream chain. But again, I go a little bananas when it comes to banana-flavored anything, so your taste buds may differ. However, if you’re also banana-skewed, then it will absolutely satisfy your banana-loving heart.

Purchased Price: $7.19
Size: Double scoop
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (4 oz scoop) 300 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 28 grams of sugar (includes 22 grams of added sugar), and 4 grams of protein.

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