Tag: Ben & Jerry’s

What are the Ben & Jerry’s Snackable Dough Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Chunks?

They’re the same gritty and chewy globs of deliciousness that are in Ben & Jerry’s classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. It’s also available in vegan form, which is in the ice cream company’s somewhat new Non-Dairy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frozen Dessert. There’s also a peanut butter cookie dough version. Unfortunately, Ben & Jerry’s didn’t send that to me. Sad panda.

The most noticeable ingredient differences between the vegan and regular versions are the use of coconut oil instead of butter, and there are no eggs in the vegan one.

With most other edible cookie dough out there, you need utensils to eat them, but these chunks are completely snackable.

How are they?

Wonderful.

I should preface that by saying Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is one of my top five favorite B&J’s flavors. To be honest, I’ve never taken the time to think of and write down what my favorite five varieties are, but CCCD would definitely on the list. I love the brown sugar and chocolate of every cookie dough chunk. I also love the gritty and soft texture with the snap of the chocolate chips.

While the regular cookie dough chunks vary in size, the vegan ones are more uniform and slightly firmer, but they’re just as snackable.

Actually, I don’t believe that with every fiber of my being. If I had to choose between the two, I’d prefer the regular one. It tastes a little bit better, but that’s because my taste buds think it has more chocolate flavor than the vegan one, which has a more noticeable brown sugar flavor. A stronger chocolate kick is what I prefer, but I wouldn’t complain if I won a sweepstakes for a lifetime supply of the vegan one. Both make me want to stick my hands into them repeatedly like I’m an OCD kangaroo.

Is there anything else you need to know?

If you want to upgrade crappy frozen dairy dessert **cough**Breyers**cough**, this will do it. If you’d like to create Ben & Jerry’s Xtreme Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, this will do it.

These have to be kept frozen, but if you let the regular one thaw for a few minutes, it’ll have a pleasant cookie dough-like squishy texture.

I do wish the pouches they came in were larger or had more. A serving is approximately 10-14 pieces, and there are only eight servings per bag, which doesn’t seem like much to me. I found myself quickly blowing past the serving size right after opening them.

Conclusion:

If you’re like me who goes digging into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream like an archeologist to obtain the glob of cookie dough safely, then these pouches of snackable cookie dough are a no brainer. No digging necessary.

DISCLOSURE: I received free samples from Ben & Jerry’s. Doing so did not influence my review in any way. Yes, this very positive review might make you skeptical. But I rest assured, I have given you my honest thoughts about them.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 8 oz. pouches
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Regular)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Vegan)
Nutrition Facts: (28 grams) Original – 110 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Vegan – 120 calories, 4 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

If you’ve been following Ben & Jerry’s over the past few years, you know the brand has come out with a line of Core pints that feature a sweet middle that in the past has included cookies, cheesecake, caramel, and whatever Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Gurus dream during REM sleep (Of course, REM meaning Ruminating on Edible Middles). This time, though, it’s cookie dough.

The line features three varieties — Chocolate Chip, Sweet Like Sugar, and Wake & “No Bake” — and they all have a cookie dough core running through the middle of each pint. But here’s the thing about these, they sound exciting, but they’re very similar to other flavors. Ben & Jerry’s has basically Core-ified its core (totally intended) varieties.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

If anyone knows how to make completely safe edible cookie dough, it’s Ben & Jerry’s.

Its classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor that features vanilla ice cream with gobs of cookie dough has been around for decades. All that experience, I imagine, has helped with the development of the new Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream.

The pint has cookie milk ice cream with fudge chips and a chocolate chip cookie dough core. After trying it, it’s hard not to think of this as kind of like a reboot to the Ben & Jerry’s classic because the difference in taste between the two is so slight.

The cookie milk base seems to have a bit of the brown sugar that the cookie dough has, but I have to really think about it to notice it. If eaters don’t look at the label, they may assume it’s vanilla.

There’s more of a chocolatey presence because of the fudge chips, which, thankfully, are smaller than fudge flakes. Because they’re smaller pieces, there are more throughout the pint, which ensures that you’ll get a little bit in every spoonful.

As for the cookie dough, I want to say it’s slightly different from what’s in the classic in that it has a stronger brown sugar flavor and it tastes as if there’s a little maltiness. Its texture is the same sugar gritty feel as the gobs in the classic, which I love chewing on.

Bottom line with this variety is that if you love Ben & Jerry’s classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, then you’ll most definitely enjoy this.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 290 calories, 18 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 25 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Sweet Like Sugar Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

This features sweet cream ice cream with a hint of almond flavor, shortbread cookies, cherry ice cream with cherries, and a sugar cookie dough core.

From the first spoonful, I’ve wanted to call this by another name, Cherry Garcia Dressed Up as Santa Claus. But I don’t think any graphic designer could legibly fit that on the front of a pint-sized ice cream container. My logic for the name is this: It has a lot of the same flavor as Cherry Garcia (mainly the cherry), but both ice creams are light in color like Santa’s beard and sugar cookies are what you leave out for Santa.

The cherry base and cherries are going to remind you of Cherry Garcia, minus the fudge flakes, which I don’t miss here. The other base is sweet cream with a hint of almond, but “hint” is a little modest. Eating the ice cream and its mix-in, the shortbread cookies, tastes like I’m eating Chinese almond cookies and it’s wonderful.

Haven’t you had Chinese almonds cookies? Find some, they’re wonderful!

Combining the almond with the cherry makes it divine. Cherry is the driving flavor, but at times I thought the combination tasted like pistachio. But no matter how I scooped it, I loved it. Although my love for Cherry Garcia, probably plays a major role in how I feel.

If I didn’t have to stop to type out my thoughts, I think I might’ve eaten half a pint in record time. You can see my lack of willpower with this in the photo above. Notice how far I’ve dug into it before taking a photo. Now look at the other pics. I didn’t dig very far into those.

As for the sugar cookie dough core, it doesn’t play a prominent role in terms of flavor. It has that wonderful sugar grittiness like the other cookie dough, but its taste is kind of plain compared with the chocolate chip one.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 270 calories, 16 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Wake & “No Bake” Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

So if the first pint was like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the second pint was like Cherry Garcia, then the third must also be like another. And, it is, Sherlock. It reminds me of Peanut Butter Half Baked, which had chocolate and peanut butter ice cream mixed with gobs of peanut butter cookie dough and fudge brownies.

Wake & “No Bake” features vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cookies, peanut butter ice cream with fudge chips, and a no bake cookie dough core.

You may think, due to its color, that the core will bring a chocolatey-ness. It does, but it’s also noticeably nutty and salty. I don’t know if that’s because the peanut butter ingredients somewhat permeated into it, but it shifts the flavor of the pint more into a nutty direction. Also, I’m not going to test this scientifically, but the core feels grittier than the other two, which I liked.

The fudge chips weren’t too plentiful in my pint, so that could also explain why it leaned more toward peanut butter. The vanilla base also helps prevents it from becoming too peanut butter-heavy.

While this has the best name out of the three, because I do love them Ben & Jerry’s pint names that are also weed references, it’s my least favorite of the three. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great flavor if you like peanut butter, but don’t want to be smacked in the face with it. I found it easy to control myself around this pint, unlike the other two, which I had to force myself to put back in the freezer.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 290 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

Other Things

• Don’t think of the cookie dough as this spreadable. I mean, if you let it thaw enough, it might be spreadable, but, at the same time, your ice cream will also be liquid.
• Even though they’re new and wonderful, the flavors are too familiar.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free samples from Ben & Jerry’s. Doing so did not influence my review in any way. Although I know with 7, 8, and 9 ratings, it reads like it, but I assure you it did not.

Ben & Jerry’s added four new flavors to its Moo-phoria Light Ice Cream line, just in time for the cooler days and nights of fall and winter: P.B. Marshmallow Swirl, Mocha Fudge Brownie, Cherry Garcia with a Twist, and Chocolate Cookie EnlightenMint.

Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria P.B. Marshmallow Swirl

Remember Ben & Jerry’s Clusterfluff? Oh, wait a minute. That’s right. It got renamed to What A Cluster after some folks had a fluffin’ hissy fit over its name. So if you still have a pint, it’s sort of like the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken error card of the ice cream world.

For those of you who don’t remember the flavor that had two names, it was kind of a frozen homage to the Fluffernutter — the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. Although, the ice cream had caramel cluster pieces.

Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria P.B. Marshmallow Swirl also seems to honor the sweet sandwich. It features peanut butter ice cream, marshmallow swirls, and peanut butter cookie pieces. Well, actually, peanut butter cookie balls. Oh, wait. Some folks might get a hissy fit over my use of “balls.” So, um, peanut butter cookie spheres.

The ice cream base has a mild peanut butter flavor that gets enhanced with the cookie spheres. And there are A LOT of those spheres. It’s like the orbit of Jupiter in the container. Their texture is like Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough than actual cookies which is understandable since they’re sitting in ice cream, but I wish they had more of a crunch.

The marshmallow swirl, which I have an unhealthy relationship with that I’ve documented on this site, enhances the sweetness of the peanut butter. The swirl’s flavor seems to be less noticeable than other varieties I’ve had with it. There’s less of a vanilla-like flavor and more of a general sweetness. But the group of ingredients creates a nice tasty combo that might also be good between two white bread slices.

Purchased Price: $6.19
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 160 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 70 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Mocha Fudge Brownie

I’m a bit of a coffee ice cream snob who prefers the coffee used in ice cream is fair trade, organic, comes from a country with a name I can’t pronounce (or find on a map), and, preferably, is hand-picked from of the dung of local monkeys that eat the coffee beans. I’m 90-95 percent sure the coffee used in Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Mocha Fudge Brownie is none of those things.

But, the tasty combination of cold brew mocha ice cream with fudge brownies and toasted marshmallow swirls makes me not care the coffee used to make it isn’t hand-pulled from exotic animal droppings.

The cold brew mocha base, which is new to me, tastes more like coffee than your typical coffee ice cream. Its flavor reminds me of the Dunkin’ Coffee Thins I had recently. The toasted marshmallow swirl helps sweeten everything and cut through the coffee flavor. Think of it as the coffee creamer in the pint that lessens the coffee punch. I thought the brownies would boost the chocolate flavor in the mocha ice cream, but they didn’t. Their chocolatey-ness was kind of a letdown.

There are some odd textures in the pint. First, there’s a grittiness that makes it feel as if there’s ground coffee mixed in with the ice cream base. At first, I thought it part of the brownies, but after getting to a brownie, I realized the textures of the two didn’t match. The brownies were gummy. That makes them easier to scoop, but I kind of want a more solid mix-in to create a contrasting texture.

Despite the issues, I enjoyed Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Mocha Fudge Brownie. I think what helps is that the cold brew mocha coffee base has such a strong flavor that it makes the whole pint not taste like a light ice cream.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 150 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Cherry Garcia with a Twist

SPOILER ALERT: The twist in Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Cherry Garcia with a Twist isn’t an M. Night Shyamalan or Luke Skywalker learning Darth Vader is his father-level surprise.

What’s unique about this light ice cream is that it has both cherry AND chocolate flavored light ice creams with the cherries and fudge flakes. So it’s like a combination of the original Cherry Garcia and the Flavor Graveyard-resting Chocolate Cherry Garcia, but in a light ice cream formulation.

I didn’t get a chance to try the latter, which involved swapping the cherry ice cream in the original with chocolate. But if you’re hoping to get a little bit of that with this Moo-phoria flavor, you’re better off digging it out of the Flavor Graveyard instead of trying to dig it out of this pint.

The chocolate base has, as expected because it’s light ice cream, a less potent flavor than Ben & Jerry’s standard version. And because of that, the cherry, which is lighter in flavor than what’s in the original, but stronger than the chocolate base in the pint, makes this taste like original Cherry Garcia almost any way I spoon it.

The only noticeable chocolate flavor I get is from the fudge flakes, which are in the original. I don’t know if the cherries and fudge flakes are lighter versions of what’s in a full calorie Cherry Garcia pint, but they don’t taste like they are.

If you’re a fan of Cherry Garcia, you’re going to enjoy this flavor. Yes, it does taste like a lighter version of the classic pint. But if Cherry Garcia FroYo isn’t doing it for you as a lighter version, then this might be a better scoop. So, in the end, maybe the twist is that Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Cherry Garcia with a Twist doesn’t have a twist.

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 140 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber 17 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Chocolate Cookie EnlightenMint

Ben & Jerry’s Moo-phoria Chocolate Cookie EnlightenMint is the third flavor the ice cream brand has shoehorned the word “mint” into. It follows EmpowerMint and Minter Wonderland. But, unlike those two, this is a light ice cream. It features a mint-flavored base with fudge truffles and chocolate cookies.

I’m reviewing this one last because, after comparing all four flavor, the base with this one seems lighter than the others. I’m not expecting to get a cool MINTerfresh clean feeling as I would after brushing my teeth, but I wanted more of a minty punch. The chocolatey mix-ins with the ice cream make it taste as if it should’ve been named Chocolate Cookie EnlighThinMint, but it’s not as addictive as the Girl Scout cookie.

While I could count the number of chocolate cookie mix-ins with my fingers and toes, all I needed were my nipples to count the number of truffles. There was a giant truffle in the middle of the pint, one at the bottom, and that’s it — a total disappointMINT.

Although, the giant one may have been two truffles stuck together. But, even if counted that as two, I could still count the number of them with my nipples. More of the mix-in would’ve helped the pint. Their flavor reminded me of Whoppers, and they added a somewhat crunchy texture that counters the creamy base and soft cookie spheres. Of course, your pint may have much more of them.

Of the four new Moo-phoria flavors, Chocolate Cookie EnlightenMint is my least favorite. It’s adequate. Or, if I wanted to shoehorn the word “mint,” it’s adequMINT.

Purchased Price: $4.39
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 160 calories, 7 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber 15 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

The original batch of Moo-phoria flavors didn’t wow me, but I found myself liking this bunch. Well, most of them. I think the telltale sign that I enjoyed these more is that I wanted to eat more of the pint, which I didn’t feel with the others.

DISCLOSURE: I received coupons from Ben & Jerry’s to try these, but I picked up the pints before the coupons arrived in the mail. To be honest, I probably don’t need to disclose this, but what’s a few more words in an almost 1,500 word review.

“Imagine a wild ride through the wintriest, chocolate mintiest wonderland of ice cream filled with crunchy cookie swirls and marshmallowy drifts. Honestly, if this flavor was a toboggan, you’d already be on it.”

So says the back label of Ben & Jerry’s Minter Wonderland, which is dark chocolate mint ice cream with marshmallow swirls and chocolate cookie swirls. If it was a toboggan, I totally would be on it. They’re right. But “wintriest” and “chocolate mintiest”? Not so fast with those superlatives!

As a mint-thusiast, I was hoping for a more potent mint flavor. After all, that’s the only element that’s actually mentioned in the name. It’s barely there, and it’s the least noticeable part of the ice cream. I wouldn’t call it especially wintry or Christmassy.

I’m guessing part of the wintry claim is the chocolate and marshmallow combination, reminiscent of hot cocoa. Dark chocolate is the dominant flavor. But this isn’t the dark chocolate of those snooty bars that brag about their cacao percentage. It’s more like a Dove dark chocolate, and it works well here.

It doesn’t take long for the surface area of the ice cream to start melting and smearing on the bowl. In its melted form, the cream is like a rich, delectable chocolate sauce. No complaints here.

The marshmallow swirl, which looks like the gooey interior of a roasted campfire marshmallow, is interesting to gaze at, but it was hard for me to even notice it in my mouth when it was with the ice cream. When I isolated it, it had an undeniable marshmallow taste and a bouncy texture.

By far the best part of this concoction is the chocolate cookie pieces. They’re chewy and gritty, but gritty in a good way. The back label calls it a crunchy cookie, but it’s more like a cross between a cookie and a brownie. They’re so good that I might say I would like more, but that’s not entirely fair; there already is a good ice cream to cookie ratio.

This flavor is exclusive to Target. That might seem like an inconvenience, but let’s be honest: isn’t it always great to have an excuse for a Target run?

Ben & Jerry’s Minter Wonderland is a wonderful ice cream. But I hoped it would have a stronger mint flavor, and I don’t think it’s particularly groundbreaking. It’s mostly just cookies/brownies in chocolate ice cream.

Purchased Price: $3.33
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target (Exclusive Flavor)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 270 calories, 140 calories from fat, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 24 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein