Tag: Halo Top

What are Halo Top Fruit Sorbets?

It’s the brand’s first foray into fruit sorbet pints. They’re made from real fruit and fruit juice and have at least 50 percent less sugar than sorbet from leading brands. There are three flavors — Mango, Strawberry, and Raspberry.

How are they?

They’re what I expected from Halo Top fruit sorbets. The flavors are good, their textures are hard to distinguish from other sorbets if they’re allowed to temper a bit, there’s something a little off about them in the aftertaste, and they have colon-pleasing amounts of fiber.

Mango is delightful and my favorite of the bunch. If a friend did a secret Folgers coffee-like switch of Häagen-Dazs’ Mango Sorbet with this Halo Top one, I’d probably not realize it, and I should probably be wary of this “friend.” Like all the varieties, it uses fruit puree, but this one was the closest to tasting like I’ve taken a bite of the fruit.

When I stuffed a spoonful of the strawberry one in my mouth, I instantly thought of strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups or Fruit by the Foot. I enjoyed the flavor, but I find it odd that it tastes like two kids’ treats that don’t have actual strawberries listed in their ingredients.

Finally, we have the raspberry one, which doesn’t remind me of another sorbet brand or a sugary treat beloved by middle school children that I have to unravel. Nevertheless, I did like this flavor. It’s a bit tart with a raspberry hit that reminds me of something I’ve had from Jamba Juice. I enjoyed it as much as the strawberry one, which is a little surprising because strawberries are well ahead of raspberries on my internal fruit rankings board.

All three have less than half the sugar of other sorbets in the freezer aisle. For example, a 2/3 cup serving of Häagen-Dazs Mango Sorbet has 44 grams of sugar, while the same serving of Halo Top’s has 17 grams. A combination of sugar and stevia allows that significant drop. While it doesn’t affect the initial flavors that hit my taste buds, the stevia might be the cause of the aftertaste oddness.

Anything else you need to know?

As with Halo Top ice cream pints, the recommendation is to leave it out for a couple of minutes to soften. It does make a difference, so I will create a catchy slogan off the top of my head. “Want your Halo Top with the right texture? Wait a few minutes to dig into your treasure.” Yup, that is the best I can come up with. Totally not a mouthful.

Also, these have no protein, so no gains!

Oh, “Remember to temper!” That’s much better!

Conclusion:

Halo Top Fruit Sorbets are off to a good start, and I’d like to use this space to request future flavors — lychee and pineapple.

DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples from Halo Top. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Halo Top
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Mango), 7 out of 10 (Strawberry), 7 out of 10 (Raspberry)
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) Mango – 100 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 10 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar (12 grams of added sugar), 3 grams of sugar alcohol, and 0 grams of protein. Strawberry – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar (13 grams of added sugar), 4 grams of sugar alcohol, and 0 grams of protein. Raspberry – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fiber, 15 grams of sugar (12 grams of added sugar), 2 grams of sugar alcohol, and 0 grams of protein.

What is Halo Top Chocolate Cake Batter Light Ice Cream?

The gold standard of diet ice cream is doubling up on the dessert by infusing (Kind of? Theoretically?) its light ice cream with chocolate cake batter. Or, you know, at least some candy sprinkles. Because those are on cakes. Sometimes.

How is it?

Thoroughly unnecessary. See, the ice cream is fine. It’s creamy and surprisingly rich for healthy ice cream. Halo Top’s chocolate base is a good one, and the different-than-normal-ice-cream texture almost makes it reminiscent of a frozen chocolate malt concoction you’d get at a baseball game. (Have you ever had one of those things? Comes with a wooden spoon? Those things.)

So, ice cream = good. But for the life of me, I can’t tell what makes this “Chocolate Cake Batter.” Except for the aforementioned sprinkles. And here’s the thing about the sprinkles: there are a lot of them. And they’re, you know, sprinkles. Just little crunchy bits of mostly tasteless confection. They don’t really add anything, unless you’re four years old. In which case, how’d you end up on this website, anyway? That’s pretty weird.

Anything else you need to know?

Probably not surprising, but Wikipedia has a wildly robust page on sprinkles. I was Googling to find out where they are called “jimmies” (it’s a northeast United States thing, and it always makes me laugh), but I also learned that in England — and Australia and New Zealand — they are also popularly referred to as “hundreds and thousands.” I love it, but it’s so wordy! When you go to the ice cream shop, do they actually ask, “An’ would you like ta’ top off yeh Sundae with some ‘undrets an’ thousands, guvnah?” That’s wild!

Conclusion:

Regular Halo Top chocolate ice cream is a nice, comparatively healthy frozen dessert treat, and I’d recommend it to just about anyone. I’d only suggest getting the kind with HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS if regular chocolate is out, though. Or you’re four. In which case, again, I ask, “What are you doing here? How are you reading this?”

Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Hy-Vee
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (86 grams) 110 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of dietary fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

The existence of high-protein, low-calorie ice cream is a point of dispute in my family. I mean, no one thinks that the pint sitting in the freezer is a mere illusion, only that it shouldn’t exist.

The entire point of ice cream is that it’s an indulgent calorie-bomb. The most thought one should give to an ice cream’s caloric content is to purposefully turn the nutrition facts away as you scoop out a second serving, some say.

Back when these healthy ice creams more resembled frozen protein shakes than real ice cream, I tended to agree. Then Halo Top came along and introduced a product that made me say, “Hey, this isn’t that bad.” That may seem like faint praise, but Halo Top has been a regular part of my diet ever since, so I was excited to taste the new Peanut Butter & Jelly flavor.

The people at Halo Top recommend letting the pint soften a bit by letting it sit out a few minutes before eating. As a practiced hand at eating these pints, I can confirm these instructions should be followed; otherwise you’ll need an ice pick. By which I mean you should toss it in the microwave for a few seconds (remove the foil top first). I’m hungry now, and if I had any self-control I wouldn’t need to stock my freezer with this stuff!

A fairly uniform white surface presents itself upon uncovering. I was hoping for some distinct ribbons of peanut butter and jelly to swirl themselves throughout the pint, but at most there are some vaguely brownish areas. This is disappointing, and it doesn’t get any better as I dig through the container. I’m willing to forgive this and still have high hopes. Some may eat with their eyes first, but I mostly eat with my mouth. How does it taste?

I scoop a measured, sensible portion into a bowl, cover the rest, and place it back in the freezer for a later time.

This is a lie.

I ate the entire pint! That’s the entire point of Halo Top. Remember: no self-control.

Readers shouldn’t take my weakness of character as a statement of unrestrained endorsement. I like it because there’s a strong peanut flavor, and the jelly has enough tartness to make it interesting.

There are some shortcomings, however. The flavor immediately reminds me of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but in an indistinct way. There’s jelly, but I have no idea what kind. There’s not really peanut butter in it, but more of a peanut butter essence throughout. It’s peanutbutterandjelly flavored. The gritty texture is an issue as well, and it doesn’t go away no matter how soft it gets.

Is Halo Top as good as Haagen-Dazs? No, of course not. It’s as good as that ice cream that comes in the giant gallon bucket. Generally speaking, that’s good enough for me. This flavor succeeds by tasting as it should but is one of Halo Top’s lesser attempts. Try it if you’re already a fan, but it won’t change anyone’s mind.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – 90 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, 4 grams of sugar alcohol, and 5 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $4.59
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at:
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Tastes like a peanut and butter sandwich.
Cons: Indistinct flavor. Gritty texture.