Graeter's - Buckeye Blitz Chocolate Chip

Buckeye Blitz Chocolate Chip - Chocolate & Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough and Chocolate Chips

Today we return to the Cincinnati-based Graeter's brand for another pint from their signature chip collection.   This pint is called Buckeye Blitz Chocolate Chip.  Graeter's is the brand that uses the old French pot process and makes amazing chocolate chips by pouring liquid chocolate into the mixing pots and then using a paddle to break up the chocolate as it hardens.  This pint is slightly different than the usual 'base flavor plus chocolate chip' combination of the signature chip line -- there is also peanut butter cookie dough in the mix to go along with the Buckeye theme.

A buckeye is a nickname for someone from Ohio -- where Graeter's is located.  It is most famously the nickname used by Ohio States sport teams.  It is also the name of a tree indigenous to the Ohio region which has these fairly distinctive looking nuts.  A buckeye is also the name of a candy which looks like lot like a buckeye nut.  This candy is made by partially dipping balls of peanut butter into chocolate so that some of the peanut butter core is still exposed.  This candy is the basis for this ice cream flavor.  Chocolate and peanut butter have always been a winning flavor combination so I am looking foward to trying this.

Opening the pint, there is a bit of a pocket of air on the top.  Not much of a concern.  Just a small reminder that these Graeter's pints are hand packed from small batches.  Some chips are visible right away on the top.  With the first spoonful, the base ice cream is quite good.  It looks like a chocolate base but there is a bit of peanut butter blended in as well.  The resulting homogeneous flavor is very appealing.  The cookie dough mix-ins are relatively small but quite noticeable when you bit into them.  Peanut butter cookie dough is a great mix-in as it tastes just like peanut butter but it is a bit sweeter and is easier to chew.  The famous chocolate chips are also present.  Perhaps not quite as many as usual since there is a second mix-in present but that may vary from batch to batch.

This is another successful Graeter's pint.  The smooth chocolate/peanut butter blend in the base reminded me a bit of the Ben & Jerry's/Target Peanut Butter World flavor but there are extra mix-ins here and the buckeye theme is fun.  I recommend it to those who like chocolate, peanut butter and Graeter's.  I'll be on also be on the lookout for their simpler Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor to see how it compares.