Häagen-Dazs - Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel - Chocolate Ice Cream with a Peanut Butter Swirl and Crunchy Pretzel Pieces

The next flavor in Häagen-Dazs' City Sweets Collection is called Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel.  This features a chocolate ice cream with a swirl of peanut butter and pretzel pieces.  Pretzels are relatively new for Häagen-Dazs.  They use them in one of their Spirits Collection, but it is not present in any of their other standard flavors.  Checking the pretzel tag on my archive, combining these three ingredients (chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels) is not uncommon, although usually a vanilla or peanut butter base is used instead of chocolate.  The closest flavors I can find is Coolhaus's Midnight Munchies.  It will be fun to see how this compares.

Removing the lid, I see the familiar brown color of Häagen-Dazs' chocolate base with darker chocolate pieces (the pretzel pieces appear to be chocolate colored) and perhaps hints of the peanut butter swirl.  Digging in, the chocolate base is the same as their simple Chocolate flavor and it is delicious.  The peanut butter swirl becomes more evident as I dig further down (see photos below).  The peanut butter flavor that it adds is noticeable and well-done.  The chocolate-covered pretzels provide something to chew on and a little bit of salt.  They are not soft but they are not as crunchy as some pretzel mix-ins.  It is hard to get pretzels to stay super-crunchy when it is inside ice cream for long periods of time.

This is a solid and successful chocolate-peanut-butter-pretzel flavor from Häagen-Dazs.  The stars of the show here are the chocolate and the peanut butter -- those flavors simply go very well together.  The pretzels add some textural difference which is fun, but the pretzels were not the main attraction here.  There is nothing not to like about this flavor, but I will be curious to see if it stands out above their other chocolate-and-peanut-butter flavors.

Bebe Zito - Lunchbox Hero

Lunchbox Hero - Vegan Peanut Butter and Coconut Base with a Vibrant Plum Jam Swirl

Today, I return to Bebe Zito of south Minneapolis for their Lunchbox Hero flavor.  This is a vegan (non-dairy) flavor with a peanut butter and coconut base and a swirl of plum jam.  Right now, it is only available in pints and I cannot find an instragram link with a more detailed description of the flavor.  The 'lunchbox' theme seems straightforward.  This is a non-dairy ice cream version of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid the top of the pint shows an extra dollop of plum jam on top.  The peanut butter base is light in color.  Digging in, there is so much plum jam on top that it is the first thing that I taste.  It's pretty good.  Then peanut butter coconut base does a good job of holding the pint together.  As I have written before peanut butter and coconut both make for good bases for a non-dairy flavor because they each contain their own source of creaminess -- peanuts contain enough oil to be made into a 'butter' and coconut milk is also high in oil and can be processed into a cream.  I can still tell that it is non-dairy.  It's a bit denser and a little grittier than a dairy ice cream, but it is quite good.

This is a very good implementation of a non-dairy peanut-butter-and-jelly flavor from Bebe Zito.  I have had several peanut butter and jelly implementations from Milkjam, Graeter's, McConnell's, Ben & Jerry's and Ample Hills.  I believe this is the first one which is non-dairy, though.  That and the unique plum flavored jam make this a unique twist on the flavor.  When this flavor is available in scoop shops, Bebe Zito adds crushed potato chips to the top (a bag of chips is often included in lunchboxes).  They don't include those in pints as when stored for long periods in cream, the chips will get soggy.  I didn't add crunched potato chips to my bowl when I ate this, but perhaps I should have.  Enjoy.

Milkjam Creamery - Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Peanut Butter Jelly Time! - Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream, Red Berry Jam, Cookie Dough Brownies

 

Milkjam Creamery of Minneapolis has flavors for January (instagram link here) and today's flavor is Peanut Butter Jelly Time! (instagram link here).  This is a peanut-butter-and-jelly flavor.  Peanut butter ice cream, red berry jam for the "jelly" and they've also got cookie dough brownies.  Maybe the cookie dough brownies represent the bread of the PB&J sandwich?  I have had several PB&J themed flavors from Graeter's, McConnell's (also includes a 'bread' mix-in), Ben & Jerry's and Ample Hills.  Let's see how this Milkjam flavor compares.

Removing the lid, the peanut butter ice cream has a light color and I can the jam swirl and the cookie dough brownie clumped together in the middle.  Digging in, the peanut butter base is a bit lighter than I expected.  Milkjam is actually well-known for their non-dairy peanut butter bases, so a dairy peanut butter is an interesting change of pace.  It's pretty good, but I can tell that the main purpose of this base is to serve as a vehicle of the mix-ins.  Soon I encounter the red berry jam.  It has a good flavor.  None of the instagram posts say which red berries are included.  I assume one of them is raspberry, there could be some strawberry and/or cherry I suppose.  It is a good blend.  The cookie dough blondie pieces are not as numerous as I expected but they provide some thicker texture to chew on.

This is a fine peanut butter and jelly flavor from Milkjam Creamery.  It's fun to have these monthly experimental flavors.  I would rate this in the middle of the pack compared to the other PB&J flavors I listed above.  I think McConnell's is my favorite.  That was a limited batch flavor as well. 

Talenti - Peanut Butter Crunch

Peanut Butter Crunch - Layers of Peanut Butter Gelato, Graham Cracker Pieces, Brown Butter Sugar Sauce, Vanilla Gelato and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

 

Talenti Gelato has a new special batch layers flavor called Peanut Butter Crunch.  This flavor is the result of the contest that they had on the Bravo Network's Top Chef program.  Bravo has a link here with details.  Talenti has a link here.  They told contestants to create a layered ice cream dessert and that the winner would be turned into a Talenti flavor.  The winner was a chef named Avishar Barua who created a flavor based on Buckeye Bonbons popular in Ohio.  Graeter's of Cincinnati had a flavor based on these treats as well.  This Talenti flavor is a layered flavor and the layers are peanut butter gelato, graham cracker pieces, brown butter sugar sauce, vanilla gelato and chocolate peanut butter cups.  Let's see how this turns out!

Unscrewing the lid, the top of the pint only shows the top peanut butter gelato layer.  For the purposes of taking pictures for the review, I proceed to carve out a slice to show all the layers.  Pictures are below.  The peanut butter base is fairly light in color.  The middle two 'mix-in' layers (graham cracker and brown butter sugar sauce tend to blend a bit and the chocolate peanut butter cups line the bottom of the container.  Slicing out the layers has the benefit letting me easily access all the layers in one spoonful.  It is a good mix of flavors.  The peanut butter gelato is indeed a bit light (not heavy).  The graham cracker brown butter form a tasty swirl.  The vanilla gelato further lightens up the pint and the chocolate peanut butter cups are chocolate-heavy and provide quite a bit of contrast to the rest of the pint.  It's quite delicious.

This is a fun and well-done peanut-butter themed layers flavor.  Talenti already has a layers flavor with similar ingredients called Peanut Butter Vanilla Fudge, but I think they manage to make this flavor unique.  There's much less chocolate in this pint -- it is limited to just the peanut butter cups -- and I like the graham cracker and brown butter sugar sauce better than the peanut butter cookies.  If you are a layers fan who likes peanut butter and chocolate, then check this out.

Milk Bar - Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Crush

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Crush - Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cookie Crumbs and Fudge Chocolate Cookie Batter

Today I return to the New York-based Milk Bar brand for their Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Crush flavor.  I bought this flavor at Whole Foods on Selby, but I have also seen it sold at local Target stores as well.  Milk is a fun new brand. I was alerted to its existence in the comment section of an earlier review.  Thanks again to that reader!  Today's flavor features a peanut butter and chocolate base with one swirl of peanut butter cookie crumbs and another swirl of fudge chocolate cookie batter.  Chocolate & peanut butter is a common and popular flavor combination and this looks like a fun and unique way of combining the two.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid and peeling back the seal, I see the light brown color of the peanut butter and chocolate base and I see hints of the two swirls (a lighter orange one of peanut butter and some darker brown for the fudge).  Digging in, the peanut butter and chocolate base is mainly peanut butter flavored.  I checked the ingredient list and there is chocolate in there but it is not very obvious (especially with a swirl also providing chocolate).  That's just an observations.  Some blended are predominantly chocolate, this one is predominately peanut butter.  The swirls are both very well done.  The peanut butter cookie crumb base provides additional peanut butter as well as a gritty texture while the fudge cookie batter provides a lot of chocolate flavor in more of a goopy texture.  The fudge cookie batter swirl is excellent.  It reminded me of brownie batter which is an ingredient which should be used more often.  The strong chocolate flavor of this swirl explains why less chocolate is needed in the base.

This is an excellent chocolate and peanut butter flavor from Milk Bar.  I run into chocolate-peanut-butter flavors all the time, but this is one of the more creative ones that I have tried in recent memory.  It is a relatively smooth pint -- no chunks -- but the flavors are excellent and well balanced.  If you are into chocolate-and-peanut-butter flavors, then check this out and see if you like it.

Sebastian Joe's - Chocolate Cha Cha

Chocolate Cha Cha - Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

 

Today I am back with another flavor from the Minneapolis-based Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream.  This flavor is called Chocolate Cha Cha (facebook link here).  A fun flavor name.  I bought it at their scoop shop on Hennepin & Franklin in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis.  This flavor features a chocolate and peanut butter base with chocolate chip mix-ins.  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Opening the lid, the ice cream is densely packed in there!  They are often quite generous packing the ice cream into the carton at Sebastian Joe's.  The base ice cream is quite dark.  If I didn't know the flavor description, I would assume it was just chocolate -- perhaps even "dark" chocolate.  Digging in, chocolate is indeed the dominant flavor, but significant notes of peanut butter are also evident as well.  This is a good blend.  Next I encounter the chocolate chips.  These don't really add much more chocolate flavor to what is already a very chocolatey base, but they do provide a welcome change in texture.  It is very delicious and also very rich.  I am quite full after finishing this.

This is a successful chocolate-peanut-butter pint from Sebastian Joe's.  Chocolate and peanut butter are a common and winning combination in ice cream and there have been many ways that places combine the ingredients.  This one is really heavy on the chocolate.  If you're in the mood for a rich, chocolate-heavy version of the chocolate-peanut-butter combination, then you'll enjoy this.

Dolcezza - Peanut Butter Stracciatella

Peanut Butter Stracciatella - Peanut Butter Gelato with Shredded Chocolate Chips

 

Today, we return to the Dolcezza Gelato brand for their Peanut Butter Stracciatella flavor.  I picked up this flavor at the Whole Foods on Selby in Saint Paul.  It has a peanut butter gelato base and stracciatella is a way of making 'shredded' chocolate chips which is popular in Italy.  So, this is basically a peanut butter and chocolate flavor.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the peanut butter base has a rather light color and the stracciatella chips are variable-sized flakes of chocolate.  Digging in, the peanut butter flavor is stronger than I expected given the light color.  There is a sweetness mixed in with the peanut butter which keeps it from feeling 'heavy'.  As with their plain stracciatella flavor, the flaky chocolate chips are quite good.  Because of the sweetness mixed into the peanut butter, I have no problems finishing the pint in one sitting.

This is a very well done implementation of a simple peanut butter chocolate chip flavor from Dolcezza.  The peanut butter gelato base was well done -- quite a lot of peanut butter flavor without feeling heavy.  Too many peanut butter and chocolate flavors in my archive to make a good comparison.  This is one of the better 'simpler' ones (no 'cups').  Check it out if you like peanut butter.

 

McConnell's - Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando - Sweet Cream with Chunks of Salty Peanut Butter, Swirls of Strawberry Jam and Hunks of House-made White Bread

 

The fourth and final pint from my recent shipment from the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's Fine Ice Creams is called Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando.  The flavor is a limited batch flavor that has been rotated off their menu since I ordered it, but here is a link to a California TV station's article about the flavor.  I bought it online and it is not available in Minnesota grocery stores.  The flavor has a sweet cream base with swirls of peanut butter and strawberry jam and pieces of white bread.  I have had a few peanut butter and jelly themed pints from Graeter's, Ben & Jerry's and Ample Hills -- all either limited-batch or merchant-specific releases that are no longer available.  Today's flavor from McConnell's is also a limited release and it's the first one to actually include bread with the PB&J.  I can't want to see how that turns out.

Opening the lid and peeling back the seal, I see big sections of the swirl of strawberry jam on the top of the pint.  Beautiful.  Digging in, I quickly encounter the peanut butter chunks as well.  These chunks are small in size but deliver quite a bit of salty peanut butter flavor.  The strawberry jam is delcicious.  It tastes a lot like the strawberry used in their recent Seavee's Sprinkled with Pride flavor.  The white bread mix-ins are quite interesting.  The bread is very soft and blends in with the base flavor-wise but provides a bit of a soft and chewy texture.  Checking the ingredient list, it looks like cream-cheese is in in the bread which I am guessing helps give it its fresh and doughy texture?  Anyhow, it's quite good.

This is an excellent peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich flavor from McConnell's.  Peanut butter and jelly go really well together and the delicious strawberry jam here complements the strong-flavored peanut butter chunks quite well.  The hunks of white bread I find to be quite a fun addition to the mix.  They don't provide a lot of flavor (neither does white bread) but it's adds a bit of authenticity to the mix.  Like all the other peanut butter and jelly flavors, this flavor has been rotated off the menu already.  It is an appealing combination, though.  Someone should make this a regular flavor.

 

 

McConnell's - Banana Peanut Butter & Chocolate

Banana Peanut Butter & Chocolate - Banana Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Ribbons and Chocolate Chips

 

Today's flavor is the second in my recent four-pint shipment from the Santa-Barbara-based McConnell's Ice Cream.  This flavor is called Banana Peanut Butter & Chocolate.  I bought it online and I am not aware of any Minnesota grocery stores that stock McConnell's.  Today's flavor is an interesting flavor combination.  There's lots of banana/chocolate combinations and lots of peanut butter banana combinations, but for all three I only find Häagen-Dazs' Banana Peanut Butter Chip and a non-dairy flavor from Milkjam Creamery called PB vs Everybody.  Let's see how this compares.

Removing the lid, the banana base has the expected light yellow color and I can see lots of small pieces of both peanut butter and chocolate.  The small pieces of peanut butter look "chip sized".  Digging in, I actually taste the peanut butter first -- that's how well done these peanut butter chunks are.  The banana forms a background flavor which is quite appealing and I chocolate flavor is released when I bite into each of those chips.

This is a well-done implementation of a banana, peanut butter and chocolate flavor from McConnell's.  Compared to the two flavors above, this is very close to the Häagen-Dazs flavor which I also liked.  If I had to pick a favorite of the two, I would probably pick McConnell's, but that said, McConnell's is also more expensive and harder to find.  If you are like Elvis and love the banana and peanut butter flavor combination (and you have access to McConnell's) then give this flavor a try.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Peanut Butter Moose Tracks

Peanut Butter Moose Tracks - Non-Dairy Peanut Butter Ice Cream with House-Made Peanut Butter Cups and Chococate Peanut Butter Fudge Swirls

 

Today's flavor from the south Minneapolis-based Milkjam Creamery is the second in the American Classics series (instagram link here) and is called Peanut Butter Moose Tracks (instagram link here).  From a previous review, "moose tracks" is what the Michigan-based Denali Ice Cream calls the way they do their chocolate chips.  Here, Milkjam puts their own twist on the flavor.  First, this is a non-dairy/vegan flavor.  It is a peanut butter, almond milk and coconut base.  Next they have house-made peanut butter cups -- not the standard one that other flavors use.  They also have chocolate-peanut butter swirls as an additional mix-in.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the non-dairy peanut butter base has a light beige color to it.  Digging in, I can tell from the texture that is is non-dairy -- it is not quite as soft.  Peanut butter is usually easier to implement as a non-dairy flavor because the peanut butter adds its own creaminess, but I can still tell the difference here.  The flavor is quite good.  It is mostly a peanut butter flavor, the almond and coconut flavors are mainly just accents here.  As I dig down, I encounter some chocolate pieces which are tasty.  Then I encounter some small peanut butter pieces and they are also pretty good.  Then I see what the source of these pieces are -- these really nice house-made chocolate-covered peanut butter "cups".  Unlike the traditional cups, they chocolate layer is a bit thinner and there is no emphasis on requiring that the chocolate completely cover the peanut butter.  That makes for a "cup" with a higher peanut-butter content.  They reminded me a bit of the excellent house-made cups in Ample Hill's PB Wins the Cup flavor which uses the same philosophy of extra peanut butter which is not completely covered in chocolate.  They are delicious.

This is a very well done non-dairy peanut butter and chocolate flavor from Milkjam Creamery.  For non-dairy fans who like peanut butter this is a must.  It is very delicious and these house-made peanut butter cups are excellent.  Dairy fans may quibble a bit with the slightly gritty sorbet-like texture of the base, but the flavor is still good and I would still recommend it for peanut butter fans.

 

 

Talenti - Vanilla Peanut Butter Swirl

Vanilla Peanut Butter Swirl - Vanilla Gelato with a Peanut Butter Swirl and Mini-Peanut Butter Cups

 

Talenti Gelato released several new flavors earlier this year.  I was able to find and review all of the new Layers flavors in fairly short order, but I have had trouble finding the two new non-layered flavors:  Honey Graham and Vanilla Peanut Butter Swirl.  I finally found the peanut butter one at a local Cub Foods (I have recently seen it again at Whole Foods in Saint Paul).  I think grocery stores have limited space in their freezers so maybe they cannot stock all the new flavors?  If anyone out there has seen the new Honey Graham flavor, let me know.  OK, on to today's flavor.  It's a vanilla gelato base with a swirl of peanut butter and chocolate-covered peanut butter cup mix-ins.  Let's check it out.

Unscrewing the lid, I see the vanilla gelato base has a white color and the machine they use to add the swirl creates this tri-lobed pattern on top -- see their Vanilla Caramel Swirl for comparison.  Digging in, the peanut butter swirl holds its integrity better than in previous Talenti swirl pints.  For example, in the Vanilla Caramel Swirl review that I just linked, I lamented that the caramel swirl ends up getting mostly blended into the base -- so the pint was not as caramel-ly as I expected.  Here, there are decent-sized chunks of thick peanut butter in the mix.  They taste excellent.  There are also mini-peanut butter cups in the mix.  Small peanut butter cups are more chocolatey than peanut butter (the surface to volume ratio goes up when things are small).  That's OK, because these are not the primary source of peanut butter in this pint.  The vanilla gelato serves to balance it all.  So, even though there is plenty of peanut butter flavor in the swirls, the flavor does not dominate or overwhelm the pint.

This is a very good peanut butter in vanilla flavor from Talenti.  This is a case where a Talenti swirl works very well.  I've written before that their caramel and dulce de leche swirls tend to get blended into the base which greatly mutes their effect, but that is not the case here.  The peanut butter swirl is excellent.  I think my favorite peanut butter cup in vanilla pint is still Ample Hills' PB Wins the Cup, but a high bar for another brand to reach (and not available locally).  Fans of this flavor combination should check it out.  Hopefully, grocery stores will start carrying it more.

 

 

Jeni's - High Five Candy Bar

High Five Candy Bar - Peanut Butter, Caramel, Chocolate, and Pretzels

 

I got a surprise while reading news on twitter the other day.  Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream has a new flavor which is only available at Whole Foods.  I was not expecting this because there is nothing on their website about it.  I often have Jeni's shipped to me online, but this flavor is not even available online.  Well, we do have Whole Foods here in town, so I checked and found it.  I bought it at the one on Lake & Excelsior in Minneapolis, but I have also seen it at the one on Snelling and Selby in Saint Paul.  The new flavor is called High Five Candy Bar.  It looks like it might also be included in a collection later this summer, we shall see.  The side of the carton says that it is based on Jeni's all-time favorite candy bar.  She does not spell out which one, but my guess is that it is the Take 5 because it has the same ingredients -- peanut butter (and peanuts), caramel, chocolate and pretzels.  Take Five makes me think of the odd-metered Dave Brubeck jazz standard, so I will listen to that while I finish this review.

Removing the lid and peeling back the feel-good message on the protective foil, the top of the ice cream is quite beautiful.  The peanut butter base is light in color, there are a couple of swirls of caramel visible and then two different sizes of chocolate pieces.  I am guessing that the larger pieces have pretzel pieces inside.  Digging my spoon in, the peanut butter base is delicious and not too heavy.  The caramel swirls are quite delicious.  The pretzel pieces have variable crunchiness.  Some pieces are crunchier and some are almost chewy.  They deliver a bit of salt into the mix.  The chocolate pieces (and the chocolate pretzel coating) does not dominate like some chocolate mix-ins.  It blends into the mix.  All the flavors in the pint seem to blend more than I was expecting.  It's like a peanut butter caramel blend with a bit of salt and chocolate.  It is a good blend.

This is a very well-done implementation of a candy-bar-themed ice cream from Jeni's.  It includes all the ingredients of a candy bar, yet it is not just sticking a candy bar into a Blizzard machine and mixing it up.  This feels like the typical nuanced blend of flavors that you expect from Jeni's -- just candy bar ingredients.  Looking for other candy-bar themed flavors in the archive, I found the since retired Candy Bar Pie and Nutty Caramel Swirl flavors from Ben & Jerry's.  Those were chunkier with chocolate mix-ins that stood out more.  There was also the Snicker Doodle flavor from Sweet Science which used snickers-bar-themed mix-ins in a snicker-doodle-flavored base.  That has an amazing caramel swirl.  Today's Jeni's flavor holds up against these.  If you like peanut butter candy bars and there is a Whole Foods near you, then check it out.