Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Nougat Crunch An Ice Cream Review

[2012-2013] While we all anxiously await the latest news from Vermont, why don't we take a nice lunchtime break with one of Ben & Jerry's official new flavors for 2012.

Behold the simplistically named Chocolate Nougat Crunch. It's Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Wafer Cookies & a Chocolate Nougat Swirl. It sounds interesting enough.

Ok, we're going to jump right to this closeup of the nougat because it's trying to escape from the rest of the pint. It almost looks like chocolate frosty doesn't it? In fact, it has me wondering what exactly nougat is... Nougat is a mix of sugar and/or honey and nuts... wait, nuts? I don't remember seeing that on the ingredient list. Hmmm, the only "nut" here is coconut, and for that matter, there's no honey either... OK, I guess we're going with the backup definition of nougat as "Nougat is an aerated candy made from whipped egg whites and a boiled sugar syrup, much like marshmallows" (from about.com). Yeah, it kinda of looks like chocolate marshmallow and it kind of acts like it, too. If you get a big enough puddle of it, you can definitely mess with it's ooey-gooey-ness (not crazy gooey, but somewhat gooey).

Now, this shot may seem like a set up, but I swear on my spoon that all I did was uncover these bad boys. There is no manipulation of any sort. This all started because I was trying to get a taste of the various components, but I kept hitting wafer bits in every scoop. In fact, there were 2 or 3 more, but I ate them before taking the picture.

Ok, close up (sans penny) of my new little friend split in half. I call him my friend because he is the saving grace of this flavor. You see, the sweet cream base is well made, but doesn't pack much of a punch flavor wise. The problem is that the chocolate nougat swirl doesn't do much for me either. My first several bites were just base and swirl and I was pretty bored. The two flavors come together and remind me of a cheap fudge swirl ice cream. It's just not impressive... in fact, I was about to lose hope when I started eating the wafer bits.

Oh, I am thankful for the wafer bits, which are crunchy for the most part (except for a rogue soft one here and there). Basically, they taste like Voortman's vanilla wafers wrapped in chocolate. Actually, they probably taste like Keebler Jumbo Fudge Sticks. Once you start eating a bunch of these, you build up a nice wafer flavor on your tastebuds, which spices up the flatness of the base ice cream. Thank goodness for mix-ins.

On Second Scoop: Ok, I'm back and the final decision is that this is a one purchase pint. I really like the wafer bits here, they are definitely fun, maybe even better than fudge covered chips, but the base just doesn't do anything for me. I'd rather see the wafers bits in a nice clean vanilla instead. Oh well, there's usually one new B&J flavor every year that underwhelms me, so I guess this is it.

Verdict?  wafer bits are neat, but that's it
Buy Again?  nope


Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1/2 cup (100g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 250	from Fat 120
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g	20%
- Sat Fat 8g	40%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 55mg	18%
Sodium 40mg	2%
Total Carbohydrate 31g	10%
- Dietary Fiber  0g	0%
- Sugars 25g
Protein 4g
Vitamin A 8%	Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 10%	Iron 0%