Klondike S'Mores Ice Cream Bars

[New for 2016] It's always funny what you find while trying to track down the latest B&J's flavors. I mean, I had basically given up when I found these at the very end of the freezer aisle.

Klondike S'Mores Ice Cream Bars

vanilla and artificially flavored marshmallow light ice cream
with a graham cracker swirl in milk chocolate flavored coating

In the interest of full disclosure, Nick would like you to know that he dreamed these back up in August of 2012, though technically his version was a little more exciting because he wanted actual graham bits in the shell as well. Oh well, let's see how this product stands up against his 3.5 year old dream.

I take a bite and the first word that pops in to my mind is "fake". We knew it was artificial marshmallow going in to this, but it's definitely the dominant flavor. I do fear for the overall flavor balance as we move forward.

The graham swirl is probably the number two flavor. It's a good bit behind the marshmallow, but there is that added graham complexity to the flavor profile. It's also fun to look at. The side/sliced view doesn't really show it, but the swirls are a decent thickness and you can see a bit of texture to the swirl as you eat it. Or to put it a better way, the bar will separate along the swirl lines as you munch along.

I'd say the chocolate shell comes in third and it's a distant third from marshmallow. the thin shell is there more for texture than flavor. I kind of wish there was some chocolate chips mixed in here

The good news is that by attempting to take my time, I did settle in to this one more than I expected to after that first bite. It's not as epic as I wanted it to be, Unilever has driven Klondike way too far in to budget territory for that, but as I sit here with an empty wrapper I think "it wasn't that bad".

On Second Scoop: I decided to stop being a reviewer and inhaled this as a proper klondike bar, and you know what, I do like this. A good amount. I needed that first bar to set some proper expectations and I inhaled the second bar with a smile on my face. This isn't some fancy, hand made s'mores ice cream bar, it's a mass produced novelty that hits enough of the right notes to be enjoyable. I wouldn't pay top dollar or search endlessly for these, but on sale I would grab a pack for the deep freezer and snag one whenever the mood hit. It's different enough to set it apart from other klondike treats. Now, if they could just take it up a notch and make it a "kandy bar".

Verdict?  I like it
Buy Again?  probably