Baskin-Robbins Beach Day Ice Cream

[New for July 2021, returned July 2024] A few weeks ago, the PR firm for Baskin-Robbins asked me if I would be interested in joining their Flavor Insiders program. The program sends you a free pint of the upcoming flavor of the month. My answer was an immediate "YES!". I've had a lot of fun going to Baskin-Robbins over the years but it's not always the easiest place for me to get to.

Baskin-Robbins Beach Day Ice Cream

blue sea salt vanilla ice cream with graham cracker sand,

caramel filled chocolate turtles and frosting flecks

Ben & Jerry's Half Baked Ice Cream

So how have I never posted a half baked review? I know I've had it at least once if not a few times. If you had asked me about it, I just would have said "yeah, I had it, but it's nothing to right home about because it just doesn't pop for me".

Ben & Jerry's half bakɘd Ice Cream

chocolate & vanilla ice creams mixed with

gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough & fudge brownies

"Compare to Ben & Jerry's"

So I ran in to Hannaford last week and as I'm scanning for new stuff, I see these eye catching Hannaford pints. I don't remember Hannaford (aka Food Lion) having pints before, but on the edge of the shelf underneath each one it says "Compare to Ben & Jerry's" and then goes on to point out that these are only $2.69 a pint.

Hannaford Ice Cream

Toasted S'mores - Caramel Cone - Brookie Dough

Seal removed, this is what we've got. The brookie dough is not inspiring any confidence in that flavor. Now I can't find a plant number on these pints, so I'm not sure where they came from. Now technically the people that own Hannaford also own Stop & Shop (GIANT), and they had a line of pint flavors too, but that was way back in 2014 and that was a different flavor line up. (you can see the review here)

How do they look? Strangely enough, I inadvertently ate these from best to worst.

Toasted S'mores: It's not a super strong flavor, but it's fun and unique and gets a bit of a kick from the dark chocolate chips. Sure, I personally can always go for more graham flavor, but I like this one. --- As I dig down, we'll see if I hit an actual graham swirl or if the graham bits continue to be spread out everywhere.

Caramel Cone: again, not a lot of flavor coming from the base caramel ice cream (let's be honest, it looks like vanilla ice cream). It's bare minimum flavor really, but there are a ton of chocolate coated waffle cone bits to start, and when is that not fun?

Brookie Dough: you would think this should be fun.... but it's not. In fact, it's down right weird. The chocolate and vanilla ice creams have completely blended together and the end result is not fun. The cookie dough bits are nothing to right home about and I haven't even found the brownie bits yet. This one is disappointing and I can pretty much guarantee that it will get finished last.

On Second Scoop: I already went back to the s'mores and had a hard time not finishing the pint. This is definitely a toasted flavor and not a graham centric flavor, but it works really well. Also, I forgot to mention that these aren't as dense as Ben & Jerry's pints ofcourse (240-ish vs 310-ish in terms of calorie count).... I bet s'mores would taste great in a waffle cone.

Today was time for caramel cone again and maybe they should have just called it waffle cone or chocolate covered cone because the caramel flavoring is barely there. This one could definitely have used a caramel swirl. Also, do those waffle cone pieces look familiar? (maybe like the ones from Target? see them here). This one isn't bad, but it could be better!

Verdict?  s'mores was fun
Buy Again?  the s'mores one

Ben & Jerry's Totally Unbaked Ice Cream

[limited Batch 2021] Remember how in 2016, Ben & Jerry's flipped Half Baked in to Totally Baked at scoop shops? (Wait, it's still available?) Well, they are doing another flip to give us...

Ben & Jerry's Totally Unbaked Ice Cream

chocolate and vanilla ice creams with brownie batter swirls

& gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough

Turkey Hill Chocolate Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich

[New for 2021] Now that we've sampled something from the other Turkey Hill treat offerings, let's finally dive in to their new ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Turkey Hill Chocolate Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

chocolate ice cream between two soft & chewy double chocolate chip cookies