Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Buns

What am I doing writing a review of a Ben and Jerry's classic in the midst of a veritable STORM of new ice cream flavors?  I don't really know, but I saw a pint of Cinnamon Bun and had to pick it up and now I'm writing about it.

Cinnamon Bun is one of Ben and Jerry's most underrated flavors.  I think it's one of the best, and fellow ice cream blogger Powered by Ice Cream (well, vlogger not blogger I guess) ranks this as the second best Ben and Jerry's flavor.  Despite this, I NEVER see it in stores, but thanks to Tim and Tom's (and their dairy manager who must be somewhat ice cream aware), I found a pint!

Honestly, I didn't remember how good this flavor was.  Back in the summer of 2012, inspired by my sister and her roommates' quest to try all the B&J's flavor, I started keeping a list of the flavors I had tried.  Looking at that list, Cinnamon Bun was checked off so I've definitely tried it, just not recently, and I've definitely not reviewed it.

Cinnamon Bun is described as

Caramel ice cream with cinnamon bun dough & a cinnamon streusel swirl.



We'll work from least exciting to most exciting thing about this flavor.  First, the base.  Ben and Jerry's uses the caramel base in several of their core flavors and it has a very light caramel flavor, and I think it is even lighter here.  I couldn't really tell it was caramel, but I still think this was the right choice for the base.  I could definitely tell it wasn't vanilla and wasn't sweet cream, and I think the caramel had just enough warm notes to complement the warm flavor of the cinnamon.  It had the typical smooth, creamy and dense texture that we've come to expect from Ben and Jerry's.


Next, the cinnamon bun dough.  Going with cinnamon bun dough chunks instead of cinnamon bun chunks was critical to the excellence of this flavor.  There were tons of dough chunks, each maybe a little larger than 1/4'' in length and width.  There were enough that I got at least one per bite and sometimes two.  The pieces were grainy with sugar, like batter or dough.  Also, they had that delightful slightly eggy taste of well-done dough/batter mix-ins. The cinnamon flavor was present but not overwhelming.


The cinnamon streusel swirl was the star of the show.  I wish Ben & Jerry's would produce this and sell it.  I would eat it on waffles for breakfast every day.  This swirl was utter perfection.  The cinnamon flavor was much more intense and spicier than in the dough bits, but it was a nice compliment to have two different types of cinnamon.  The texture was also fantastic.  It was thick and goopey.  Imagine a fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon roll from your favorite local bakery.  Now imagine beginning to unroll that cinnamon roll (only barbarians bite into cinnamon rolls).  This swirl is like that delicious, molten, cinnamon between the layers, but in cold ice cream form.

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