The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

Pepto-pink peppermint ice cream in the OG winter flavor, and Graeter's Peppermint Stick is the cream of the crop. The flavor is bejeweled with bits of peppermint candy and flavored with peppermint oil. The key to an edible peppermint ice cream is to remember that less is more. A few drops of peppermint oil go a long way and the base doesn't have to be overpoweringly sweet. Graeter's checks both boxes. While the peppermint oil is the primary flavor of the base it's light enough that the underlying cream taste comes through. This, combined with Graeter's rich, smooth base, helps balance the peppermint oil. The peppermint stick pieces were fairly small, which I like better - you get a nice crunch without having to chomp away at the candy and get it stuck in your teeth. There could have been more peppermint stick pieces, but that's my only quibble with this flavor. I give Graeter's Peppermint Stick  🍦🍦🍦/4. It's not an incredibly original ...

I picked up the Heath Klondike Bars the same day I picked up the Mint Chocolate Chip Klondike Bars. While the Mint Chocolate Chip bars were, quite honestly, crap, and currently hold last place in my Klondike-a-thon, the Health Klondike Bars have jumped into the top spot. The Heath bars are Luscious HEATH Bar flavored ice cream covered in a crunchy milk chocolatey coating mixed with delectable HEATH Bar pieces. The classic Klondike bar shell has deep toffee notes, and seems like it was absolutely destined for the addition of toffee pieces and toffee ice cream.  I almost consider these enhanced classic Klondike bars rather than an entirely different flavor. The vanilla ice cream is the weak point of classic Klondike bars, and the swap for Heath ice cream is perfection. The heath ice cream is still lightly flavored, but not bland like the vanilla. It balances the chocolate shell instead of letting it take over. The Heath pieces in the shell enhance the overall to...

I'm convinced collective stress is a thing. I'm not taking classes and therefore don't have to take any finals. My teaching load this semester is very light. In theory, the end of the semester should mean I feel like I have more time than usual to work on my own work, but instead I FEEL SO STRESSED AND OMG FINALS AND OMG I HAVE SO MUCH WORK AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO MATH! I think I'm just suffering the stress of the rest of the university population. So that's why the blog has been pretty dead the past few weeks. BUT. Minter is still in full swing, so you definitely want to hear about more mint and peppermint treats. Blue Bunny Peppermint Bark Bunny Snacks are pink peppermint ice cream with a layer of fudge enrobed in white chocolate with red peppermint candy pieces drizzled with milk chocolate . In short, these were not great. The Bunny Snacks are are fairly new for Blue Bunny, and it seems like they haven't yet hit their stride with these treats....

I haven't forgotten my commitment to try all 14 Klondike Bar flavors and since Minter is in full swing, it's the perfect time to review Mint Chocolate Chip Klondike Bars, 'creamy mint ice cream mixed with decadent chocolate chips, enrobed in a dark chocolatey coating.' Enrobed! What a splendid word. Regrettably, this was about the only splendid thing about these bars. I'm well aware that Klondike Bars aren't trying to be top-of-the-line ice cream treats, but Mint Chocolate Chip wasn't even anywhere near middle of the pack. The main problem was the mint ice cream. Mint ice cream flavored with mint extract is more common than mint ice cream flavored with mint leaves, but it either turns out repellently minty or under-flavored. Klondike's go at mint chocolate chip was under-flavored. The ice cream was simply bland and the chocolate chips added some texture but not much taste. Somehow, despite the lackluster flavor, there was enough mint flavor...

I'm calling it now. Cookie Butter is the new Salted Caramel. They both started out as rarer, fancier flavors but quickly saturated the ice cream, not to mention the dessert, market to the point where I'm just starting to get a tad sick of it. Just wait, next year Starbucks will release a holiday Cookie Butter latte and frappuccino. While I still love cookie butter (and salted caramel, for that matter), the glut of cookie butter products on the market now means I can be choosy about my cookie butter ice cream. Blue Bunny's limited edition flavors are typically superb, so I decided to try Cookie Butter, their latest limited edition flavor described as ' Speculoos cookie flavored ice cream. Cinnamon graham and speculoos caramel swirls. Speculoos cookie dough chunks.' I would almost describe this as a cinnamon caramel ice cream instead of a cookie butter ice cream. In general, it's pretty hard to capture a 'cookie' or other carby-flavor as a base, so...

Haagen-Dazs' Peppermint Bark ice cream is the holy grail of peppermint ice cream, and they have really upped their bar game in the past year, so it makes sense that introduced a new, limited-edition Peppermint Bark Bar just in time for peak peppermint season.  Haagen-Dazs says, Our Peppermint Bark Ice Cream Bars start with decadent white chocolate ice cream dipped in thick, dark chocolate then speckled with cool peppermint candy pieces. I was already skeptical that a peppermint bark ice cream bar  could live up to peppermint ice cream, and I was even more skeptical after reading the description. I mean .... would peppermint in the shell be enough ? The pieces would have to be tiny and the ice cream-to-shell ratio might drown them out. My worries were for naught because Haagen-Dazs produced a first-rate peppermint bark bar. Who was I to doubt them?! I really think the white chocolate base is the secret to Haagen-Dazs peppermint bark success. A vanilla base is either ...

Today I've got a double review of some Kemp's limited edition flavors. Kemp's is a dairy company based in Minnesota and recently released a line-up of four Minnesota-inspired ice creams.  Sadly, I went to the store a few days ago and didn't see them, but you may still be able to find them. I bought 2 out of the 4 flavors in mid-October which must have been pretty close to the end of their run at my local Cub Foods. I picked up the two fruity flavors: Cherry and Spoon and You Betcha Berry. Cherry and Spoon is  vanilla ice cream, cherries and brownie bites with swirls of chocolaty fudge.  So you might be wondering, 'What the heck is the deal with the name Cherry and Spoon?'  Spoonbridge and Cherry  is a sculpture at the Walker Garden that has somehow become  the  Minneapolis image on all Minneapolis promotional material (like the arch is for St. Louis, or the Golden Gate Bridge is for San Francisco). I don't really get it, though. It's jus...

It's the end of October and I haven't posted any reviews of pumpkin flavors!!!! Since I haven't been blogging as much this semester, I didn't want to re-review any pumpkin flavors I've already tried like Ben and Jerry's or Talenti's pumpkin flavors, so my choices were limited. On a whim, I picked up some Belmont Pumpkin Praline from Aldi's. Pumpkin Praline is pumpkin ice cream with cheese frosting swirls and praline pecans. Belmont is premium, rather than super premium ice cream, so higher overrun (airier) and less fat content than you may be used to if you typically stick to super premium brands like Haagen-Dazs, Ben and Jerry's or 'boutique' ice creams. This was evident in the texture, which was light and airy, but didn't decrease the impact of the flavor. The base achieved an exquisite balance between pumpkin and spice. The pumpkin flavor was very strong and actually tasted like pumpkin with just a hint of cinnamon and ...

IT'S A BRITISH INVASION!  Ben and Jerry's One Sweet World, coffee caramel ice creams with fudge chunks and swirls of marshmallow and salted caramel, is a regular B&J flavor in the UK and recently made it's US debut as a limited edition flavor. Ben and Jerry's will donate part of the sales of this flavor to 'support those working at the intersection of economic and racial justice,' so that's a definite plus! Even though there's no details right now about what organizations they're donating to, Ben and Jerry's has a pretty good track record with this kind of thing, so I'm not too worried that the info hasn't been published yet. I initially misread the description and didn't realize One Sweet World had a caramel coffee  base and thought it had a plain coffee base. The base was very sweet and not at all bitter. I was a bit disappointed because I like my coffee ice cream dark and strong, but it's more acceptable as a car...

I've got some fall and winter flavor reviews, as well as some fun Minneapolis exclusive flavor reviews in the works, but for now I'm steadily making my way through all 14 Klondike Bar flavors. Oreo is the fourth flavor I've tried described as Under a blanket of milk chocolately coating and OREO cookie crumbles, you'll find a satisfyingly delicious slab of vanilla ice cream blended with OREO cookie pieces. I think everyone in the world, except my mother, who hates Oreos, would agree that adding Oreos to any dessert makes it infinitely better. Therefore, I was expecting that Oreo would be one of, if not the best Klondike bar flavor, but it's actually my least favorite of the four I've tried so far.  Somehow the addition of Oreo to both the shell and ice cream made the bar very bland. The shell by itself was decent. The Oreo crumbles were very fine, giving the shell a pleasant gritty, crumby (not crummy!) texture. Also, the complex milk chocolate of the ...

Since I live in Minneapolis, where Target is headquartered, there are Targets EVERYWHERE and Wal-Marts are few and far between, so when I do make it to a Wal-Mart, I always make sure to pick up a Wal-Mart only ice cream. With the seeming demise of the Sam's Choice ice cream, I've started turning to the Great Value brand. Within *I think* the last year, the Great Value brand of ice cream has undergone a bit of a makeover - new packaging, new flavors, and slightly bizarre new names. Most recently, Banana Puddin' caught my eye. (Why, just why, is it "Puddin'" instead of "Pudding"? It's so unnecessary.) Banaa Puddin' is Banana flavored ice cream with whipped cream flavored ribbon and vanilla wafer pieces. Real talk, I was BLOWN AWAY by the base. I'm going to go there and say it's the best banana ice cream I've ever tried. From Wal-Mart. I KNOW. Banana puree is the first ingredient listed after the requisite dairy elements, so th...

What is wrong with me that I avoided Klondike bars for so long?! The third installment of the fall Klondike Bar-a-thon is Brownie Fudge Swirl. From the Klondike Bar website: Fudge brownie swirls ribboned through a creamy chocolate ice cream - all covered in a thick milk-chocolatey coating. It's time to score some serious brownie points with your taste buds. This gooey hunk of frozen fudgey flawlessness is a chocolate lover's dream - and for good reason. With this much chocolate ice cream, you owe it to yourself to make your ice cream dreams come true. While the Klondike bar's higher-than-average ice cream-to-coating ration worked against the the Original and Dark Chocolate treats, the format is perfect for the Brownie Fudge Swirl bars. The higher ice cream content lets the mix-ins shine. The pure, creamy, milky chocolate of the chocolate ice cream is the primary feature of the first bite. As you keep eating, you start to notice the richer, darker chocolat...

Blue Bunny strikes again with another amazing limited edition flavor!! Honey Bunny is Honey ice cream. Graham and caramel swirls. Limited edition. The first bite of this flavor is an overwhelming punch to the face of honey. Pow! Wow! The first bite worried me because it was SO intense and it would unpleasant if the flavor remained that strong. Thankfully, the honey flavor mellowed out in subsequent bites. Once the initial flavor rush faded, the honey base was deep, dark, and sweet with strong floral notes. Blue Bunny does an absolutely lovely caramel swirl. It is thin, liquid, and perfectly sticky in texture, really separating it from the texture of the base. It had a slightly lighter flavor than the honey base, but was still intense. The graham swirl was the keystone of this flavor, standing out on its own and also tying all of the elements together. The texture was that of a cookie butter - thick, drier than the caramel swirl, with a hint of crunch. It had a light sw...

Klondike really missed an opportunity to do a 'What wouldn't you do for a Klondike bar?' advertising campaign. Swim the English channel? Run a marathon? Eat 300 snails? The Dark Chocolate Klondike Bar is luscious vanilla ice cream surrounded by an irresistible dark chocolatey coating. No, no, it's not what we call the Original bar at nighttime - this bar is its dark chocolate doppelgänger. Take a bite and scream, "Cacoa!!"   The vanilla ice cream is the same as the Original bar - light and fluffy and adds more sweetness to the flavor profile than actual vanilla flavor. This works for the Klondike bar - a heavy vanilla flavor would compete with the chocolate coating, the best element of a Klondike Bar. The dark chocolate coating was noticeably darker than the original, but not so dark it was bitter. It had a softer, fudgier texture than the chocolate coating of the Original Bar. If I tried the Dark Chocolate bar first, I would probably be raving...

I was wrong when I thought I couldn't find more to love about Thelma's Treats. Most ice cream sandwiches list a serving size as half of an ice cream sandwich, but realistically, who decides to eat half of an ice cream sandwich and save the rest for another day? No one.  Thelma's Treats decides to just go for it and list one whole sandwich as the serving size. Honesty. I like that. Thelma's was originally a cookie company, and it shows in the quality of their cookies. I think they make THE BEST cookies for ice cream sandwiches I've ever tried. They're soft enough so they don't crumble or break when you bite into them, which is absolutely critical for an ice cream sandwich, but they're substantial enough that they don't soak up too much ice cream and turn mushy. The peanut butter cookies are strongly flavored but not overwhelming. A nice buttery/floury flavor comes through (think a chocolate chip cookie) to balance the peanut butter. Unfort...

Minneapolis (and I'm guessing the greater midwest) is still stuck in the doldrums of late summer ice cream. I've tried all of the new summer flavors, and the fall flavors haven't quite hit shelves yet. I was standing in front of the ice cream freezer fuming about not finding anything I wanted to try and caught sight of a Klondike advertisement with a challenge to try all 14 flavors. You know what, I have nothing better to do, so I'm taking on the challenge starting, of course, with the Original Klondike bar,   a hunk of creamy vanilla ice cream covered in a thick, chocolately shell. It's simple, classic perfection - the best thing to happen to ice cream since, um, the invention of the ice cream. OG Klondike I haven't had a Klondike bar in years. Eating them used to stress me out. The shell would break, the ice cream would be everywhere, and it would be a huge mess. Somehow I translated my dislike of mess into a perceived dislike of the bars themselves, a...

My local Target finally had Haagen Dazs Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Non-Dairy stocked! I've tried and enjoyed the other three flavors in their new non-dairy line, and have been impatiently waiting to try Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge because PEANUT BUTTER. Haagen Dazs says Our non-dairy peanut butter chocolate fudge blends creamy peanut butter with swirls of chocolate fudge for the ultimate non-dairy indulgence. Water is the first ingredient in this flavor and corn syrup is the second. From the texture, I could definitely tell it had a high-corn syrup content. As a stabilizer, corn syrup makes ice cream a bit smoother, but Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge was smooth to the extreme - almost slippery. Also, it had a bit of resistance. It wasn't a bad or unpleasant texture, but it definitely didn't mimic the creaminess of dairy ice cream. The flavor of the peanut butter reminded me of the peanut butter in a Reese's cup; bordering on overly sweet, but with just...

Where did I get Gelato Fiasco in Minnesota? AT TIM AND TOM'S SPEEDY MARKET OF COURSE! Gelato Fiasco is based in Maine, and is very hard to get in Minneapolis, so I jumped at the chance to try it when I found it at Tim and Tom's. To all you smaller frozen dessert companies, the Middle Coast would totally eat your products if only we could get them! Gelato Fiasco has this to say about their Caramel Sea Salt: We are of the opinion that rich Maine milk and pure sea salt make this classic blend of flavors perfect. See if you agree. Oh, Gelato Fiasco, I agree . Gelato typically has a lower fat content than ice cream (think a milk-heavy base rather than a cream-heavy base) which allows flavors to stand out more strongly against the base and gives gelato a silkier, smoother texture. Much of the time I don't think a gelato necessarily benefits from the milk base and would work just as well as an ice cream, but Caramel Sea Salt is the exception that proves the rule. The cara...