The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

Haagen-Dazs Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies and Cream is the last of the new dairy-free TRIO flavors I tried as well as the last new TRIO flavor of 2018. It has a chocolate and coconut base with dark chocolate layers and chocolate cookie pieces. The coconut flavor is definitely prominent at first. It's a warmer, tropical coconut flavor bordering on, but not crossing over into sunscreen territory. Eventually you start to taste the chocolate base, and once it hits, it dials down the intensity of the coconut. After a few bites, the two feel pretty well balanced with the coconut perhaps a bit stronger. Interestingly, the chocolate base was visually dominant. With other TRIO flavors, I felt the large quantity of the crunchy layer overwhelmed the other elements, but here, having so much dark chocolate crunch helped achieve a good chocolate-coconut balance. I didn't feel there were enough chocolate cookies. I always enjoy the buttery, floury taste and texture of a good cookie...

So far in 2018, this is the most confusing flavor I've encountered. It took me like a really long time to realize the name, Keep Caramel and Cookie On, was an homage to the British WWII poster, "keep calm and carry on." But even once I realized that, I was still confused. Why do we need a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor dedicated to this poster?? Reading the description of the flavor was no more enlightening. This flavor is described as Caramel malt ice cream with shortbread cookies, fudge flakes & caramel swirls.  Yeah, none of this makes sense. Maybe shortbread cookies are kind of a British thing? But also not really? And none of these components seem like they'll go together.  But I was wrong. Woah, this is the flavor I didn't know I needed. I know I'm behind the times and this has been out for a while, but woah. The base was a mild caramel flavor, but a strong malt flavor. And like, why don't we see malt in more ice c...

Sometime while I was on my ice cream blogging sabbatical, my local HyVee started carrying a lot more Kemps brand products. I knew Madeline really enjoyed a lot of the Yo2 frozen yogurt line, so I decided to give a couple flavors a try. Side note: what does "Yo2" mean??? I picked up Mudslide, because it sounded intriguing and I was craving coffee at the moment. Just kidding, I'm always craving coffee. This flavor is described as Chocolate and Coffee Frozen Yogurt Swirled with Cookies, Fudge & Chocolatey Chunks . I have a lot of feelings about this flavor, almost all of them positive. They can be summed up by: how is a froyo from a regional brand this good?! I seriously apologize to all non-Midwestern readers. The chocolate and coffee bases balanced perfectly; one was not more prominent than the other. On their own, both froyo flavors were strong and rich, but still sweet. The fudge is the best part of this pint. It is a solid swirl and seriously sosososo ri...

After I tried the divine  Kemps Yo2 Cold Brewed Coffee , I picked up Mudslide from the same line. I figured that if their coffee and fudge flavor was mind-blowing, the addition of chocolate and cookies could only make things better.  I was mostly correct. Mudslide is Chocolate and coffee frozen yogurt swirled with cookies, fudge, and chocolatey chunks. I was a bit confused when I read the description as I've never heard the term 'mudslide' used to describe anything other than the Kahlua+vodka+Bailey's drink that we all drank and then vomited in high school.  What? We didn't all do that? Well, I did that in high school.  Sorry mom and dad, at least I was still valedictorian. This frozen yogurt is more similar to a Mississippi Mud Pie than a Mudslide, but with the addition of cookies. I'll forgive the strange nomenclature decision though. Each element of this flavor was predictably amazing, but the combination wasn't, as Goldilocks would say,...

Dang, there is nobody else in the ice cream sandwich game right now doing what Thelma's is doing. They have so many interesting flavors I have yet to try, and I keep stumbling upon new ones. For those of you who don't remember, Thelma's is a Des Moines based cookie company that also makes ice cream sandwiches. They are expanding pretty rapidly around the Midwest, so if they aren't in stores near you yet, they may be soon. (Also pro-tip, if you live near a HyVee, check them out because they do a good job of stocking Iowa brands.) The last Thelma's flavor I tried was a Cayenne Chocolate Chip and it was bomb. Also, yeah banana keeps making its way into my freezer lately. Here we go again. These treats featured peanut butter cookies and banana ice cream. he aspect about these sandwiches that stood out the most was the saltiness of the cookies. They were very peanut-y and salty, which I thought was amazing. They were also incredibly moist and chewy, which is stan...

One thing that I think Big Muddy's does better than other ice cream bloggers is bring you info about scoop shops in interesting corner's of the country. We love hidden gems. Yeah, yeah other ice cream bloggers can go on for days about the myriad of scoop shops in NYC and LA, but who knew Utah had such a hip ice cream scene until Madeline visited? Probably no one outside of Utah, that's who. And who knew that some of the most innovative ice cream flavors are being thought up in Omaha, NE? Probably no one outside of Omaha. When Madeline and I recently visited Omaha to watch our cousin compete in the US Triathlon Age Group Championships we stopped by Ted and Wally's to grab some tasty frozen treats. The line was out the door and around the corner, so we were hopeful that we were about to have some tasty ice cream. When we saw the flavor list, it wasn't the longest we'd ever seen, but I would go so far as to say it was THE most unique flavor list I've ev...

Now Dearest Readers, you know I've been in the ice cream game long enough that little surprises me. Especially when it comes to the big players like Ben & Jerry's, Haagen-Dazs, and Talenti. I hear about when they are coming out with a new flavor or taking away a flavor long before the general public. And I am incredibly familiar with their line ups. Or so I thought. Right before winter break, I was out running other errands and I happened to be closer to the larger HyVee in Iowa City, so I decided to do my grocery shopping there. This HyVee doesn't have any brands my HyVee doesn't have, but they do have a wider and more interesting selection of flavors. If you recall, I purchased Haagen-Dazs' Green Tea flavor from this HyVee. Well, when I was perusing the ice cream section back in December, the Haagen-Dazs Cookies and Cream flavor caught my eye. Now, Cookies and Cream isn't a fascinating flavor in and of itself, but I had no idea HD had a version of th...

Moving to a new place is fun and exciting, especially because it means new food adventures! In addition to new scoop shops, there are new grocery stores to visit. My roommate suggested I check out a new grocery store in town, Lucky's Market. Lucky's is a chain grocery store I would say is somewhere on the continuum between Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. It isn't quite as expensive and snobbish as Whole Foods, but not quite as cheap as Trader Joe's, as it does carry a lot of different brands. When I shopped there last weekend, I picked up two pints of ice cream. One pint was of a brand new to me (which I won't reveal until I write the review!!) and a pint of Steve's. I have only had one flavor of Steve's before this, but not for lack of trying. Their flavors sound incredibly interesting, but they aren't sold in a ton of stores. Steve's is also descended from the scoop shop that first mixed candies and such into ice cream. What I'm trying ...