Review: Haagen Dazs "Chocolate Peanut Butter"

Haagen Dazs ice creams... generally delicious and high quality, but damn are they expensive! So are we ever pleased that they are available in individually sized cups - at 3/$5, J and I can sample and review multiple flavours without totally breaking the bank (not to mention that it relieves the pressure of having to finish off a full carton for each flavour!)

The first in our line up of Haagen Dazs flavours for review is Chocolate Peanut Butter. Chocolate and peanut butter has got to be one of the most iconic combinations of all time. It's right up there with bacon and cheeseburger! OK, J is a vegetarian, so maybe they're not that comparable. But chocolate and peanut butter are definitely a winning pair. Unless you have peanut allergies...Well, darn.

Once we got the lid off (which was actually quite a challenge, though it did reveal the tiny spoon that was included in the container), we found a rich chocolate ice cream with peanut butter pockets throughout. It was extremely hard to see the peanut butter, even when digging through the ice cream, but you could definitely notice it once you were actually eating. The texture of the peanut butter in the ice cream is a bit waxy at first, but once it warms up, it's smooth like just peanut butter from a jar.

I must admit that when I think of chocolate and peanut butter, I think of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The peanut butter in the candy is a bit salty and somewhat gritty because it has some coarsely ground peanuts in it. So as a result, I was expecting something similar from the peanut butter in this ice cream. However, the peanut butter in Haagen Dazs is, as J put it, essentially what you would expect if you were getting Kraft peanut butter from a jar. It's smooth and tastes mostly like roasted peanut, rather than added sugar or salt. I think I would have liked it to be a little saltier, just for the contrast with the sweetness of the ice cream, but J appreciated that it didn't conform to my preconceived notion of what chocolate and peanut butter should be. And I do have to agree, this is an original and purist take on chocolate-peanut butter, not something trying to imitate the classic candy.

Recommend to a friend? Yes
Repurchase? J + B: Yes