Blue Bell’s newest flavor, Chocolate Peanut Butter, seemed a bit unoriginal when we discovered this month’s rotational flavors. I had originally been more excited about the return of Blueberry Cheesecake than this rich, chocolate ice cream with a creamy peanut butter swirl. I usually rush to the store to seek out Blue Bell’s latest offerings, but especially after receiving lackluster marks in its debut Reader Review, I felt much more inclined to seek out the new Ben & Jerry’s Target exclusives or Dairy Queen’s latest Blizzard. Nearly a week into the month, I finally ran across a pint at Walmart, which was nice considering I had no intentions of picking up an entire half-gallon carton. Even though I knew I ran the risk of receiving a small concentration of mix-ins, which happens occasionally when purchasing Blue Bell’s pints over their cartons, I pressed onwards.
At less than two dollars per pint and 220 calories per servings, this seemed like an all-around win. After all, chocolate and peanut butter themed ice creams always seem to appeal to my personal palate. I had been intrigued by the large concentration of peanut butter I’d seen in the pictures of this flavor prior to purchasing my own pint, but that couldn’t have prepared me for the plethora of peanut butter I was about to encounter. As soon as I removed the gold lid, I was surprised at the amount of creamy peanut butter that was peeking through the top. I scraped some of the rich, chocolate ice cream out for my initial taste. Sporting the same light, yet substantial feel as other Blue Bell flavors, this chocolate ice cream is pretty self-explanatory. The only difference between this and Blue Bell’s standard chocolate comes from the fact that this pint is so loaded with thick smears of peanut butter swirl that the simple taste has been compromised. Instead, you get the taste of both components in every bite, even when the swirl isn’t involved.
On scoops that actually include the colossal concentrations of peanut butter, my palate was a bit overwhelmed. This is typically one of my favorite swirls to see in ice cream, and at this magnitude, I imagined this would easily be enough to secure an A. For whatever reason though, Blue Bell seems to miss their mark taste wise. Bites containing large chunks of this stiff, rigid swirl overpower the chocolate ice cream with its bold, peanut butter flavoring that goes a little overboard on the intensity. The swirl wasn’t bad per say, just different when compared to similar swirls from the competition. The sheer magnitude of peanut butter was still enough to deserve a B however, even if I wasn’t crazy about the taste.
Where I Found It: Super Walmart
Grade: B
