While on my recent visit to the Ben & Jerry’s headquarters, they made it quite clear that they take Fairtrade very seriously. Although they won’t be compromising any long-standing relationships such as that with Greyston Bakery, they plan on doing everything in their power to bring the Fairtrade seal to as many of their flavors as possible. One of their most famous offerings, Chubby Hubby, was recently tweaked to fit in with their social plan. While the original version used fudge covered peanut butter filled pretzels, the Fairtrade version required the formula to be altered; resulting in the new description of vanilla malt ice cream with peanutty fudge-covered pretzels with fudge & peanut buttery swirls. Considering how much the cult following of Ben & Jerry’s reveled in the old recipe, I found it necessary to explore this latest revision.
While the ingredients may have been changed, they still manage to keep the 340 calories per serving of the original. With the top removed, Chubby Hubby retains the marbled design of old, but does a better job of hiding the covered pretzels than my last pint. Just like my last experience, the vanilla malt base doesn’t differ all that much from the standard version. The malty finish to the super-premium ice cream is something you won’t find in any of their other flavors; making the base a unique experience in itself. The large influx of ingredients swirled within the malt vanilla ice cream make it nearly impossible to have a base-only bite. The first of the mix-ins, the contrasting swirls, have many differences, but are equally as effective. The chocolate fudge swirls are sweet and have a liquid consistency, while the peanut buttery swirls are stiff, salty and slightly gritty in texture. Both compliment the malted vanilla beautifully.
The real focus of this review falls on the new Fairtrade pretzels that finish off this flavor. Seeing as how I hadn’t purchased a pint of the original Chubby Hubby in many months, I had forgotten just how many of these large, multifaceted mix-ins there would be. Whereas the original version had trapped the peanut butter in the center of the chocolate-coated pretzels, the Fairtrade version takes a big, salty pretzel and coats it with peanut butter and then chocolate. These dual exterior coatings ensure that the pretzels crunchy consistency isn’t compromised by any of the actual ice cream making its way inside. All the rich flavors on the outside combined with the salty crunch on the inside results in a recipe that I find superior to the former. With this change to the formula, Ben & Jerry’s has not only stayed true to their Fairtrade ambitions, but have slightly improved one of their fan favorites as well.
Where I Found It: Harris Teeter
Grade: A
