REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby (Original Version)

I can always go for a little crunch in my ice cream, so I remained adamant about tracking down one of Ben & Jerry’s best. Although this offering isn’t limited or exclusive, Chubby Hubby had eluded me for months. Fortunately on my latest trip to an independent super market in my area, I was able to procure a pint of the fudge covered peanut butter filled pretzels in vanilla malt ice cream with fudge and peanut buttery swirls. The touch of malt included in the vanilla ice cream is something I’ve yet to see from a Ben & Jerry’s flavor, so I’m looking forward to sampling this unique base.

At a belt-busting 340 calories per serving, perhaps that’s a good thing Chubby Hubby isn’t readily available in my area. Pulling off the all-black top exposes a lightly colored ice cream with stripes of both swirls and plenty of those chocolate-covered pretzels manage to poke through the top. Although it’s hard to secure a scoop void of any mix-ins, I manage to snake my spoon around enough to sample the vanilla malt all by itself. I’m not sure what the inspiration was behind incorporating malt flavoring, but I’m certainly glad they did. The result is slightly reminiscent of the taste you’d get from a classic diner milkshake, and one that is a step above the standard version.

After agreeing with the inclusion of malt, I’m ready to move on to the swirls. While most of their flavors only feature one, Ben & Jerry’s has opted for both a fudge and peanut butter variation in their Chubby Hubby. The fudge swirl remains in liquid in consistency and brings a rich, chocolate taste. The peanut buttery swirl is firm, remains rigid and brings a salty contrast to the other sugary ingredients. While the two sauces and the ice cream could hold their own, Ben & Jerry’s isn’t finished. They’ve also included one of their more complex mix-ins to finish off this flavor.

From the bottom to the top, these pillow-shaped pretzels fill in all the spaces the dueling swirls manage to miss. These peanut butter filled, fudge coated pretzels provide multiple tastes and textures. The rich exterior melts down quickly, followed by the familiar crunch and salty flavor from the pretzels. The core finishes with peanut butter, a near-perfect parting gift. With the exception of a few soggy pretzels, I couldn't get enough of these. Any flavor that has a better than average base, some solid swirls and a crunchy mix-in tends to do pretty well on this blog and this is no exception. This will be my new fix when I'm looking for something sweet, salty and crunchy.

Where I Found It: Harris Teeter
Grade: A

REVIEW: Blue Bell Malt Shoppe

When Blue Bell first announced they'd be releasing their latest Malt Shoppe flavor, we here at the Ice Cream Informant were a bit skeptical. The treasured malt taste of old doesn't seem to translate well to today's ice cream consumers, but we were willing to give this old fashioned combination of chocolate malt ice cream with malted milk balls a chance anyways. Plus let's face it, Blue Bell rarely misses the mark. Reader Reviews of this particular flavor seemed to be mixed, so we weren't sure what to expect as we scooped the light brown colored base into a bowl.

Practically every time our scoop glided through the ice cream it wasn't long before its path was impeded by the enormous amount of malted milk balls (similar to Hershey's Whoppers candies). We approached our first bite with caution, knowing from experience that mix-ins such as these tend to stay frozen solid for a good bit after placing them out of the freezer. This was a smart approach as most of the malted milk balls were initially way too hard to immediately chomp into. The chocolate malt base only slightly differentiated itself from Blue Bell's standard chocolate, but worked well with the interior flavor of the malted milk balls once they were soft enough to chew. Even with these complementary flavors, the hard, overly crunchy texture and lack of any other mix-ins really held this one back for us.

Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: C

READER REVIEW: Raghavan's Review of Blue Bell Malt Shoppe

While looking to buy some of my favorite Blue Bell flavors from the grocery store, my eyes were instantly drawn to the bright, light blue color of the Blue Bell Malt Shoppe ice cream carton. While the color was exciting, the description on the front of the carton was a bit less so: “Chocolate Malt Ice Cream with Malted Milk Balls”. Still, I’m not one to pass up trying a new flavor, so I gave it a shot.

Opening up the carton, the ice cream itself has a slightly rougher texture than other Blue Bell ice creams I’ve tried. There were also bits of malt balls poking through the surface. The ice cream itself was slightly sweeter and much lighter and less chocolate-y than Blue Bell’s own chocolate ice cream, and made for a great base as it was not overwhelming, even after eating an entire pint. The malted balls were also very enjoyable, and seemed to be the exact same as Hershey’s Whoppers. There was a decent amount of malt balls in the ice cream, but without any other mix-ins, the pint became somewhat bland towards the end.

While the flavor of both the malt chocolate ice cream and malted balls were both great, the lack of any other mix-ins means I will probably skip this flavor the next time. However, at 170 calories a pint, it is definitely a decent choice to try at least once. I would love to see the same malt chocolate base in another ice cream with more and different mix-ins.

Where Raghavan Found It: Kroger
Raghavan's Grade: C

READER REVIEW: Steve's Review of Blue Bell Malt Shoppe

When the Ice Cream Informant posted notice that Blue Bell was releasing a new flavor for September, called Malt Shoppe, I knew I was going to be all over it. Blue Bell describes Malt Shoppe as a tasty chocolate malt ice cream loaded with milk chocolate-covered malted milk balls. Pretty simple, but as a life-long fan of both malt balls and chocolate malt milk shakes, I was excited when I came across a tub of this concoction a few days before the official September release date.

Dipping my spoon into the tub, I quickly realized that one important aspect of this ice cream was going to be positive: It is indeed loaded with malt balls! From the moment the spoon cracks the surface, it will likely collide with one of these malt balls, which litter the ice cream top to bottom. Better still, these are real chocolate-coated malt balls, not flakes or pieces of them. Fully-formed and round, these treats abound, and they taste excellent, just as if someone were to pour a box of malt balls into a tub of ice cream. The balls are not as large as movie theater candy malt balls, but that is no loss, as they are plenty big enough to pack both a rich malted center and a nice coating of chocolate. Equally impressive is the chocolate-malt ice cream. Blue Bell wisely uses a milk chocolate foundation and combines this with a rich malted flavor. When you eat a spoonful that has no malt balls (and these are few and far between!), it does taste like an old-fashioned chocolate milk shake. This chocolate malt base has nice synergy with the mix-in malt balls, creating a pleasurable sensation on the taste buds.

One thing I found out about malt shoppe is that it melts pretty quickly! So if you don't want to end up drinking it with a straw, do not let it sit out for very long. With that caveat, it is clear that Blue Bell has come up with a winning flavor. If you like malt chocolate and malt balls, then you should hasten to try this as soon as possible.

Where Steve Found It: Walmart
Steve's Grade: A

NEWS: Malt Shoppe Ice Cream, Blue Bell's Newest Flavor for September

Following up on the huge success known as Magic Cookie Bar, this month brings us Malt Shoppe Ice Cream, a tasty chocolate malt ice cream loaded with milk chocolate-covered malted milk balls. Keep an eye out for an official review for this flavor coming soon!

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby (Fairtrade Version)

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

READER REVIEW: Bob's Review of Handel's Chocolate Malt With Caramel

After getting a few pints from my brother down in Pittsburgh last week, I wanted to dig back into the Handel's mix seeing as how I find this company very superior when it comes to bases and sometimes mix-ins (Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough was insane). Chocolate Malt with Caramel was a new flavor. They have a basic Chocolate Malt and Chocolate Cake Batter but they also infused the Caramel into the base and did a great job. Upon cracking the lid, it looks like a lighter chocolate flavor (possibly due to the Caramel and Malt mix into the base). Its rare that Handel's has a basic flavor like this, but again this is a newer flavor and I wanted to test the waters with how good it truly is compared to say a Dark Chocolate from Jeni's, which could be the best on the market.

The first bite reminded me of a whopper with an added caramel swirl or caramel filling in each bite. Handel's did a great job combining a very dense ice cream full of superior flavoring. If you are a ice cream fan that enjoys a lighter chocolate (think swiss) and not a chocolate like a Hershey's bar then this will be right up your alley as far as taste goes. Seeing this pint does not have any mix-ins, there is really not much else to touch on as Handel's does have some killer mix-ins.

Overall, if you are a lighter chocolate fan, that enjoys a true whopper this is a perfect definition of a Chocolate Malt flavored ice cream that has a great caramel blend into the mix. Think about a true milk chocolate, added malt, and again the caramel. That is exactly what this pint has to offer. Seeing I have never had a "Chocolate Malt" ice cream before this was something new and something I wanted to try compared to the Chocolate Cake Batter (which is a darker chocolate on the handel's line) and their basic chocolate flavor which resembles a Hershey's chocolate bar. I was very pleased with this, but if they did include some sort of mix-ins or a denser caramel swirl this would get a better grade.

Where Bob Found It: Handel's
Bob's Grade: B