Sunday, March 1, 2020

Haagen-Dazs Heaven Light Ice Cream

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[2020-2022] I usually like to split these things up, but because I sampled them at the same time, and because that then affects how I feel about the product line in general, I'm going to keep them together if that's cool with everyone. So, we hit up Stop & Shop on the way home the other day and picked up the new "light ice cream" lineup from Haagen-Dazs. They call it Heaven, I call it a scam to lower our expectations of what should be in a pint of H-D...

Haagen-Dazs HEAVEN Light Ice Cream
strawberry waffle cone and chocolate sea salt caramel

Chocolate not looking so great to start....

Strawberry isn't bad, but you can instantly tell that it's half of what regular Haagen-Dazs is. You can think of it two different ways. The first way: the ingredients go from ultra-filtered skim milk, to skim milk, to cream. Some of us will mind this more than others. It's not terrible, but I clicked in on it instantly. The other way to think of it is that one light faux pint is 570 calories where as a normal H-D faux pint will clock in around a 1000 calories. That's a big difference. The front of the pint mentions 210 calories per serving, but remember that's the new 2/3 cup serving size, not the old 1/2 cup size (which is why I mention the total calorie count for the full 14 oz container).

I dig in to the chocolate flavor and I am instantly not a fan. The caramel accentuates the oddness of the "heavenly" base and I was ready to stop after one bite.... but I pressed on for all you ice cream peeps out there. I finished my half dozen bites (required to get the photo above) and I'm ready to leave this one in the freezer for a few months. I will try to attack it again the next time a chocolate mood hits.

I will definitely be snacking on the strawberry this week in hopes of getting a better feel for the waffle cone and strawberry bites sprinkled about. Hopefully it will grow on me.... at least there is no fake sugar here.

note: there are also peanut butter chip and cold brew espresso versions.

2021 note: peanut butter chip is gone and no new flavors were added. I don't think this went over very well. Like spirits, it probably won't last much longer.

On Second Scoop: Still haven't touched the chocolate one again, but I did finish the strawberry pretty quick. The flavor is ok, but the product is definitely not my style. You will start getting use to the base, but then you start thinking about how annoying the tiny waffle cone bits are (tiny bits always inevitably wind up poking me in the gums). No idea why they cant be normal size.

 Verdict?  Boooooooo
Buy Again?  maybe try the pb one at some point...


13 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 2, 2020 at 1:23 AM

    Wow. I am so thoroughly confused now on what to buy in the I.C. aisle. There are all of the sugar-alcohol-based protein ice creams, the coconut/avocado/banana-based frozen desserts, B&J's lighter versions plus their new non-dairy almond-/cashew varieties, and all of the frozen desserts vs. light ice creams that the Edy's, Dreyer's, and grocery store/Target brands make...God knows what else I am missing. My mind is blown away. I don't know other than to pick blindly. Maybe scrap it all and go with custard or gelato at a local scoop shop where I can try to not think of the ingredients. When did ice cream become such a hard-core science?...Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dubba ScoopsMarch 2, 2020 at 7:23 AM

    I'm happy to answer that question and point you in the right direction, but I need to know what you are looking for first. Are you... avoiding calories? avoiding sugar? avoiding fake ingredients? avoiding allergens? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 3, 2020 at 10:53 AM

    You are too kind, Dubba. This sounds so silly, but I get completely overwhelmed by the ice cream aisle these days. There are so many companies that are trying to pass their products off as "healthy" because of the added protein, but I fear I would buy into this claim and fool myself into thinking I can get away with indulging in a whole pint. Growing up, ice cream became a "bad" food and I was told I was eating too much of it. I developed an unhealthy relationship with it and now I have found myself abstaining from it for years while secretly envying everyone else who can seemingly enjoy every delectable concoction guilt-free. Yes, I know more "head problem" than an ice cream blogger like you could ever solve, but I appreciate your free offer of suggestions. One of these days, maybe I will be so daring as to dig into a "real" ice cream with the maximum amount of mix-ins. ~Anonymous (1)

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  4. Dubba ScoopsMarch 4, 2020 at 10:30 PM

    I'm sorry that you were taught ice cream was a bad thing. I'm fine if people want to categorize it as a treat or sometimes food, but it's not inherently bad for you. Like with all things, it should be consumed in a way that is in balance with with you regular routine.

    Good luck with however things go!

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  5. MattinctownMarch 30, 2020 at 6:18 PM

    I just tried the peanut butter chip one. Underwhelmed. The vanilla, like the reviewer said about the chocolate, tastes about half of regular Haagen Dazs. Peanut butter was good, but not a ton of it. I give it a C minus.

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  6. UnknownMay 22, 2020 at 4:38 PM

    Please try Halo brand. The chocolate is to die for. Salted caramel and the peanut butter is also excellent. Let the tub sit for about 30 minutes before eating. (if you can) Makes it very creamy. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dubba ScoopsMay 22, 2020 at 9:28 PM

    What is this Halo Top you speak of? I've never heard of it! Wow, thank you so much for the tip!

    -Friday sarcasm brought to you by a very long week at work. Take your paid opinions somewhere else.

    ReplyDelete
  8. rxbJuly 1, 2020 at 5:32 PM

    I grabbed the strawberry when I saw it, although it's not a flavor I find interesting and remembering the strawberry and waffle bits as tiny didn't help.
    I did like the texture.
    The only other flavor I'm interested in trying is the Coffee.
    I am prone to be a 1 sitting [faux] pint eater (that I shave with a fork) so less calories & fat is good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownAugust 2, 2020 at 10:30 PM

    I'm a huge fan of the strawberry waffle cone! Non GMO, no artificial sweeteners, and 6 grams of fat per serving!?
    Halo was big in my area last year. I remember trying 2 different flavors and also remember it was one of the few times that I discarded food, I thought it was terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  10. DianaRoseFebruary 8, 2021 at 9:35 PM

    Maybe you can help me find the perfect ice cream. I care about natural ingredients, hate high sugar, hate fake sugar and love full fat. I like Halo because it's not overly sweet but need more fat.
    \

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  11. Dubba ScoopsFebruary 9, 2021 at 6:03 PM

    Can you define "fake sugar" as halo top uses replacement sweetners like Erythritol and Stevia. I personally love Turkey Hill's all natural line up as it's all natural and not too high in fat. If I need to spice it up, I can mix it with cookies or a higher fat content ice cream.

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  12. UnknownMay 11, 2021 at 9:24 PM

    I just tried the Strawberry Waffle Cone ice cream, and really enjoyed it! It was a great alternative to a higher full fat ice cream. Loved the chocolate enrobed waffle cone pieces. I would have liked the waffle pieces slightly larger to get more of the waffle cone flavor, however the crunch and slight bitterness from the dark chocolate was great. Will definitely buy again.

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  13. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2022 at 1:07 AM

    i actually just tried the chocolate caramel and really liked it - it definitely isn't 'ice cream' but there's a slight iciness to the base (due to the higher water content of skim milk, i'm sure) that i actually find kind of appealing - like a fudgesicle from childhood!

    i did get the ice cream at Grocery Outlet, so that's more bad news for the longevity of this line for those of us in the small minority who actually enjoyed it. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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