West Coast (Tillamook) vs East Coast (Hood)

I know that neither one of these flavors might seem super interesting these days, so let's make it (potentially) interesting by putting them head to head to see which is better. 

Tillamook Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Hood South Shore Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Technically these containers are the same size in terms of calories. Tillamook's 9 servings x 240 calories vs Hood's 6 servings x 360 calories both equal 2160 calories, kind of weird right? The Tillamook set me back $5.99 while the Hood only cost me $4.39 (cause local!)

Tillamook actually looks decent as I'm seeing a fair amount of cookie dough chunks on the first scooping. It's also got that mild cookie dough coloring in the left side shot. The right side photo is a little washed out.

But then Hood just swoops in with this amazing shot (on the left). Color me impressed as that certainly looks like a premium ice cream right there.

Now Tillamook is supposed to be cookie dough flavor (something that Turkey Hill won me over with a few decades ago). Yeah, I think I taste it, but man is this ice cream so light. Granted it's not gummy, but wow that's light. It's more like cookie dough suspended in cool whip. Man I wish this was more dense because overall it's got a fine flavor.

Flipping to NEC. It's more dense, more cold, but I don't love the flavoring of the chocolate cookie swirl. Wow, that's actually quite disappointing after the much more pleasant Tillamook flavoring. Also, did I not get any real cookie dough in my first scooping? I hit several in Tillamook but I've only got little half pieces in the NEC side of my bowl.

Well what do you do with a lighter flavorful ice cream and a denser, less amusing flavor? It's mix time! ....ruh roh. Weird food science things are happening. See, typically I mix a premium ice cream (like Ben & Jerry's) with an all natural vanilla so that premium vibe lives on. However, when you mix ice creams of this caliber, there is sometimes this weird, fakely smooth texture that emerges from the combo. I can't think of a better word for it right now, but hopefully you know what I mean.

So who is the winner? Ummmm..... honestly, I am leaning Tillamook despite how soft the product was (and it came from the downstairs freezer so it's not like I caught the ice cream in the middle of a defrost cycle). Ok, I have one more idea....  I scooped out mostly a spoonful of Hood that had a bunch of cookie dough and the swirl still buried the flavor. Booooooo.

On Second Scoop: So I kept going back to the Tillamook, so I guess that makes it the official winner.  My wife and I have finished off the container while the Hood version just sits there. That said, I still crave a better texture for my mainstream ice cream. How do we make things go back to the way they once were?

Verdict?  Tillamook wins
Buy Again?  maybe? Tillamook cookie dough is back in the freezer!

Allergy note: I feel better about bringing home Tillamook after reading their FAQ