[New for 2022] A second Friendly's review in a single year? Ha, I kid, I used to review Friendly's alot more often, but there's just not a whole lot of new going on with them these days it seems. Well, there are the happy days bars and those SUPER STUFFED frozen dairy dessert flavors, but I can do without the latter. However, I have now bought *8* containers of Unicorn Power, so it seems only fair to give something else a try. Let's take a crack at....
Friendly's Limited Edition Caramel Cookie Crumble Ice Cream
vanilla ice cream with caramel ribbon and chocolate creme cookie pieces
Not bad!
That's pretty busy, as it should be!
I want to see both big cookie chunks and also crumbs everywhere.
The texture hits me before anything else. While you get distracted from the current Friendly's texture in Unicorn Power, it's much more obvious here. The cookies and cream flavor kicks in next, and it's fairly authentic, but the texture is distracting.
You see, when they put in too many stabilizers, not only does the texture get weird, but the ice cream doesnt hold the temperature the same way either. I don't know the exact science of it, but I know it just doesn't feel as cold on my tongue, and that annoys me.
This first scooping has actually been part of a sundae, and it was good enough for the moment, but meh to this flavor so far. Hopefully things get better.
On Second Scoop: So I'm not loving the texture, but there is the possibility this one got a little freezerburned at some point. What I should focus on is the somewhat unique flavor. Yes it's a cookies & cream flavor, but the caramel adds a component that is hard to describe. It reminds me of.... I don't know, a caramel brownie maybe?
On Final Sundae: I threw this one in to a sundae with a cinnamon snacking waffle and some cinnamon french toast frosted flakes and I got say, it was this ice cream's best showing by far. It brought out the best aspects of the ice cream while minimizing the texture issues.
Verdict? not nearly as good as Unicorn Power
Buy Again? probably not
Buy Again? probably not
I used to really like friendly's ice cream but something about it just seems so different these days, and not for the better. This gets another pass from me.
ReplyDeleteThink I'll just stick with haagen dazs and great value brand, my budget permitting.
Right, Friendly's got caught up in the mainstream madness of more air and more stabilizers. It's not the same quality product that it was 20-30 years ago.
ReplyDeleteyou might enjoy this: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vaG90LWRvZw/episode/MmM0N2EwOTItMzVkNi0xMWVjLTlmZWMtNzczMWI1Y2M5Njc5?sa=X&ved=0CAgQuIEEahcKEwiglI7_zvL5AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQEw
ReplyDeleteVanilla is certainly the most versatile, and a top notch vanilla is a mighty thing, but I don't think I would personally call it the best flavor.... also, did he just give props to Breyers's "ice cream"? That's it, I'm out.
ReplyDeletehey Breyers is the only brand that's got all-year, peach (with peach chunks!) and no other crap, so that's something. Hate it when ice cream brands try to "pie-ify" fruit flavors.
ReplyDeleteHa, fair enough!
ReplyDelete