the sugarapple

ice cream is the perfect dessert for a summer outdoor celebration.  but what if you (or some of your guests) are dairy free?  you’d want to choose something delicious that everyone can enjoy, right?

so, I recently held a mini taste test with ben & jerry’s non-dairy pints (I know, I know – they’ve been out for a while, but I’ve been enjoying nice cream in the meantime 😀).  but if you’ve been like me and been curious about these almond-milk based frozen desserts, and haven’t been able to try them as yet — maybe my small taste test might help. (please tell me what you think if you’ve already tried them!)

I assembled a small group to test three (3) Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy flavors (retail price: $5.99 in our area).  we selected Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Coconut Seven Layer Bar, and P.B. and Cookies.

we used a scale grading them from 1 (not good) to 5 (excellent) in terms of taste.

here are the results:

P.B. and Cookies

flavor: P.B. & Cookies

overall rank: 3 – average

comments:  if you’re not in love with peanut butter, you won’t like this.  the peanut butter is a bit overwhelming (and I really like peanut butter but it was even overwhelming for me) – and the oreo cookies don’t really add anything too special.  (recommendation: serve this to anyone who happily eats peanut butter straight out the jar or would have peanut butter with them on a deserted island).

chocolate fudge brownie

flavor:  chocolate fudge brownie

overall rank: 4.33 – very good

comments:  the title of this ice cream is so on point!  it tastes just like fudge brownie batter (which is delish as we all know!)  this was ranked very high by a few of our tasters, and its overall rank was slightly lowered only because of me.  honestly, I’m not a chocolate ice cream fan at all – yet, I found this appealing enough to take a few more bites.  it has a delicious chocolate flavor, and it’s rich and creamy.  (recommendation: buy this for the friend who’s always ordering a brownie sundae or baking brownies just to enjoy the batter).

coconut seven layer bar

flavor:  coconut seven layer bar

overall rank: 4.66 – very, very good

comments:  absolutely delish.  the layers of fudge, walnuts and swirls of graham cracker and caramel come together into the most delectable flavor.  I couldn’t stop tasting this one.  yes, it was that good.  (recommendation: buy this as the ”star dessert’ of your summer outdoor celebration – I think even die-hard dairy lovin’ ice cream fans will fall in love).