Disclaimer: Ben & Jerry’s sent me free pints of the Topped line prior to their release. Receiving free product didn’t affect my review, as I’ve poo-pooed plenty of products I received for free. 

When it comes to ice cream in the freezer aisle, Ben & Jerry’s can’t be topped.

Or CAN it?!!?

Ben & Jerry’s Topped

Every day I have to look in the mirror and live with the fact that the above intro was my best.

Look, we all know the ice cream itself is great, but what keeps us coming back to Ben & Jerry’s? It’s the load of mix-ins swimming freely throughout the pint (well, maybe not freely… picture a bunch of chubby kids crashing into each other inside an inflatable pool). Ben & Jerry’s knows this too, so you know what they did? They said f*ck it, we’re not even gonna make you wait; we’re just gonna throw a bunch right on top.

Introducing Ben & Jerry’s Topped, a new line of seven loaded pints that have a layer of spoonable chocolatey ganache (and sometimes other mix-ins) greeting you immediately under the lid.

Looks like I’m gonna need a bigger inflatable swimming pool!!

This review is part of a series. Today’s Ben & Jerry’s Topped flavor is:

Ben & Jerry’s Topped – Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough

Ben & Jerry’s Topped Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough features chocolate ice cream with caramel swirls and gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough, all topped with caramel cups and a chocolatey ganache.

Right off the bat, the chocolatey ganache is very impressive. It’s much thicker and more decadent than the “crackly” candy shell in Magnum pints, and offers a rich and and creamy chocolate flavor. It starts out a little hard straight out of the freezer but is still spoonable, and it continues to soften further as it tempers.

Bravo to B&J’s on this ganache. ?

On top of that you have caramel cups – basically Reese’s cups but filled with caramel instead of peanut butter. This isn’t a mix-in Ben & Jerry’s uses often and I must say I really enjoy them, as you get a big burst of caramel that you can actually taste. They’ll leave you begging for more, but you’ll have to be careful to portion them appropriately because they’re limited to the top.

Underneath, you have chocolate ice cream. Nothing to write home about, but now that I think about it, it’s not often that chocolate ice cream is paired with regular chocolate chip cookie dough. And I gotta admit: I like this mix better than I thought I would. Creamy chocolate ice cream with brown sugary chocolate chip cookie dough… what’s not to like? (Perhaps I’m a moron for not realizing this would be great).

It could definitely use more cookie dough, however, but I I think a theme in the Topped line is that you’re going to trade off some mix-in density to make room for the ganache, while keeping the price and calorie content in line with other Ben & Jerry’s flavors.

The above picture doesn’t show it, but my pint of Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough Topped actually had more salted caramel swirls than the Salted Caramel Brownie Topped did. Between this and the caramel cups on top, I wasn’t complaining.

How you choose to attack the ganache topping is up to you: you can gobble it all first like a candy bar appetizer, or break it up and portion it throughout the pint. I found the best way was to use a fork (yes, a fork) and eat down in sections, periodically breaking off a piece of the ganache to enjoy mixed with the ice cream.

The Ben & Jerry’s Topped line is a bona fide winner in my book, and Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough is a pretty good addition to the lineup.

Inflatable Swimming Pools Rating: 8 out of 10
Inflatable Swimming Pools After Your Fat Ass Breaks It Rating: 0 out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10

To keep up with all of our product finds and Junk Bantering in real time, follow us on social media at the links below!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/junkbanter
Instagram: www.instagram.com/junkbanter
Twitter: www.twitter.com/junkbanter
Snapchat: junkbanter

To contact us via e-mail, send a message to junkbanter@gmail.com