REVIEW: Little G X MdoughW Peanut Butter Fudge

May 26, 2017May 26, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

It’s well chronicled and goes without needing any explanation that peanut butter and chocolate are a match made in heaven. Peanut butter is one of the few flavors that can stand up to the big bad bully that can be chocolate, and the richness of the two compliment each other exceptionally in almost all forms of dessert. For the Little G X MdoughW entry into the PB books the two combined peanut butter ice cream with triple chocolate fudge doughies and a chocolate fudge swirl.

This my friends, this is why we Little G. The peanut butter ice cream has a beautiful balance of sweet and salty with a robust peanut flavor that is true to the nut. I’m not sure if it’s the sweetness of the other components but I’m getting a bit more saltiness from the base than I’m used to from Little G and I absolutely love it. It may sound odd, but in the past I felt like Grace’s PB base tasted like Skippy, and this one reminds me more of Jif, with a dash more salt. Lovely.

The triple chocolate fudge MdoughW doughies have a dense brownie-like texture filled with semisweet chocolate chips that give multiple layers to the flavor and added depth to the chew. The chocolate isn’t quite dark but not milky either, it’s just simply deep. Once again the MdoughW is a stellar match for mixing into ice cream, and when combined with the fantastic fudge swirl creates a brownie batter sensation that is beautiful.
Speaking of the swirl, it is thick and dark and goddamn is it good. It’s always a good thing when the clear Little G container has giant black globs along the side of it and this pint is testament to that truth. Fortunately for me, the fudge wasn’t just on the side but I got a beautiful pool towards the middle of the pint as well. As the ice cream melts and the fudge integrates itself into the base, the experience becomes just like eating a peanut butter brownie sundae with every taste and texture accounted for, aka, ice cream bliss.

This is the kind of flavor I want to hoard and never have disappear. It’s incredibly rich and decadent and all the elements are strong enough to stand on their own but work in pitch perfect harmony when eaten as a whole. Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw with small batch hand-packed pints, and for me this one was absolutely spot on. Tasty rich ribbons of fudge and a sturdy amount of MdoughW’s, but the ideal amount of what I’ll call “base breathability”, to get spoonfuls of purely creamy rich peanut butter ice cream perfection.

Rating: 10/10
Found at: http://www.goldbely.com (use code seanpancake0 for $25 off of your first order!)

REVIEW: Pepperidge Farm Key Lime Chocolate Milano

May 25, 2017May 24, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

While Nabisco are busy cranking out endless amounts of low key shock value flavored Oreo like Peeps and Waffles & Syrup, Pepperidge Farm are quietly releasing refined, slightly altered versions of their classic Mialno cookie, the latest of which is a re-release of last years Key Lime Chocolate.

Staying true to their adult-leaning brand, this cookie takes the Milano’s firm layer of dark chocolate in between two oblong cookies and adds a limey punch to the equation. Much like their other citrus-twisted releases Orange and Lemon, this spring time treat really works. The cookies are soft yet crunchy with a crumbly texture that isn’t overly sweet or buttery. The chocolate on the inside is dark and creamy with a slight sweetness that cuts through the more bland cookie exterior.

The lime flavor is just right. Not too aggressively tart or acidic it has just enough presence to add a citrusy flair and heighten the sweetness of the bitter-leaning chocolate. One of the complaints about Milano’s is that they can be kind of dry, and even though the lime layer isn’t particularly creamy, it makes the cookie feel more moist and attractive to my general sugar-focused palate when I’m crunching into a cookie.

I’m a big fan of chocolate and citrus together and think it is greatly underutilized in the realm of sweet treats. While chocolate oranges can be easily found during the holidays, and as part of Pepperidge Farm’s regular lineup, using lemon or lime without the presence of white chocolate or graham is kind of rare. It’s tricky to pull off key lime and dark chocolate together, and yet both flavors come through strong without wiping each other out, and Pepperidge Farm managed to soothe my sweet tooth and my citrus tooth in one small bite.

Rating: 8/10
Found at: Target ($2.99)

REVIEW: Little G X MdoughW Red Velvet

May 19, 2017May 20, 2017 / seansskillet / 2 Comments

Red velvet cake is pretty straight forward, yet somehow easy to not do proper justice. A red colored chocolate cake adorned with cream cheese frosting. Two crucial elements that need to balance each other out to create a symphony of sweet, chocolatey, tangy, and rich. For their limited batch collaboration, Little G and MdoughW chose to take on the classic cake and smash it into a pretty pint consisting of cream cheese ice cream with red velvet white chocolate chip MdoughW pieces.

No surprise here – the cream cheese base is executed wonderfully. Incredibly smooth and velvety, it has the signature cream cheese tang that has been tempered with the perfect amount of sweetness to keep it from going savory. It channels the frosting it is emulating in ice cream form beautifully with a brilliant balance of sweet and tart that leaves a lingering cheesy flavor in my mouth. The cream cheese aids in the already decadent texture of Little G’s ice cream and makes for a very delicious and complex bite.

The red velvet pieces from MdoughW pack a serious cocoa-heavy chocolate punch that hinder on bitter with a lovely deep red velvet color. The addition of white chocolate chips give a small crunch that is welcome with MdoughW’s notoriously soft texture. The cookie pieces occupy a space somewhere between your traditional fully baked cookie and cookie dough, and are an incredibly organic fit for putting into ice cream. When the two components come together on my spoon it is spot on like taking a bite of super moist red velvet cake in melty frozen form.

This ice cream overall is much less mix in heavy than the usual offering from Little G and showcases her ability to churn out extremely high quality bases. Something that I very rarely think when getting pints from Little G is wanting more mix ins, and that might actually be the case here. While the doughie pieces are fantastic, there was only around 6 or 7 in the container, and as good as the base is, the cake pieces are essential to making the red velvet experience sing. Still, this is one of the better red velvet ice creams I have had, and the attention to detail and balance in the flavors is remarkable when they’re both actually there.

Rating: 7/10

Found at: http://www.goldbely.com (use promo code seanpancake0 for $25 off of your first order!)

REVIEW: Little G X MdoughW Cinnamon Caramel Churro

May 19, 2017May 19, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

Collaborations are one of the greatest elements of hip hop, but they can be pretty damn cool in the food world too. Usually reserved for big brands like Taco Bell teaming up with Doritos, Baskin Robbins with Oreo, and recently, Pop Tarts with Jolly Rancher, it’s much less common that smaller independent companies collide to release a joint product – but today that narrative is straight shook. Gourmet ice cream goddess Little G and cookie cup titans MdoughW have joined forces to release a limited edition run of cookie and brownie (“doughie”) loaded pints of indulgence decadence. Utilizing MdoughW’s signature doughies, aka wildly soft cookie cups stuffed with delicious fillings, and Little G’s super premium ice cream bases and swirls, the two combined to churn out six epic flavors, and today we take a first dive into Cinnamon Caramel Churro, which is cinnamon ice cream with MdoughW churro pieces and a salted caramel swirl.

The cinnamon ice cream is absolutely spot on. It has a giant, robust, and spicy cinnamon flavor that has the cinna-slut in me satisfied in ways not many ice creams have done before. There is a genuine spice-heavy, almost floral zing that tastes like freshly ground cinnamon was dumped generously onto a sweet cream base and it is absolutely magical. Visually the base is studded with brown flecks that translate the cinnamon flawlessly. It should go without saying that the ice cream itself is incredibly rich and creamy with a succulent melty mouthfeel that is divine.

The churro pieces are incredibly soft with a nice salty pop that register much more like dough than they do the crispy fried stick I associate them with. The pieces are of generous size and have upheld their dense chew well in the sea of cream, but without any sort of crispy crunch they could easily be cinnamon bun pieces or snickerdoodle cookies and I’m not sure I would be able to tell the difference. Imagining the way the dairy would soak into the fried exterior of a churro to create a crispy squish has me wishing there was more, but the cinnamon-heavy, almost grainy base helps emulate that experience to a degree.

The biggest element that’s a bit of a miss for me in this pint is the salted caramel swirl. I know what Little G is capable of when it comes to swirls (the best in the game up there with Salt & Straw), and with this flavor the swirl is more subtly incorporated into the base than standing out on its own in big gooey puddles of deliciousness. Every so often I’ll get a bite that has a sweeter, smoother punch to it, and that is where the caramel comes into play, but I miss having thick succulent ribbons that deliver a deeply sweet, salty, and caramelized flavor.

This is a great flavor of ice cream for cinnamon lovers, but it doesn’t really hit the mark completely when it comes to what I know and love to be a churro. Although it has one of the best cinnamon bases I have ever had, some crunch is really needed to drive the desired flavor into full effect, and I really wish I had some serious caramel to send it to the heights I know Little G can ascend to.

Rating: 9/10
Found at: http://www.goldbely.com (use code seanpancake0 for $25 off your first order!)

REVIEW: Hostess Golden Cupcakes

May 18, 2017May 17, 2017 / seansskillet / 3 Comments

Childhood nostalgia is a helluva drug. The sights, sounds, and flavors of our youthful formative years trigger powerful associations of the best and worst of times, and when it comes to junky snack food those still-developing tastebuds can hold onto memories of food that was mind-blowing at the time and may or may not hold up to the standard of a full grown and seasoned palate. Among the best examples of such memories are my experiences with snack cakes, which, before I understood the magic that could happen inside of a real oven at 350 degrees, were some of the best things in the world. One of my favorite snack cakes was the Hostess Golden Cupcake, which since the bankruptcy scare in 2013 I hadn’t seen back on shelves, until now. Amidst the slew of mint and berry flavored treats that pop up during the spring are these once semi-standard now semi-rare iteration of the cellophane cupcake that combine frosted yellow cake with a creamy filling and the signature Hostess squiggle.

The cakes look and feel just as I remember – soft and spongy with a greasy sheen that only a true chubby child can appreciate and look at with adoration. The top chocolate layer is hard and much more resembles a shell than frosting, but if it was slick and gooey that would be far too natural and probably make me ill. The smell is sweet and very reminiscent of the Chocodile, or more simply put, chocolate covered Twinkie. Going in for a bite I’m afraid the nostalgia got the best of me as this really does just taste like a chocolate covered Twinkie in hamburger shape instead of hot dog.

The cake itself is moister than what you get with most Twinkies, but it doesn’t have any special yellow cake flavor, and the golden element here is really just bland, sweet cake that does nothing to excite my tastebuds at all. My favorite part of yellow cake is the distinct eggy-ness you taste from the use of tons of egg yolks, and while I knew I wouldn’t get that much of an authentic flavor, I got absolutely none of it and my favorite rare childhood Hostess release is letting me down like when the young aspiring athlete finally meets Tom Brady and he shrugs him off to step into his limousine.

The chocolate layer on the top is also boring, with just a hint of cocoa flavor and a predominantly sweet and grainy texture that adds nothing to the overall experience. The creme filling on the inside is exactly what you would expect it to be, but with the rest of the cake being so bland and sugary single-noted, it loses all of its impact and simply blends into a sea of bleh.

The only other limited cupcake I’ve had since Hostess relaunched is the Pumpkin Spice one, which I thought was really awesome, so I’m not sure if my hopes were too high or nostalgia too strong, but these cakes were an absolute miss for me and another forgettable part of what I thought was great in my childhood.

Rating: 5.5/10
Found at: Target ($2.99)

REVIEW: Limited Edition Firework Oreo

May 16, 2017May 16, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

I’m no stranger to the junk food industry and our consumer-based society in general launching my tastebuds and wallet well into the future when it comes to holidays. I’ve grown accustomed to seeing Valentine’s candy and cards pop up the day after Christmas, pumpkin-on-my-everything starting in August, and Christmas beginning on November 1st, but the latest Oreo release had me asking myself, “is it summer already?”. The packaging, adorned with explosions and patriotic colors, stirred up memories of poorly lit bottle rockets, cheap beer, and the sweet scent of charcoal, aka, the Fourth of July. Since we’ve only had six weeks of spring, the middle of summer seemed like a stretch, but then I realized, I’m a dummy, and for once, the cookie-peddlers have gotten their timing right – Memorial Day is May 29! Just in time to pay our respects to the men and women serving our country, Nabisco have released Limited Edition Firework Oreo, which add explosive popping candy to the iconic chocolate creme sandwich.

Opening the package reveals the slightly bittersweet and creamy smell you know and love from Oreo, with cookies that fit the smell-bill and look identical to the original except for little red and blue dots in the creme. Biting in is exactly what you would expect – crunch, squish, and chocolate, but then right as the creme hits my tongue the party begins – POP. The popping candy starts to sizzle via saliva activation, and I’ve gotta be honest it’s pretty damn fun. The more you chew the more they dance, with continual bacon-in-a-skillet sound effects even after I swallow.

The popping candy doesn’t change the flavor at all. There is no strawberry or blueberry flavor added to the rocks, and the effect here is purely an experience rather than a taste. It’s kind of impressive that they were able to present a product that looks and feels different but has the exact same flavor profile as the cookie that has been leading the pack for over 100 years. While an additional candy flavor would have been fun, I suspect it might have come off as cloying, although I wouldn’t mind if they added a crazy flavor like grape to really funk the experience up.

I’m kind of stumped how to rate this cookie. The firework-spin doesn’t take away from the original Oreo at all, and in some ways even enhances it – just not with taste. It also doesn’t really add anything particularly ground breaking that makes me feel like people HAVE to try this, but it’s got a serious fun factor that I can’t deny. Since Oreo are my favorite grocery cookie of all time and they nailed the execution, I’ve gotta give them the benefit of a doubt with a solid thumbs up. While I think I would still take the Double Stuf over these for general munching, I wouldn’t mind seeing them pop up every Memorial Day for a fun-filled snack attack.

Rating: 8.5/10
Found at: Safeway ($2.99)

REVIEW: Blue Bunny Mint Cookie Crunch

May 12, 2017May 11, 2017 / seansskillet / 1 Comment

Blue Bunny have expanded their line of ice cream flavors, and I hope that means they’re expanding their distribution too. While they have distro-deals in place with major retailers like Walmart, for whatever reason, in the Bay Area with our lack of Wally World’s, Blue Bunny is kind of hard to find. Many grocery stores carry the novelty items like the mini cones, but quarts and pints of the Bunny are hard to come across. Growing up in Nebraska where Blue Bunny was much more common, I was super stoked to find a fresh new flavor at a local discount grocery store. Mint Cookie Crunch combines mint ice cream with fudge swirls and mint chocolate cookie chunks.

The mint base is light and creamy with a refreshing minty-ness that steers clear of any dominant peppermint flavor. It’s a pleasant and genuine base that isn’t too sweet or too powerful in any way. The fudge swirl has a very distinct Hershey’s chocolate syrup kind of flavor with just a bit more thickness than the stuff that pours from the brown bottle. It’s a little light milk chocolatey for what I would commonly associate with fudge, but it seems fitting for a swirl swimming in glowing green cream.

The cookie “chunks” pop up in the form of little balls that have a big satisfying crunch and haven’t lost any of their bold cookie texture. This crunchy-preservation is achieved by coating the balls in chocolate so the actual cookie never makes contact with the melty dairy. It’s a clever move very similar to the cookies in Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Peppermint Crunch (RIP) and they work just as well here as they did in that more chocolate heavy pint. It’s a very different experience than a mint cookies and cream, and I appreciate the crunch factor that adds extra depth and excitement to the ice cream. The flavor isn’t as mint-forward as the heralded Girl Scouts Thin Mint, but the cookies definitely have a minty-ness that let’s me know it isn’t just a chocolate cookie.

When you get all of the components together in one bite they work together seamlessly with a lovely balance of mint, chocolate, and smooth dairy. Blue Bunny have put together a really solid product that isn’t as intense or fatty as a super premium ice cream but tastes of significantly higher quality and less gum-filler-y than Dreyers or Breyers. A fantastic middle-of-the-road scoop that’s a great bang for your buck.

Rating: 8/10
Found at: Grocery Outlet ($2.99)

REVIEW: Little G’s Going to the Circus

May 5, 2017May 4, 2017 / seansskillet / Leave a comment

Growing up with my parents I always loved taking a trip to the grocery store. Drifting off from my mom at Safeway to look at the toy aisle and peruse all the latest snacks that I probably couldn’t convince her to buy was always a thrill, but on the best days I got to sneak away and go next door to Rite Aid. No, I wasn’t looking to fill a a prescription or look at their bigger, better toy aisle, but rather, peer into the icy glass case of the Thrifty ice cream counter. Massive, cheap, oddly shaped scoops from big, sometimes freezer-burnt tubs of ice cream was the best pre-dinner treat, and among my favorite flavors was Circus Animal Cookie. That childhood classic flavor combined pink and white cookie batter ice cream and chunks of real Mother’s Circus Animal cookies. It wasn’t the highest quality ice cream, but it was good, and as my childhood nostalgia savior, Little G released the limited time Going To The Circus, which mixes animal cracker ice cream with frosted animal cracker pieces, buttercream frosting, and sprinkles.

This ice cream is an absolute alley oop slam dunk and-one. The colors are assertive and pop with a childlike aura than translates perfectly to the flavor. The base of the ice cream actually has crumbled up Circus Animal cookies in it, and as with many Little G flavors, the mix in density is crazy. The base is a bit hard to taste on its own, but the frosted cracker flavor is there and it is big. The combination of the animal cracker base, buttercream, and abundant sprinkles makes this flavor taste not only like Circus Animals, but like the most fun, joyous ice cream birthday cake I’ve ever consumed.

Speaking of cake, the frosted animal cracker pieces have softened in the ice cream and lost their usual crunch, making them feel a bit more like sponge cake than cookies. This isn’t a bad thing, as they still have a good chew and the chunks are big enough that when paired up with the sprinkles there’s still lots of crunch factor compared to a normal ice cream. Cookie chunks and sprinkles and frosting all swimming in a pool of sweet sweet cream is on another level of childhood indulgence.

Simply put, eating this ice cream is fun. It’s intense and it’s sweet but completely channels the feeling and after school nostalgia of Circus Animal cookies to a tee. When I rate an ice cream I think about a number of factors, but ultimately it comes down to did I enjoy eating it and does it deliver on what it set out to do. The answer to both of those questions with this pint is a resounding yes, and I can’t think of a single thing I would change to make it a sturdier mission accomplished.

Rating: 10/10
Found at: http://www.goldbely.com (use code seanpancake0 to get $25 off your first order!)

REVIEW: Twizzler’s Filled Twists Flavor of Florida Key Lime Pie and Orange Cream Pop

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 / seansskillet / 1 Comment

Hershey’s are hell bent on us tasting the most iconic states in America. From California’s Strawberry Kit Kat to Texas’ BBQ Payday, they want to make SURE we can put America in our mouth without leaving the couch. In an effort to give sunny citrusy Florida its fair due, and apparently admitting they kind of screwed them by not giving them any chocolate, Hershey’s have TWO Flavors of Florida Twizzlers Filled Twists – Key Lime Pie and Orange Cream Pop.

The Key Lime Pie twist immediately hits me with the one flavor I wasn’t expecting to taste at all – graham cracker crust. I find this bizarre but kind of tasty, as I’m getting way more golden graham flavor than tart lime. In fact, there’s so much crusty flavor going on that the usually insanely sweet Twizzler becomes slightly savory…and it’s kind of weird. The balance is off, since key limes have a notoriously sweet-sour combo that define the typical profile of the pie, and there’s only a small bit of crust that lines the bottom – Hershey’s decided to flip this ratio upside down.

The lime flavor is there, and comes through with a bit of pop towards the end, but the filling inside of this Twizzler must be crust-injected because it really is incredibly prominent. There are no graham cracker crumbs listed in the ingredients, but the Hershey-scientists really did some impressive work to get the flavor in there, it just doesn’t have the right balance. While it needs more citrus, I like the complexity this Twizzler offers, which isn’t something I ever expected to say about something neon green.

The Orange Cream Pop is much more what I was expecting the product to taste like. It’s immediately sweet and citrusy with a soft vanilla cream center that perfectly mimics the popsicle on the front of the package. I get that same sensation of the different textures that come in a Creamsicle, with the squishy licorice exterior taking place of the icy water-forward frozen pop, and the creamy filling playing the role of classic vanilla ice cream. It’s pretty much perfectly executed as a familiar flavor, but I can’t help but feel like it’s also a really straight forward profile to pull off with ease.

These Twizzlers are much more repeat-noshable for me than the Key Lime, and satisfy that sticky sweet licorice sensation that I want when choosing a candy like this. I really enjoy the seasonal Caramel Apple Twizzlers, and they’re pretty much the only reason why I even batted an eye at this product in the first place.

While neither of them are gross, they don’t really beckon me to want to eat much more either, but I’m kind of fascinated by how weird the Key Lime are, as it’s rare a candy tastes nothing like what I anticipated. Both of these are fairly successful, but I wouldn’t recommend searching for these unless you absolutely love sticky sticks of sugar or are one of those people that think Creamsicles are the greatest frozen thing man ever invented (you know you’re out there..weirdos).

Key Lime Pie Rating: 6/10
Orange Cream Pop Rating: 7/10

Found at: CVS ($3.99 each)

REVIEW: Little G’s That Peanut Butter Brownie Dough

April 28, 2017April 27, 2017 / seansskillet / 7 Comments

If you love ice cream and you don’t know about Little G it’s time to learn about the internet-driven gourmet ice cream movement. What Grace is doing out of her small commercial kitchen in Massachusetts is not only delicious but insanely fun. Late last year she asked fans to submit flavor ideas for a run of seasonal pints to start 2017 and one of the winning suggestions was That Peanut Butter Brownie Dough, which is her own spin on the Ben & Jerry’s 2014 limited batch Peanut Butter Half Baked. The flavor combines chocolate and peanut butter ice creams with brownies and peanut butter cookie dough chunks. Are you awake yet?

Wow. Sometimes the apprentice surpasses the master and that skill set is on perfect display in this pint. The peanut butter ice cream has a very genuine nuttiness to it that isn’t very sweet, but isn’t salty either. The peanut flavor comes through in a soft yet rich way that has just enough character to stand up to the chocolate, which is velvety smooth and has cocoa notes somewhere between milk and dark – not quite bitter but not too heavily leaning on milky-ness. It’s hard to get two separate ice cream bases to work harmoniously in one flavor and these two are a lovely brown and tan yin and yang.

The mix in density is absolutely spot on. While the ice creams have a chance to shine with their melty mouthfeel and subdued sweetness, the real star of this show is the fudgey as all hell scratch made brownies. These are the best brownies I have ever had in an ice cream, and are firm enough to be solid chunks but have maintained all of their fresh-out-of-the-oven squishy chew that make brownies unique from cookies. They are sweeter than either of the bases which elevates the flavor to a whole new level of eyes closed brilliance. When I get a bite with chocolate ice cream and brownie together the taste transforms into a decadent richness that reminds me of chocolate cheesecake and is over the top with indulgent intensity.

This is an entire chunk of flawless brownie

The only thing holding this pint back from being absolutely perfect is the peanut butter cookie dough. While the dough is still really good, I wish it had a little bit more dough-y butteriness and rich peanut flavor to really stand out against the other three very strong components. The chunks are big and succulent but missing a little something, I think a touch more salt, to really drive the experience into something transcendent. Even though I wanted a bit more pop from the dough, I still found myself gleefully excited having a piece of unbaked cookie that took up nearly my entire spoon. Eating Little G is a completely different experience of ice cream exploration and this was a fantastic journey.

Rating: 9.5/10
Found at: http://www.goldbely.com

Note: This flavor can’t be purchased anymore but on May 1 Little G will be announcing their next line of limited flavors and you never know what Grace may have whipped up this time. If it’s your first order from Goldbely use code seanpancake0 to get $25 off!!

Sean's Skillet

ice cream, snack reviews, and bay area eats

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