REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack

Over the years, Ben & Jerry’s has made a habit of seeking out celebrities and musicians to act as the face of some of their ice cream combinations. Stephen Colbert had served as the first late night celebrity to collaborate for a flavor with Americone Dream, but Jimmy Fallon’s recent skit featuring The Roots was enough to spark the creation of another, more unique offering. Here’s the video that started it all:

The creative genius of Jimmy Fallon and all the people at Ben & Jerry’s resulted in the odd mixture of ingredients known as Late Night Snack: vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl & fudge covered potato chip clusters. This flavor was designed to address the dilemma of what to eat when you can’t quite decide between sweet or savory. I’ve always been drawn to foods featuring sugar and salt, but rarely does that result in chocolate covered potato chips with ice cream. Although the idea may sound off-putting initially, I’m rarely disappointed by a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream so I picked up a pint as soon as it hit a freezer near me.

With the top removed, the beige ice cream shows hints of the salty caramel swirl and a few of the fudge covered potato chip clusters sitting just below the first layer. This solution to the munchies comes in at 270 calories per serving, which is on the low side when compared to some of their other super-premium pints. The dense, vanilla bean base has a little more depth than their standard version, but remains simple and sweet. The first salty component comes in the form of the salty caramel swirl, which is thick, prevalent and works well with the mostly mild-mannered base. So well in fact, that I’m surprised it isn’t used more often in some of Ben & Jerry’s other flavors.

Although the salty caramel deserves attention, we all know what warrants the most attention from this flavor: the aforementioned fudge covered potato chip clusters. Despite drowning in vanilla bean ice cream, the glossy chocolate coating keeps the light, crunchy potato chip sitting inside feeling fresh out of the bag. The rich cocoa contrasts against the salty starch in a way you’ve probably never experienced before with ice cream. Bites containing two or three of these clusters, some of the salty caramel swirl and an ample amount of the vanilla bean ice cream are sure to win you over with ease. The next time you're having an internal struggle between sweet or salty, Late Night Snack may be the solution.

Where I Found It: Super Wal-Mart

Grade: B