REVIEW: Blue Bell Christmas Cookies (in July)

Ever since I discovered a pint of Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake hiding in the depths of my grocer's freezer a few months back, I've been on the lookout for seasonal offerings out of season. Luckily for me, Blue Bell's July rotational flavors have made this much easier for us living in the Southern part of the United States. Blue Bell writes, "Let's Celebrate Christmas in July! Your favorite holiday cookies – chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar – combined in a tasty sugar cookie ice cream with festive red sprinkles and a green icing swirl throughout."

Although I'm a fan of chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and sugar cookies, I'm mostly intrigued by the thought of tasty sugar cookie ice cream. Considering there weren't any pints offered in this flavor, I had to spring for the half gallon tub and after disliking my previous carton of Blue Bell's Key Lime Pie, I was somewhat skeptical that that I'd be left with a huge helping of something I hated. That still didn't manage to get in the way of me grabbing ripping the gleaming lid off like wrapping paper.

That twinkling top had been hiding a lightly shaded sugar cookie ice cream that wasn't shy about showing off an army of red sprinkles and glowing, green icing. The familiar smell of holiday cookies had me reminiscing on memories of Christmas past. The more ice cream I explore, the more I appreciate the aesthetics involved with some flavors that come from top tier ice cream producers. Blue Bell's Christmas Cookies, especially after digging a few layers down, is one of the more captivating ice creams I've come across when it comes to appearance.

I try to refrain from eating straight from the carton, so I scooped a few servings into a separate bowl for further investigation, but the bite-sized cookies blocked the path of my scoop on several occasions. I began with a bite of the base to see whether or not Blue Bell had successfully reproduced a frozen version of sugar cookies. It should come as no surprise that the first-class ice cream fabricators can replicate the tastes of distinguished desserts, but this is impressive. Prowling around the outside perimeter with my spoon, I grabbed four or five big bites of pure sugar cookie ice cream before I was able to process how well executed this was. I slowly incorporated the festive sprinkles and icing swirl to up the ante. Not only did they add to the appearance, but the crunchy sprinkles and smooth icing swirl added a depth of texture as well.

After becoming acquainted with the other components, I was ready to try the trio of cookies. Considering I have no quarrels with sugar, snickerdoodle or chocolate chip cookies, Blue Bell might have this one in the bag. My bowl is boiling over with big chunks of all three of these coveted Christmas cookies. The chocolate chip cookie crumbles were chewy, but their taste was a little lacking. If I hadn't seen the signature chocolate chip spots, I'm not sure I would have been able to interpret what type of cookie it even came from. The sugar cookies shared the same sugary makeup as the base ice cream, but then came the squadron of snickerdoodles. The chocolate chips were copacetic, the sugar were slightly better than average, but the snickerdoodles really sealed the deal. It had been ages since I had enjoyed a nice snickerdoodle and these were sensational, especially when dripping with sugar cookie ice cream.

You rarely see three of any mix-in in an ice cream, especially cookies, but this trio make each bite different, providing tons of possible flavor combinations. Unlike my previous poor experience with a full half gallon portion, this didn't last very long in my freezer. It wasn't easy to come to terms with the fact that this will only be around for a month or so, but at least we'll all be seeing this again in December sans the in July tagline. With two chances a year to catch this rotational flavors, be sure to take advantage of both.

Where I Found It: Super Wal-Mart
Grade: A