Frijj Cookie Dough

Product name: Frijj Cookie Dough
Purchase details: £0.50 for a 471ml bottle (Asda)
Calories: 311 per bottle
Country of origin: UK 

When I recently visited Asda to make the most of their Frijj milkshakes that were on offer for £0.50, it was this Cookie Dough flavour that I was particularly excited about. I’d never seen this kind of milkshake variety so I couldn’t wait to try this new product in the ‘thick and smooth’ range.

Much of this milkshake was the same as the Fudge Brownie one that I reviewed yesterday. It had the same basic bottle design except the splodges were a yellowy-brown colour and he image at the bottom looked a bit like an ice cream swirl with chocolate chip dots. Again, it was best enjoyed shaken and chilled, and it contained less than 1.2% fat with no artificial colours or preservatives.

Despite the similarities, this variety contained fewer calories and sugar (10.1g) than the Fudge Brownie, and it also had slightly more calcium (133mg). Whilst containing the same amount of whole milk (22%), the Cookie Dough flavour had a slightly higher proportion of skimmed milk (72%), although the general main ingredients were unchanged, suggesting that it was the flavourings used that would make a difference to the taste.

The liquid had a very pale appearance and, having expected a very sugary aroma, I was slightly disappointed that I could hardly detect a scent at all – just a milkiness with a very slight sweetness thrown in.

The shake had the same texture as the Fudge Brownie but, unfortunately, it didn’t taste anything like cookie dough to me. It did have quite a strong vanilla-like taste but, really, it seemed to just be a very thick milk that reminded me slightly of a non-lumpy rice pudding. Whilst it did have a sweetness to it, I think it needed to be more sugary in order to come close to replicating the flavour it was trying to achieve.

On the plus side, this variety was far less sickly than the Fudge Brownie, but I felt let down by the flavour since it didn’t achieve its aim. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.13/10

Tesco Pudding: Chocolate cookie dough

Product name: Tesco Pudding: Chocolate cookie dough
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 100g tub
Calories: 375 per tub
Country of origin: UK 

I don’t often buy desserts for my evening treats but I was intrigued when I spotted this Tesco Pudding: Chocolate cookie dough. It was a bit of a gamble on the basis that I’d never seen or heard anything about it (or any similar product) before, and there were no images of the dessert on the tub, but I decided to give it a go. Instead, there were brown splodges which, from a distance, made me think of cows, but were actually images of Oreo-like cream-filled cookies! 

I actually froze this Pudding in order to extend its use-by date by a month but this turned out to be a bit of a hassle. It was designed to be eaten warm (having been microwaved for 20–25 seconds depending on the power of the machine) but there were specific instructions that stated it had to be defrosted first for at least eight hours in the fridge and eaten the same day. This meant I had to intentionally plan my evening meal and snacks in plenty of time to defrost it, if I had the spare calories for it, but not defrost it accidentally if I didn’t! I don’t know why the pack was so specific (I usually just use a defrosting plate) but I figured there must be a reason.  

 

Anyway, the description of ‘sponge made with chocolate cookie dough, with a hidden centre and topping of chocolate sauce, topped with chocolate cookie dough pieces’ sounded intriguing and yummy and, with the inclusion of golden syrup and double cream and both dark and milk chocolate on the ingredients list, everything sounded good. 

The dessert looked gooey, with the topping being similar in appearance to the icing on a chocolate fudge cake, and the dark sprinkles looking like a chocolate sponge, and this all melted further once heated. Beneath this, the main component genuinely did look like cookie dough, complete with chocolate chips. 

 

Whilst not very strong, the Pudding smelt nicely of warm chocolate pudding (unsurprisingly!). The rich chocolate sauce was slightly bitter but deliciously chocolatey whilst the ‘cookie dough pieces’ on top tasted like chocolate sponge. The dough centre was like a warm and moist sticky sponge, texturally, and it had a slightly buttery taste to it. Somewhat disappointingly, however, I didn’t really make a connection with cookie dough when it came to the flavour. It certainly delivered on the chocolate side of things, though, since there were chips scattered throughout, as well as the second helping of sauce in the middle.  

In itself, this was a delicious treat, but I can’t say it tasted as unique as it sounded. It’s the kind of pudding that, if I were served it as a chocolatey sponge pudding after a pub meal, I would have no complaints. It just wasn’t revolutionary.  

Appearance: 8/10 

Aroma: 7.5/10 

Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.88/10

Ben & Jerry's Core: Dough-ble whammy

Product name: Ben & Jerry’s Core: Dough-ble whammy
Purchase details: £2.49 for a 500ml tub (tesco.com)
Calories: 230 per 100ml serving 

You might need to be sitting down for this confession...I’ve only ever eaten Ben & Jerry’s ice cream twice. I know, I know – it’s terrible. We just never had it in the house when I was growing up and, now I’m old enough to make my own decisions about what to buy, I rarely think of getting my own ice cream! The two varieties I have tried (Phish Food and Core: Peanut butter me up), though, have been pretty darn good.

I’ve heard a lot, over the years, about how amazing the Cookie Dough variety is but I’ve just never got around to trying it. However, when a friend raved about this even more exciting Dough-ble whammy flavour earlier in the year, I decided I just had to try it. Fair enough, it’s now a few months later, but I’ve been waiting for it to be on offer – I snapped it up as soon as it was half price!

The Core range of ice cream is relatively new and, I think, is fantastic. The concept involves each tub being split into two different ice cream flavours with some form of pillar of sauce running down the centre. In this case, the ice cream flavours were chocolate and cookie dough and the core (that contributed to 12% of the tub) was chocolate fudge sauce. Excitingly there were even chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough within the ice cream (making up 7% of the product), and I have to say, I loved the clever name!

Despite it being a freezing cold November day, I was really excited to try this Fairtrade ice cream for the first time. I’m used to seeing Ben & Jerry’s tubs containing background images of a farm scene and, whilst this was present on the back of my tub, I was far more interested in the scrummy-looking images of the ice cream that waited inside, and I loved how this was done in a way that clearly showed the layout of the tub rather than being a ‘serving suggestion’ of the product in a bowl.

The back of the tub warned that the ‘chocolatey concoction’ wasn’t ‘for the faint-hearted’ so I decided to stick to the recommended 100ml serving size which is about the equivalent of two scoops. The packaging didn’t state where the ice cream had been produced, but there was a fantastic description of the journey each mouthful took you on, involving diving ‘into the core of soft chocolate fudge’ and riding ‘the rapids of rich chocolate ice cream’ whilst avoiding the ‘cookie dough rocks as you reach the canyon of creamy vanilla ice cream’.

On prising off the lid, I thought the ice cream looked great, with the border between the two halves being curved just enough to look a bit like the yin and yang symbol. There were visible chunks of chocolate and, on delving a bit deeper, the cookie dough looked deliciously like light brown sugar. As for the core, this looked far more like chocolate fudge sauce then I’d expected, and was a darker shade of brown to the chocolate ice cream which made it easy to see what you were getting on each spoonful.

As this was a frozen product, there was hardly any smell at all, but there was a very slight hint of chocolate. The chocolate ice cream that this seemed to come from had a strong cocoa taste and was also extremely creamy (unsurprising when considering 24% of the product was cream!). I love vanilla and loved how fantastically strong this flavour was in the cookie dough side of the ice cream – it wasn’t boring at all. Both of the ice cream varieties had a lovely, silky melt which was interspersed with the chunky chocolate pieces that reminded me slightly of the end of a Cornetto cone, although more chocolatey.

The core was, quite simply, incredible. It really did taste like it had been lifted from a chocolate fudge cake – it had such a strong chocolate flavour that almost hinted at alcohol. On the spoon, it was very stiff and gooey, and remained nice and thick in the mouth before practically trickling down the throat. Overall, it was a great additional texture that you would never normally experience with ice cream.

As for the cookie dough pieces, I was delighted that that these had remained soft, despite being frozen. It had a part-smooth, part-grainy texture and, thankfully, did taste like cookie dough – amazing. It was sugary and, as a result, lifted the flavour from the intense chocolate hit provided by the core and half of the ice cream.

I ate my ice cream after it had been out of the freezer for 5–10 minutes and found that this allowed it to maintain its frozenness whilst being very soft and smooth. The flavours were nothing short of great together so I had no option but to lick the bowl when I had finished!

I think I need to buy Ben & Jerry’s more often! 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 5.5/10
Taste: 9/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 7.88/10

Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted chocolate chip cookie dough

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted chocolate chip cookie dough
Purchase details: £5.00 for a box of eight tarts (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 190 per tart (380 per pack of two)
Country of origin: USA

A few years ago I tried my first ever Pop Tarts (the standard UK flavours: Strawberry Sensation and Chocotastic). Whilst I didn’t dislike them, I wasn’t overly impressed, and I can’t say I’ve bought them since.

However, ever since, I have wanted to try some more exciting flavours, but have been put off by the hefty price tag that usually comes with these American imports. Needless to say, I was very excited to effectively get my hands on a box of the Frosted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavour for £2.50 following a Living Social deal at Bold Street Sweets.

Looking at the box, I was surprised at the number of nutritional claims that are made – these Pop Tarts are a source of eight vitamins and minerals, contain 0g of trans fat and are cholesterol free. That said, it was the image on the box that really drew my attention. I love cookie dough (I’m a sucker for Pizza Hut’s cookie dough ice cream dessert!) and that element of the picture just looked so gooey and yummy!

Each box contains four foil-wrapped packets of two Pop Tarts which can be eaten hot or cold. I have, therefore, tried them cold, toasted and microwaved.

When cold, these Pop Tarts smell sweet but slightly artificial. I was expecting the pastry to be more biscuity in texture but it was actually quite soft. Bizarrely, the flavour of the pastry reminded me of stale biscuits, although, to be fair, a nicer version! When looking at a cross-section of a tart, it was hard to see where the pastry ended and the filling began and, unfortunately, I also found it hard to detect the taste of the cookie dough through the pastry.  However, it did add a nice bit of moisture to what, otherwise, would have been a very dry product. I also found that that the tarts stuck slightly to the roof of my mouth which I considered a good thing! As for the icing, as well as being decorative, it added a nice bit of crunch to the pastries, but not much flavour – just a bit of extra sweetness. It was definitely more sugary than chocolatey. Overall, I found that, when eaten cold, these Pop Tarts had a nice texture which was actually nicer than the fairly bland flavour.

These Pop Tarts had a stronger, chocolatey, ‘bakey’ smell when toasted. It was also clear that the chocolate chips within the cookie dough had melted. Flavour-wise, I was pleased to discover that the pastry tasted nicer and no longer reminded me of stale biscuits. However, I did still struggle to taste the cookie dough’s flavour, although the melted chocolate chips definitely added to it. Again, it was the texture of the tarts that stood out, when toasted. However, this too had improved. Despite being softer to the touch, the icing was still crispy, but the overall tarts had a lovely, doughy texture.

When microwaving my first Pop Tart, I did so for three seconds, as instructed on the box. I found that this did not make the tart warm on the whole, but there was a slight contrast between the temperature of the pastry and that of the cookie dough. This was enjoyable as the cookie dough had a cooling effect on the tongue. The only other difference I felt that three seconds in the microwave made to the product, compared to its entirely cold alternative serving option, was that it did make the pastry more doughy. Not to be put off, I decided to try microwaving another tart for 10 seconds and, for me, this is the best way to eat this variety of Pop Tart. The aroma wasn’t any different to the toasted version and I admit that it made the pastry drier. However, it also softened the pastry and melted the chocolate that little bit more which made the flavour more noticeable. Ultimately, whilst still not having a strong taste, I found this to be the best method for experiencing the actual cookie dough.

Although I may appear to be critical of Pop Tarts: Frosted chocolate chip cookie dough, I did enjoy them, on the whole. They looked appealing (despite the tarts in one packet having stuck together and the dough not quite matching the packaging’s photo!), and they did have a nice, doughy texture. The reason for my disappointment was not that this snack tasted bad, but that I felt it did not deliver brilliantly on the flavour it set out to achieve. For a ‘chocolate chip’ product, these tarts just weren’t very chocolatey!

I also think it’s a shame that the foil packets contain two tarts rather than one, thus making it harder to treat these as an occasional low-calorie snack. Two pastries amount to 380 calories and, for that amount, I’d rather have a slice of actual cake!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 6/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 6.75/10