First, a thank you to all the readers who sent me emails to let me know that my once beloved Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich had been relaunched.
You see, folks, for many years Klondike had made a seriously addictive version of this treat. In fact, one of my very early reviews was of the original Klondike Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich (warning: the review is not the best -- even if the treat itself was).
Sadly, shortly after that review was posted, a reader let me know that they had not seen the product on local supermarket shelves for a while...and right after that, it disappeared from my shelves as well. I sent off an email to Klondike's parent company (Unilever), and with great sorrow I soon received a reply confirming that the product had been discontinued. (You can read about that in more detail in this post.)
Just as I was getting used to the idea of an Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwichless future, Unilever dangled a carrot of hope in front of me by re-launching the sandwich under the Breyers label (which I duly reviewed here). Not surprisingly, there were some changes made: the cookies were smaller and the Oreo ice cream was replaced by plain vanilla. In short, the cookies themselves on this version were actually very good -- in fact, I liked them more than I did the old version. But the ice cream was...well, merely cold. And it's not a good day when the nicest thing you can say about an ice cream is that it was cold. That was the first and last box I bought of that version.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago: On my normal perusal of the ice cream aisle, I saw the new version of my old favorite. Y'know, kinda like that ex-boyfriend who you still kinda like but know you should ignore? Well, for several visits I was able to avoid giving in to its charms...but eventually its come-hither stare and the remembrance of all the good times we once shared proved too much for me, so I gave in and bought a box.
So was it as good as it once was?
Errrrrrrmm...no. The cookies themselves were closer in size to the classic Klondike version than to the smaller Breyers cookies. (The box boasts that they are 33% bigger.) The cookie itself was really good. It's very chocolaty and very close in flavor to an actual Oreo cookie. The texture was perfect. It was soft enough that it yielded easily to a bite, but was not soft enough to be soggy. Which is good, as I hate it when the cookies are too hard to bite cleanly, which causes the ice cream filling to squoosh out the sides. Thankfully, that's not a problem here.
But what of the ice cream?
God, this is getting to be just too predictable. The ice cream, yet again, is the downfall. On one hand, this version features the return of actual Oreo ice cream as the stuffing, rather than the plain vanilla of the Breyers version. However, it is listed on the box as being "light" ice cream.
I gotta rant for a second here. While I understand it's a great thing to watch calories and have "light" options, why must it seem like every new product out there has to be "light" or reduced fat, etc? As good as some light ice creams can be, they are just not as good as "real" ice cream. Clearly these snacks are meant to be a "sometimes" food -- and dammit, sometimes you just want something that is full fat! And because it is a light ice cream, it does not have the same mouthfeel as the "old" Oreo ice cream had, nor the same full taste. There doesn't seem to be any flavor from the Oreo bits in it, and even the vanilla is wimpy and weak. (Yet the package also says "not a light food." So the cookies are full fat, maybe? Who the hell writes the package copy, anyway? Politicians?)
Thus, once again, about all I can really say for the ice cream is that it's cold. So we've come full circle here, haven't we?
Overall, I will say this fares slightly better then the Breyers version, but I still liked the first version the best. It's just sad that it's not satisfying. If I am going to spend 200 calories on ice cream -- and a relatively small portion of ice cream, at that -- you can bet I'm going to choose a premium full fat option over this one. Really, what's the point of sinning if you don't enjoy it?
Sorry, Klondike, but I'm not impressed. I will not buy this item again.
Check out On Second Scoop's review here.
PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket
PRICE:
$3.99
CALORIES:
200 calories per cookie sandwich.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
klondikebar.com
