This may be old news to some Halo Top enthusiasts and dairy-free ice cream fans, but a few weeks ago the popular low-calorie, low-sugar, high-protein ice cream brand released dairy-free versions of a few of their most-liked flavors. The list of dairy-free options includes flavors such as Birthday Cake, Candy Bar, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Oatmeal Cookie and Pancakes & Waffles, among others. Though these dairy-free pints were released earlier this year, they have now made their way into a few grocery stores in Charlottesville. I decided to try out a few flavors to see how they compare to their original counterparts and to confirm whether or not they are worth the hype and anticipation surrounding their release.
First of all, ever since the original Halo Top ice creams came out, much discussion and debate surrounded the dessert. Each Halo Top pint’s shockingly low-calorie count and promise of tasting like real ice cream has led many to try it and decide for themselves whether or not they are a fan. Even amongst people I know, some absolutely love Halo Top and some are not able to find it comparable to more traditional ice cream.
Personally, I am fairly impressed with Halo Top’s original ice cream and think it is a quality product that tastes good while containing easily identifiable ingredients. Therefore, I had pretty high expectations going into my taste test of the dairy free flavors.
When I heard that Halo Top was releasing dairy-free flavors, I was excited. Since not everyone consumes dairy for various reasons, it is wonderful that there is now another dairy-free ice cream option in the market and one that offers Halo Top’s low-calorie, low-sugar, high-protein promise.
Halo Top’s dairy-free ice creams are made with coconut milk as the dairy alternative. They are all low-calorie and low-sugar. Truthfully, the dairy-free versions do not offer as much protein as the original pints. They contain 12g of protein per pint versus the original’s 20-24g per pint. Still, 12g per pint is more protein than other leading non-dairy ice creams offer. On average, Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy flavors and other dairy-free ice cream brands like So Delicious offer only 8g of protein per pint.
My first stop on the hunt for the elusive dairy-free pints was Kroger in Barracks Road Shopping Center where I was able to track down a few dairy-free flavors stocked away in the organic freezer section. There I picked up a pint of dairy-free Chocolate Covered Banana ice cream. Next, I went to Whole Foods where I found a much wider variety of flavors in stock. After hungrily looking at all of the options, I selected a Sea Salt Caramel and an Oatmeal Cookie pint.
Having now tasted all three flavors, I would rate the Chocolate Covered Banana pint 3.5 out of 5 stars. When I opened it up it looked like chocolate ice-cream with a very tiny swirl of chocolate syrup ribboned throughout. I was initially very impressed by the texture. It was creamy in a light and fluffy sort of way. The taste was also good overall. The banana flavor was not overpowering although it did have a bit of a sweet, artificial banana taste to it even though it is made with natural flavors.
The banana was definitely secondary to the chocolate flavor which was tasty and not too sweet. I would give it only a 3.5 rating because the chocolate syrup ribbon was just not substantial enough to even really be included as part of the ice cream flavor and while the flavor and texture were good, I do not know that I would want to eat the whole pint in one sitting.
Next, I would rate the Sea Salt Caramel pint as a 4 out of 5. This was the most creamy of the three flavors I tried. The ice cream had a good amount of caramel swirled throughout and tasted subtly of caramel. Though this pint was very good overall, it was not quite the same as the original Sea Salt Caramel version. The original Sea Salt Caramel is my favorite flavor that Halo Top sells and while the dairy-free version is definitely a good product, it differs slightly in taste from its original counterpart. I think the fact that this pint was made with coconut milk instead of dairy was more clear to me than it was in the other two flavors I tried. It still tasted great but just not the same as the original version.
Finally, I would give the Oatmeal Cookie pint a solid 5 out of 5 stars. You would never know that this ice cream was dairy-free — the taste and texture were absolutely great. Like the original oatmeal cookie flavor, this ice cream tastes like cinnamon and cookies and contains little bits of chewy oatmeal throughout. It was just as good as its original dairy version — if not better. I am not surprised that it was the last pint of its kind available at the store when I went. Additionally, it would be easy to eat this whole pint at once — at least for me.
There are still many other dairy-free flavors to try and based on these three, I would absolutely be interested in trying more. If you are dairy-free or if you are a fan of the original Halo Top ice creams, dairy-free Halo Top is definitely worth a try.
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