Welcome to “McDaniel’s Bite-Sized Reviews” | Halo Top Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Dairy-Free Ice Cream
It’s a weekly series we’re calling “McDaniel’s Bite-Sized Reviews!” Every other week, we’ll share a popular food, drink or supplement one of our MNT Registered Dietitians tried, reviewed and rated. With the growing number of products on the grocery store shelves, figuring out which items are getting you the most nutritional bang for your buck can feel overwhelming? Our hope is that we can make grocery shopping at least 0.5% easier!
FYI – these posts aren’t sponsored. They are opinions of unpaid tastebuds.
Check Out Our Past Reviews:
Caulipower Pizza Crust
Sports Research Collagen Peptides
Garden Lites Muffins
What is Halo Top Ice Cream?
Halo Top Ice Cream is a “light” ice cream that was designed to replace regular ice cream while maintaining the same great taste we all love. Halo Top is advertised to have less calories, less sugar, and more protein than traditional ice cream. The sweeteners used to ensure a delicious taste include organic stevia and a sugar alcohol called erythritol. Additionally, Halo Top has a large line of dairy-free flavors that cater to those who are lactose intolerant or who avoid dairy for other reasons.
Why Did We Try Halo Top Ice Cream?
Peppermint ice cream is my favorite holiday food. I had never tried any version of Halo Top Ice cream, but since it was the #1 selling pint of ice cream in the United States in a few years ago, I thought I would finally get on board and give it a go.
Halo Top Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Dairy Free Ice Cream: How Many Stars?
Our 5 Star Rating
Taste: 3/5 stars
The flavor of this ice cream was spot on and comparable to my traditional Peppermint ice cream. I enjoyed the cream to crunch ratio in each bite. What I didn’t love was the texture. It was more like a sorbet versus ice cream. This isn’t surprising since it’s dairy-free and isn’t made with milk! I guess our tastebuds have to pay in some way? In addition, give it some time before eating it. The ice “cream” is rather hard immediately upon taking it out of the freezer, and so I recommend microwaving it for about 10 seconds to soften it up.
Nutrient Density: 4/5 stars
| Halo Top Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Dairy Free Ice Cream | Enlightened White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha | Haagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark Ice Cream |
Ben & Jerry’s, Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream | Breyers low fat mint chip | Breyers frozen peppermint hot chocolate | |
| Serving Size | 2/3 cup | ⅔ cup | 2/3 cup | 2/3 cup | 2/3 cup | ⅔ cup |
| Calories | 110 | 119 | 369 | 396 | 120 | 200 |
| Total fat (g) | 4 | 4 | 21 | 21 | 4 | 10 |
| Sodium (mg) | 105 | 100 | 73 | 85.8 | 50 | 80 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 23 | 22 | 41 | 45 | 23 | 25 |
| Dietary Fiber (g) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Total sugar (g) | 10 | 13 | 36 | 40 | 7 | 16 |
| Protein (g) | 3 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| Price | $1.29/ serving |
$1.32/serving | $1.14/ serving |
$1.56/ serving |
$1.46/ serving |
$0.44/serving |
Value: 3/5
The price per pint of the Halo Top ice cream is pretty similar to the pints of all the other specialty. Buying ice cream in bulk such as the regular Breyers frozen peppermint hot chocolate or getting generic brands would be a cheaper option if your family goes through a lot of ice cream. Unfortunately, Halo Top does not come in larger containers than pints. If having a dairy free or light option is important to you, than this ice cream is probably worth the money for you.
Average Rating: 3.3/5
Where To Find Halo Top Dairy Free Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream
It was quite hard to find this product in the St. Louis area. Per their website, you can find this product at Target, Walgreens, CVS, Dierbergs, Schnucks, and Whole Foods. Chocolate Peppermint Crunch is a seasonal flavor, so it might not be around too long after the holidays (but they do have a ton of other fun flavors year round).
How We Enjoyed Halo Top Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream
In a “smoothie”…holiday style. In preparation for a girl’s evening at a friend’s house, I thought this could be a fun dessert idea. The ratio for my recipe: 1 big scoop peppermint ice cream, 1 shot vodka and a splash or two of milk. This trio of ingredients did NOT disappoint. 🙂