I’ve always been a fan of Ben & Jerry’s. When I was little girl growing up in Queens, I remember thinking my great-aunt was so cool because she lived in the city and took me and my brother to a Ben & Jerry’s shop for sundaes. It was pretty much the ultimate for a kid. Later in college, my roommates and I would eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s every night. Chubby Hubby (peanut butter filled, fudge covered pretzel nuggets in vanilla malt ice cream swirled with fudge and peanut butter) was my favorite. So this week when I got invited to a Ben & Jerry’s launch for their new Greek Frozen Yogurt line, I was pretty excited, even more so when they agreed to participate in a giveaway for my readers.
There are four new frozen yogurt flavors: Strawberry Shortcake (strawberry Greek frozen yogurt with shortbread pieces); Raspberry Fudge Chunk (raspberry Greek frozen yogurt with fudge chunks); Banana Peanut Butter (banana Greek frozen yogurt with peanut butter swirls); and, Blueberry Vanilla Graham (blueberry and vanilla Greek frozen yogurt with graham cracker swirls). All of the yogurt flavors are made with Greek yogurt made from the traditional straining process, in case you were wondering what differentiates this line from their regular frozen yogurt line, and has less calories and more protein than their regular ice cream. For example, one serving or half a cup (100 grams) of Strawberry Shortcake has 180 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein as opposed to Ben & Jerry’s original Cherry Garcia ice cream which has 240 calories, 13.5 grams of fat, and 3.8 grams of protein.
But most importantly, how does it taste? If you’re looking for frozen yogurt like Pinkberry, this isn’t it. It’s closer in taste to ice cream, very creamy but not as rich, and with a bit of tang.
Out of the four flavors, my favorite is the Banana Peanut Butter. Banana and peanut butter together can be very heavy, but the slight tartness of the Greek yogurt helps keep it light.
From the tasting event, in addition to the Banana Peanut Butter, I brought home a carton of Strawberry Shortcake for David since he’s a big fan of strawberry ice cream, and as I knew he would, he liked it. David isn’t a fan of frozen yogurt because he considers it “fake ice cream,” but again, this tastes more like ice cream than frozen yogurt. The creaminess is there as well as the sweetness. (If you prefer frozen yogurt that’s less sweet, go for the Banana Peanut Butter.)
All four flavors are being released this month, in addition to new Greek yogurt menu items like smoothies and parfaits (banana parfait pictured at top) at 300 Ben & Jerry shops nationwide. Ben & Jerry’s Greek frozen yogurt won’t replace a Chubby Hubby craving (let’s be real, nothing besides the real thing can), but for a lighter alternative to ice cream, I’m down with their Greek frozen yogurt, especially the Banana Peanut Butter.
Now, what you’ve all been waiting for, the giveaway! Ben & Jerry’s is offering five coupons to one lucky reader of Bionic Bites. One coupon is good for one pint of ice cream or frozen yogurt, so that’s five pints of frozen deliciousness! In addition, they’ll be throwing in some fun Ben & Jerry’s swag.
To enter, simply write in the comments below which Greek frozen yogurt flavor you’d like to try the most, and if you have one, your favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor of ice cream or frozen yogurt. I’ll be picking one person at random. Giveaway ends next Friday (March 2, 2012) at noon. U.S. entrants only. Good luck!
UPDATE (3/2/2012) – Thank you to everyone who participated, but the lucky reader is….EILEEN! Expect an email from me in a few minutes. CONGRATS!
