Sugar Savvy

On Tuesday May 13th, participating Haagen-Dazs Scoop Shops offered a free scoop of their Limited Edition Vanilla Honey Bee Flavor Ice Cream. This flavor will be available through December; however, the company has also recently released Vanilla Honey and Granola Frozen Yogurt as part of its permanent frozen yogurt line.

The release of these two honey-flavored ice cream products coincides with Haagen-Dazs’ recent media campaign announcing its donation to bee research from part of the proceeds of the honey-flavored ice cream. At issue are the disappearing bee colonies in the United States. According to Haagen-Dazs, vanishing bee colonies is cause for concern because one-third of the United States’ food supply (including fruits, vegetables and nuts) depends on pollination from bees.

So in support of the honey bees I decided to sample some ice cream.

Vanilla Honey Bee Ice Cream - According to Haagen-Dazs, this ice cream blends creamy vanilla with a touch of golden honey. It is a full fat ice cream weighing in at 270 calories and 17 grams of fat per ½ cup serving. The mouth feel is smooth and creamy; the flavor has a mild note of vanilla, but I struggled to find any honey. Overall, it was good ice cream, but honey lovers should probably look elsewhere.

Vanilla Honey and Granola Frozen Yogurt - The vanilla frozen yogurt is swirled with honey and crunchy granola clusters. It is low-fat frozen yogurt with 200 calories and 4 grams of fat per ½ cup serving. The base of the flavor is the same slightly tangy but smooth vanilla frozen yogurt that Haagen-Dazs offers in their frozen yogurt line. The honey swirl brought an extra sweetness to the frozen yogurt, but once again, did not impart any significant honey flavor. The granola clusters, however, were a nice addition to the frozen yogurt, providing a crunchy counterpart to all the creaminess of the vanilla and honey.