Haagen-Dazs - Heaven Cold Brew Espresso Chip Ice Cream + Coconut Cones - Oct. 30, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Haagen-Dazs 
Heaven Collection - Cold Brew Espresso Chip Light Ice Cream
Good + 
Weight: 1/3 cup (60 g.) / 14 fl. oz. (414 mL) in total container
Calories: 110 calories in 1/3 cup serving (1/2 suggested serving)
Cost: $1.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Sprouts Farmers Market
Coconut Cones 
Good ++
Weight: .636 oz. (18 g.) / 5 oz. (144 g.) in total package/box of 8 cones
Calories: 90 calories in 1 cone 
Cost: $3.99 for 1 package of 8 cones
Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Waffle Theme Week, including several waffle (ice cream) cone-related chocolates.

Today's Haagen-Dazs* Cold Brew Espresso Chip Light Ice Cream was part of the company's* "Heaven Collection" (with approximately half the fat, and lower calories). 

Typically low-fat or low-calorie ice creams contain extra ingredients, such as one or more vegetable gums. Thankfully this light ice cream flavor did not. (Haagen-Dazs has, historically, offered high-quality ice creams with shorter ingredient lists.)

This espresso ice cream had a creamy texture and relatively subtle roasted coffee and chocolate chip flavors. 

Ingredients: Ultra-filtered skim milk, skim milk, cream, tapioca syrup, cane sugar, chocolate (cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), egg yolks, coconut oil, coffee, Vitamin A palmitate. 

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk, egg and soy ingredients" 

Coconut Cones
I paired today's ice cream with some great-tasting, waffle-style ice cream cones. These gluten free and dairy free Coconut Cones were made in Thailand and sold in the U.S. under the Sprouts Farmers Market label.

The cone was large enough to fill with the Haagen-Dazs Coffee Chip ice cream along with (on top of) a layer of toasted walnut pieces, toasted coconut chips + dark chocolate pieces. 

I loved the short ingredient list (see below) for these honeycomb patterned waffle-style cones, as well as the crispy texture and authentic coconut (milk and sugar) taste. For a (gluten-free) ice cream cone, it had surprisingly delicious, rich flavor. 

There were no vegetable gums, stabilizers or other extraneous ingredients. (And thanks to very secure packaging, not one cone was broken.)

Ingredients: Coconut milk (extracted from coconut meat), rice flour, coconut sugar, egg, sea salt.

Allergen-related information: "Contains: tree nuts (coconut), egg."

*Haagen-Dazs was once an independent company. Pillsbury bought Haagen-Dazs back in 1983. Later, in 1999, Pillsbury merged with Nestle. According to a Reuters news story (in 2019), Nestle owns the rights to Haagen-Dazs in the U.S., while General Mills sells the brand "in non-U.S. markets." This ice cream was listed as being distributed by "Nestle Dreyer's Ice Cream Company" in Oakland, California.

Note: For waffle cone fans, Haagen-Dazs also offered (at the time of this write-up) a Strawberry Waffle Cone flavor as part of their Heaven Collection (with "chocolatey cone pieces"). I would have gladly featured this flavor today, the waffle cone pieces contained wheat (this flavor was not gluten-free).

Sprouts - Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt (bar) - Aug. 1, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Sprouts 
Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt (bar) 
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week(s). 

Today's Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt (bar) was manufactured exclusively for Sprouts Farmers Market (a retail chain based in Phoenix, AZ).

The aroma notes included: subtle fruit (tart red apple, dried persimmon, faint lemon peel), tart green (sorrel, sour grass, oxalis) and bittersweet dark chocolate.

This bar had a fresh, sweet dark chocolate with hints of faint fruit (cherries with orange and a dollop of sour cream) and and the perfect amount of salt (enough to create layered flavor, but not too much). The nutty flavor note (tiny almond bits) showed up in the latter half and this flavor extended into the finish.

Ingredients: Organic cane sugar, organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa butter, organic almonds, sea salt.

Allergen-related information: Contains almonds. "May contain milk, hazelnuts and peanuts."

Sprouts Farmers Market - Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola (with honey) - June 26, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sprouts Farmers Market

Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola (with honey)

Good - Good +

Weight: 1 cup (60 g.) (2 servings) / 12 oz. (340 g.) in total package

Calories: 240 calories in 1 cup (2 servings)

Cost: $5.99 for 1 package

Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Bees and Trees Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate and Red Fruit Theme Week. (The red fruits featured today were cherries and red plums.)

Today's Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola was made for Sprouts Farmers Market(s) (based in Phoenix, AZ).

This granola had a light, satisfying crunchy texture and was full of sweet chocolate and oat flavors, with spikes of dried cherry. This granola also was sweetened with honey. (Thank you bees.) 

I enjoyed 1 serving of this dark chocolate granola for breakfast. Later in the day I enjoyed a second serving, in the form of a tasty homemade ice cream parfait with this granola as one of three layers. 

The other two layers were: 1.) vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate fudge ice cream with a touch of whiskey, and 2.) red plums--freshly picked from a tree, washed and simmered with pine tree honey to make a red fruit sauce/topping. (Thanks Bill for sharing your plum harvest/windfall.) Bees seem to like these plum trees as well.* The fresh, cooked red plums with pine honey was a great complementary flavor and added some rich magenta red color.

Add a few blueberries and you might enjoy this red, white and blue (and chocolate) all-American dessert next week as part of the 4th of July Independence Day holiday here in the U.S.  

*Insects (including bees) and the wind pollinate many fruit trees, including cacao fruit trees and plum trees. Caca trees are primarily pollinated by midges--small insects that resemble tiny flies or mosquitos.

Sprouts - Organic Cacao Nibs - May 15, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Sprouts Farmers Market

Organic Cacao Nibs 

Good +

Weight: 1 TB (14 g.) / 8 oz. (226 g.) in total bar

Calories: 90 calories in 1 Tablespoon

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

These Organic Cacao Nibs were manufactured exclusively for Sprouts Farmers Market (Phoenix, AZ). If you really like chocolate, but aren't wild about sugar, give cacao (or cocoa) nibs a try.

Nibs are the essence of (and the raw material for) chocolate—before cacao beans are ground to a paste and before sugar or other ingredients are added. Their exact flavor depends on their origin, harvest year and fermentation process they went through in their country of origin.

Today's crunchy cacao bean bits came from a blend of countries, including Peru (Peru, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Ecuador). They had rich, uniform, true chocolate flavor (think brownies).

And speaking of brownies, nibs like this would super-charge a batch of your favorite brownies or other chocolate baked goods. They would help balance the sugar level a bit in chocolate, chocolate chip cookies. And they would be great over vanilla ice cream, or just about anything else.

Sprouts - Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas - April 28, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sprouts Farmers Market
Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.51 oz. (43 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 4 pieces
Cost: $missing information for 1 package/box
Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

It's spring; and it's getting warmer by the day. After a few hot days, thoughts turn to cold chocolate desserts, such as today's Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas from Sprouts Farmers Market (Phoenix, AZ).

Slices of real, frozen banana were covered in dark chocolate; and the dark chocolate shell had just the right firmness. It wasn't so flimsy that chocolate shards broke off in your lap (or on your new shirt). But it wasn't too thick either.
These refreshing and rich bites could be enjoyed a la carte—or, if you're feeling fancy, paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dash of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey and some toasted walnuts.