So when the craving strikes, I’m heading to the market for thebest store-bought pintI can find.
Picking up a perfectly sweet, chocolaty, and scoopable pint is not as straightforward as you might think.
I sampled each dessert all on its own, straight from the freezer.
Photos: The brands. Design: Eat This, Not That!
I considered each ice cream’s looks, texture, flavor, sweetness, and overall mouthfeel.
Unfortunately, the flavor and texture fell short of expectations in this test.
I paid $7.49 for a 1.5-quart tub.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The color was medium brown, not as dark as some, but not the palest.
The taste:Unfortunately, this ice cream was downright icy.
So much air was incorporated into the dairy that it had large ridges and air gaps when scooped.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The 1.5-quart tub cost me $9.49.
The look:Edy’s had among the lightest brown color of any ice cream I sampled.
It’s airy and easily scoopable and doesn’t produce quite as pronounced ridges as Breyers when scooped.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The taste:Unfortunately, the chocolate flavor was lacking in this ice cream.
It tasted more like a low-quality, cheap milk chocolate bar than premium ice cream.
The texture was delightful: light, fluffy, and just melty enough.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
I paid $12.99 for a 1.5-quart tub.
The look:This ice cream had visible ice clinging to the surface when I opened it.
This pint contains chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies and swirls of chocolate pudding ice cream.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It has the most sugar per serving of any in this test but slightly less fat thanHaagen-Dazs.
I would have loved more chocolate cookie chunks in the mix.
Haagen-DazsChocolate Ice Cream
This classic pint fromHaagen-Dazsdoes not skimp on richness.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
A 14-ounce container cost $6.89.
For this reason, it’s a crowd-pleasing option for every kind of ice cream eater.
The egg yolks and cream lend themselves to a perfectly satisfying bite.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
A pint cost me $10.19.
The look:This ice cream is dark and dense and does not mess around in the chocolate department.
The pint is more compact and heavy than the fluffier quart-sized containers from Edy’s and Breyers.
The taste:Dark chocolate fans will be pleased by the intensity of this dessert.
Its chocolate falls right at the sweet spot between fluffy and dense.
A 48-ounce container cost $8.69.
It was on the verge of melting around the edges, but the center was firm.
The taste:The chocolate flavor is milky but rich.
It’s super creamy and not overly sweet.
