Review: Dairy Free Halo Top

Vegans and dairy intolerant ice cream lovers rejoiced when Halo Top announced their new line of vegan ice creams!

I, personally, do not follow a vegan diet, however, I'm always open to trying new things, especially if those things are in the form of ice cream! 

The dairy free pints are soy free and made with a coconut milk base. They also incorporate pea protein and rice protein to add a vegan protein punch. 

The flavors range from 280 calories per pint to 360 calories per pint, which is pretty impressive for ice cream made with coconut milk!

They average about 14-16 grams of fat per pint, 52-72 grams carbohydrates (not excluding sugar alcohols), and 12-16 grams of protein. 

I first tried Chocolate which is the lowest calorie of the vegan line coming in at 280 calories. 

Topped with a Square Organics Crisp Bar!
This flavor was just alright to me. I felt like the pea protein lent to a bit of a graininess. It wasn't horrible but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase this pint, whether I were vegan or not.

Just add chocolate.
The next flavor I tried was Oatmeal Cookie. This one I liked better than the chocolate! It had a great cinnamon, oatmeal cookie flavor and oat pieces throughout. I know that some people criticized the oats in the dairy version but I actually like them. I think the addition of mix ins detracts from any effects of the pea protein as well because it was much less noticeable.

The next flavor I tried was Sea Salt Caramel - that has to be good, right? Well..it may have just been this particular pint, but Halo Top really dropped the ball. There was hardly any caramel ribbons so the execution fell flat. The flavor wasn't outstanding and the vegan graininess was still there. I had high hopes. This flavor could be way better if it had more caramel ribbons, so maybe take a gamble and see if you can get one with more caramel!

Sea Salt "Caramel"
Next up, Caramel Macchiato! Again, the caramel ribbons disappointed me. It had a nice, lightly sweet, coffee flavor but the caramel aspect was lacking.

Where is the caramel?
Peanut Butter Cup - please let this be good! Ah, sweet success. This pint actually had ribbons of peanut butter swirled throughout which detracts from the grainier vegan texture. This is definitely in the top 2 ranking for Non-dairy. I would say the flavor is very similar to the dairy version of this flavor! If dairy is not an option for you, this is a great choice!
Peanut Butter Cup!
The highest calorie of them all, coming in at 360 calories - Cinnamon Roll was the one I had the highest hopes for and I was not disappointed this time. It did still have the grainier texture, presumably from the vegan protein sources, but it didn't overtake the great cinnamon flavor, gooey cinnamon roll filling swirled throughout, and chunks of cinnamon roll "dough" studded throughout. This pint takes the cake...er...roll. You get the idea. I rank this number one for the non dairy pints!

All the Cinnayum toppings!
Last and least, yes, least, was Chocolate Covered Banana. I really did not have high expectations for this one because I'm not usually a fan of banana flavored things. (Enlightened Banana's Foster ice cream is my one exception!) The flavor was very artificially banana. It did, however, have a nice fudge swirl although that could have been thicker. There's no such thing as too much chocolate! I did finish the pint and I will say it grew on me a little bit but I would not purchase this flavor in dairy or non dairy. I'm just not a fan.

That Swirl!


Overall Rankings

1. Cinnamon Roll 
2. Peanut Butter Cup 
3. Oatmeal Cookie
4. Caramel Macchiato 
5. Sea Salt Caramel
6. Chocolate 
7. Chocolate Covered Banana

My final verdict is that these pints are pretty good for the macros and being non dairy, however, if you CAN have dairy, the dairy pints have a much more pleasing texture for similar calories.
Do you eat dairy? Do you think you will try the Non Dairy Halo Top or have you already? Let me know!


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