Once dug into, Trader Joe’s Banana Pudding seasonal flavor (available until June) delivers on its description of “salted caramel swirl and vanilla wafer cookie pieces”—for the most part.
- The salted caramel: not very salty, not super sweet. A balanced, regular (not salted) caramel. Modest to moderate amount of caramel (a little less than cover pic).
- The vanilla wafer cookie pieces: the star of the show! A generous amount of cookie and a nice, fluffy texture that also chews well. Taste similar to Nilla Wafers (popular addition to banana pudding recipes).
What’s not mentioned in the description is there is some times where I thought I tasted actual banana pieces. The ingredients list shows banana purée. Maybe the wafers takes on the texture of banana pieces?
Ok so the caramel and wafers are there, but what was the overall experience of the ice cream like?
* The first bite: a charged and a little aggressive caramel flavor with a secondary banana flavor. Not your mildly sweet banana pudding experience.
* The next bites: the perfectly textured wafers kicks in. The ice cream is regular to nice ice cream, while the cookies perfectly resembles banana pudding cookies.
* And after that: some flavor notes of banana purée comes through. The best moments.
* The last bites: the harsh taste from the first bites lingers and cancels out the heavenly textural experience I just had a bit.
* Long after the last bites (5+ minutes): why am i still tasting caramel?
Overall 7.5/10. Damn I love those cookies. Get this ice cream for that alone. I like when I can taste authentic banana also.
However there’s a strong lingering note of (artificial?) caramel that will probably put me off from repurchasing. I don’t actually think the banana is artificial tasting like some have said. I think it’s the caramel. I’m not sure what it is—by itself the swirl doesn’t taste bad.
I recommend:
- Kroger’s Private Selection Tres Leches Cake – If you want a nice light caramel with very generous cake pieces (a little dense at first; becomes gooey)
- Perry’s Banana Graham – a mild banana pudding flavor (banana plus vanilla) ice cream with a unique whipped texture like banana pudding. Less graham cookies than TJ’s but they are tasty like slightly salty pie crust.
- Haagen Dazs banana peanut butter flavor – natural banana taste ice cream with mix ins
- Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey – natural banana taste with mix ins
by Hallelujah289
4 Comments
I enjoyed this review! I will try your recommendations thank you
Is there a way to edit my post? The option doesn’t seem to come up.
* The Haagen Dazs flavor is Banana Peanut Butter Chip. Very obviously a banana purée flavor. The mix ins of peanut butter ribbons and chocolate chip I remember as ok to decent. The banana taste is mellow and pleasing. Banana and peanut butter makes a simple but excellent combination.
> Actually side note if you love banana ice cream taste, banana sorbet ice cream is the easiest ever. Just one ingredient (banana) and blend! Banana is an excellent thickener in smoothies and this is only enhanced when blending from frozen to make sorbet.
* Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey – banana ice cream, fudge chunks, walnuts. I don’t actually remember much about this ice cream but I generally like mix ins from B&J. And I do remember this one has also a banana purée flavor.
I just finished one pint! I have 13 left…
Thanks for the review I was thinking of getting this due to the popularity of this sub but I think I’ll pass on it.