Edy's/Dreyers Overloaded Ice Cream

[Laura D.]

Today I picked up two flavors of Edy's (Dreyers in the West) "Overloaded" style ice cream--Cookies and Cream and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. Apparently this is a new product that is supposed to be more chock-full of mix-ins than typical ice cream. While I can't comment on whether that claim is true, given that I've only just tasted the two flavors thus far and haven't delved deep into the containers, what I can say is this stuff is amazing. First of all, it is supposed to be a soft ice cream (not like soft serve, but a softer consistency than regular, right out of the freezer ice cream). I didn't realize this at first, and when I was in the check out line and say the "soft" statement on the label I almost returned it to the freezer without purchasing it, as I found the Edy's Cyclone ice cream, intended to replicate soft serve in consistency, to be incredibly chalky and artificial tasting. The Overloaded was totally different--smooth, not-artificial tasting, (despite the fact that there are probably some chemicals in there keeping the product soft), and incredibly creamy. Secondly, I was impressed with the nutritional information for this ice cream. The fat and calorie contents of each flavor I purchased, though more so the Cookies and Cream than the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, were similar to that of Edy's Slow Churned Light Ice Cream. The Cookies and Cream has 110 calories and 3.5 grams of fat per serving, and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup has 140 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving. Given that this style of ice cream is supposed to have more of the "good stuff" in it, I was surprised to see that, nutritionally speaking, it was actually less troublesome than Edy's regular ice cream. Finally, I have never seen this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup flavor offered by Edy's in any of their other styles and since this is one of the flavors of ice cream I tend to get when going to an ice cream shop, etc, I figured it was worth buying and trying.

Anyway, just curious to see what others thought. Hopefully someone else will buy it and like it, as I'd hate for it to be discontinued (though my waistline would probably appreciate that)! Thanks

[janethepain]

I just noticed this stuff for the first time during my lunch break today. Maybe the reason it's not as calorific and dense is that they pump a lot of air into it? I would suspect that's how they're marketing it as 'soft'. I had the Edy's American Idol cake flavor ice cream, and let's just say that's the only ice cream I have ever managed to despise.

[Laura D.]

Jane,
I think that is possible given that the container felt a bit light to me. However, I was mentioning this product to my dad the other day and he said that if the product truly had more "stuff" in it than other ice cream, perhaps some of the "stuff" is taking up the place of the ice cream, with the stuff being less calorically taxing than the ingredients in the actual ice cream would be, thus resulting in a lower calorie and fat load than might otherwise be expected. So basically, does having X number of extra cookies equate to less fat than the ice cream ingredients that otherwise would have filled the space?

I see where he is coming from...not sure if it is accurate but I think it could be possible. Regardless, I still defend the idea that this product is mighty tasty!

[Mandymac]

It's totally the air--these types of ice creams have way more air than "superpremium" brands like Haagen-Daaz. The candy is probably the most calorically dense thing in there. I also assume they have some sort of ingredient engineering as well.

[ipsedixit]

Don't you have to know the weight of each of the servings for the different brands (Edy's v. Dreyers) before you can say which one has less (or more) fat and calories?

[janethepain]

This is true - I guess the way to know for sure is to look at the weight of a serving size (I'm guessing it would be half a cup). So compare the densities.

I think the add-ins add a lot more calories than the ice cream part. Like those cookie dough hunks? Jeeeeez.

[Laura D.]

But think about how much more space 200 calories worth of cookie dough chunks or oreos would take up as opposed to 200 calories worth of dairy/cream base. Not that Edy's ice cream base is made entirely of cream, but if it were then 200 calories of that base would only equate to a volume of 4 ounces/ 1 quarter cup. I would think that 200 calories worth of cookie dough chunks (the commercially manufactured kind, and not actual cookie dough) would take up more space than this. Just an idea...have no idea if there is any fact behind it!

[janethepain]

I may be wrong, but I think 200 cals of cookie dough chunks would take up a lot less space than 200 cals of ice cream (especially Edy's). Those cookie dough chunks are basically hunks of oil and sugar, which is why I try to stay away :(

[julesrules]

Agreed, cookies and definitely peanut butter cups are going to be more calorically dense than ice cream. Oreos are 55 calories each, that volume of ice cream would not have as many calories.

[Laura D.]

True, but "regular" Edy's is not a superpremium product, so that doesn't really explain why this overloaded variety would stack up better from a nutritional standpoint than say full-fat vanilla Edy's. I do agree on the ingredient engineering, and I do also agree that the base of this ice cream is probably not of the highest quality, but I'm okay with that because it is still delicious!

[dietfoodie]

Wow, thank you for posting about this! I looked up the Dreyer's version and I can get it locally -- I'm very excited to try it. Of course, the flavor that has me drooling, the peanut butter, is almost as bad as regular ice cream points-wise, but hey, I'll devour chocolate brownie fudge just as quickly!

[LAWoman]

Wait till you taste the Butterfingers flavor. Frozen crack!

[Laura D.]

That's exactly how I described this ice cream to a friend...frozen crack!