*Hi there! Super excited to have a guest post~ here on Ampersand. Just like how I love sharing cool new things with you, I love when people share awesome ideas/tips/events with me! Meet my friend & roomie, Haley–ice cream enthusiast & fan of Ampersand. Y’all can follow her on Insta here. 

It’s the middle of summer, and nothing’s better than a nice, cold ice cream. A few times during the summer I’ll actually just have ice cream for dinner and call it a day (because I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want). However, I really do try to stick to a healthy diet so my ice cream indulgences are minimal, but there’s been a surge of healthy ice cream options so I decided I would try some of the different brands and flavors. I was super excited when Kasia asked me to write a review for the blog! Here are some of my favorites & my honest thoughts about them. 

Halo Top

Halo Top is the brand that put healthy ice cream on the map, in my opinion. I’ve tried the Birthday Cake and the Peanut Butter Cup flavors. Both are sweet and taste like their designated flavors. However, the Birthday Cake flavor left a weird taste in my mouth after eating it, so I prefer the PB Cup. The texture of Halo Top is airy and fluffy, less hearty than regular ice cream or even fro-yo, which makes it a lighter treat. But these flavors were so sweet! Which is actually a good thing because I can only eat one serving (¼ cup) at a time, so no over-doing it with this one. On the downside, it is pretty pricey and can run $6 for a pint unless it’s on sale, which is a little expensive for just a pint of ice cream. My rating: 

• Flavor: 9/10
• Texture: 8/10
• Bang for your buck: 6/10
• Similarity to “real” ice cream: 7.5/10

Enlightened

My grocery store didn’t have a huge selection of Enlightened flavors so I went for the Brownie & Cookie Dough flavor because cookie dough is my absolute favorite (and I figured some brownies couldn’t hurt). The flavor was not overly sweet and the texture was super creamy, almost custard-like which I thought was more ice-creamy than Halo Top. However, I was disappointed that there were only about 5 pieces of cookie dough in the whole pint, especially since that’s why I bought that particular flavor. Ratings: 

• Flavor: 7/10
• Texture: 8/10
• Bang for your buck: 8/10
• Similarity to “real” ice cream: 8/10

Breyer’s Delights

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXBWxG4l0B7/?taken-by=breyers

Breyer’s Delights only came out in early July–I saw some buzz about it on Twitter and when I saw it in the grocery store I couldn’t wait to try it. The sad thing: there only 4 flavors— Creamy Chocolate, Vanilla Bean, Mint Chocolate Chip and Cookies and Cream. I went for the Cookies and Cream, and I was not disappointed. It didn’t come as a shock that the one ice cream company of the bunch made a healthy ice cream that seemed closest to actual ice cream. I am a huge fan of this one but just wish they had some additional flavor options! Hopefully there’s more to come. Rating (10’s all around!): 

• Flavor: 10/10
• Texture: 10/10
• Bang for your buck: 10/10
• Similarity to “real” ice cream: 10/10

(Kasia here–gotta interject & say that I tried Breyer’s Delight and freaked out because it tasted exactly like regular ice cream. 10/10 recommend). 

Overall I’d say I liked all three of these healthy ice cream brands, I’m excited to try more flavors! They all have a solid amount of protein, the flavors I tried range from 70 to 130 calories per serving and are all low in sugar. While Halo Top gets a lot of the hype, I’ll probably stick to the Breyer’s because it really feels like I’m treating myself to ice cream, but without the guilt! &.

*Kasia again! Want to guest post on Ampersand? Shoot me an email– contactampersandblog@gmail.com.