Halo Top Pumpkin Pie Review

Let me preface this review by pledging my faith, allegiance and adoration for full-flavored, full-calorie snacks. If I want a bowl, cone or jug of ice cream, I’ll go all out and get what I want. Calories and fat content be damned. So, when I finally found the highly anticipated seasonal flavor – Halo Top Pumpkin Pie – I didn’t expect too much. I love pumpkin pie, and I love ice cream. But I also love thick, fattening, full on cream ice cream. Halo Top seems to be pretty popular, because of the low caloric count per pint. Let’s see if a healthier ice cream can turn my eye.

I opened it up, and took a big whiff. It smelled cold. Just cold. No pumpkiny scent. No creamy aroma. Just nothing. As it melted a little and got a little warmer, I took another big sniff. It seriously smelled like Band Aids. Not appetizing at all. I wish I could have smelled something festive in this container, but I didn’t.

I took a bite and felt so many things. First, it sort of had the consistency of a piece of pumpkin pie. It was oddly thick for an ice cream. As it rolled around in my tongue, I started realizing there were bits in there. Bits of what – I don’t know. But every bite had them. Is that pie crust…or something resembling crumbles of crust? There’s a LOT of it, making the ice cream not so smooth. In fact, after each bite, I had to chew. I was chewing ice cream. I think there’s too much of this “crust crumble” in there, because it distracts from the pumpkin taste.

Did it taste like pumpkin pie? Yes. The actual flavor is pretty decent. I can taste cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little ginger. It even has a little vanilla kick in it. I can also taste a nice combination of what I would imagine is pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. In each bite, I definitely get pumpkin pie, pie crust (from those obnoxious bits) and whipped cream. This all natural ice cream actually uses the pumpkin pie spices in it, and that’s pretty obvious. Oddly enough, the flavor dissipates rather quickly. That left me a little confused. It comes in pretty strong, but disappears once I swallow. At least there is no weird aftertaste. If you like pumpkin pie, this is true to the flavor, that’s for sure.

This ice cream reminds me of those people on Instagram that constantly post pictures of themselves in the gym – looking very unsweaty and very pose-y. Real ice cream doesn’t need to post daily gym pics, and doesn’t put on lip gloss before a round of Burpees. For 360 calories, I think I’d prefer to actually eat a few bites of pumpkin pie, or non-poser ice cream. Was it good? Yah, it was ok. It had a strong pumpkin pie flavor, and the bits of “crust” were a surprise. Would I buy it again for $5.49? Hell no. I could have gone to Baskin Robbins and scored 2 scoops on a damn waffle cone with sprinkles for that price. Am I worried about being chubby since I refuse to eat low calorie crap? I think my belly can answer that for you.