Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream really is Purely Decadent

I have been wanting to try Soy Delicious' Purely Decadent Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream for months, but as much as I was interested, I couldn't justify the expense, or the calories. 

At 230 calories a half cup, its significantly higher calorie than ice cream I generally allow myself. After all, with the extra caloric value of gluten-free products, I try to stick with sorbets or chemical free, low calorie ice creams like Bryer's. And while I can walk past favored Ben and Jerry's flavors with hardly a turn of my head, there's something about the words "gluten free cookie dough" that stops me in my moose tracks. 

Yes, I've resisted temptation time and time again. But after munching on a salad while my boyfriend and his family ate the most amazing smelling pizza - the kind that makes the smell of oregano and garlic linger in the air for hours after the last piece had been gobbled up - I decided enough was enough. I deserved a treat too, darn it. 

Okay, okay, but how was it? 

My first few bites were... admittedly a little disappointing. Between the soy base of the ice cream and the rice base of the cookie dough, there was a distinct "this is fake" taste that I didn't immediately care for.

 

As I pondered how those gluten-free cookie dough balls would taste in regular ice cream, something funny started to happen. Within a few spoonfuls, my taste buds had realigned to the soy taste and I soon found I was enjoying the product; without a doubt, it really did taste like ice cream. 

A fantastic gluten free treat, the cookie dough pieces are nestled in vanilla ice cream with generous flakes of chocolate mixed in. Soy Delicious calls its new line of premium dairy free ice cream "Purely Decadent" and indeed it is.  While it's certainly not an everyday treat (says the girl who had a bowl two days in a row...), the website is quick to point out that it has 65% of the calories of premium dairy ice creams - a serving of Hagan Daaz, for example, hovers around 400 calories - and is cholesterol free, free of trans fats, made with certified organic ingredients, and is certified vegan. 

The Turtle Mountain website - the makers of soy delicious and other fine dairy free products - offers a table that clearly marks off the allergens in their products and makes finding great gluten free, non dairy ice creams and yogurts a breeze. 

That in and of itself is "purely decedent", the great flavor and the advent of gluten free cookie dough is a pretty fantastic added bonus, though.