You know how when you grow up with local-ish chains, you see them so often that you just assume they’re everywhere? That explains my relationship with United Dairy Farmers (known as UDF for short), a small-ish chain of gas stations and convenience stores that operate mainly in Ohio, with additional stores in Indiana and Kentucky.
Their business model would probably be pretty confusing for those unfamiliar with the brand. Sure, they sell gas and have the typical convenience store offerings at hight markups, but as the name suggests, they’re known for their dairy; ice cream, to be exact. But not just in prepackaged form: All UDF stores have ice cream shops contained inside, where they offer several flavors of malts, milkshakes, sundaes, and more, “hand-scooped” by the same lovely associates that run the register. (It might sound weird, but this place legit has the best malts I’ve ever had.)
The brand they use in-store is their own plainly-named “Homemade” brand, which aims for a more “upscale” taste and appearance, and despite the reservations you might have about convenience store ice cream, it’s actually pretty good. Well, better than gas station ice cream has any right to be.
But on top of their Homemade brand, they also offer several additional flavors under their own “UDF” store brand, which are less expensive. They’re still not exactly cheap – cartons retail for $3.99, although they do offer sales on occasion – but are they any good? I got a carton of their Mini Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (courtesy of my wife) to see if I could answer that burning question.
Right off the bat, you probably have the same question that I did: What the hell is the point of the “mini” moniker in the title? Are they just tiny little chunks of ice cream amidst a sea of cream-flavored ice cream? I mean, doesn’t that describe every single cookies and cream ice cream in existence? I was completely baffled at first, until my wife tossed out the suggestion that it might be shrunk down chocolate sandwich cookies. That was a theory that definitely made sense, and I was eager to see if that was the case.
Initially, I was a little disappointed: Right after opening the package, I was met with a sea of white. That’s right, there was nary a piece of cookie to be found. This seems to be a disappointing trend with a lot of ice creams these days, or at least private label ones, but it’s still discouraging to see no matter how often it happens. Is it the nationwide shortage on everything that’s leading to this, or has it always been this way?
But it didn’t take too long to discover that my wife’s hypothesis was indeed correct: The “mini” of the title is referring to the miniature chocolate sandwich cookies placed throughout. They are exactly what you’re picturing, with two chocolate cookies housing a middle full of icing, and have a flavor that should also be familiar to anyone who has had the national brand version of these (which, as a reminder, is actually a rip-off of the true, original chocolate sandwich cookie: Hydrox).
As good as those are, the real surprise is the ice cream itself, which offers up a smooth, rich and sweet creamy taste. And I don’t mean “creamy” as in the appearance (which is just the standard not-too-soft, not-too-hard texture of most store-brand ice creams): I’m referring to the actual taste of cream. I feel like some brands seem to hover more towards a standard “vanilla”, or just try packing the carton with so many cookie bits that the flavor of the actual ice cream doesn’t even matter. But UDF’s version does seem to strive for old-fashioned authenticity, and pulls it off surprisingly well.
While the idea and execution are both good – and while the whole cookies are also supplemented by the occasional standard small cookie bits – there is one foreseeable drawback: Since the cookies are so large, they are only sporadically placed throughout. Now, we’re not talking just three per carton, or anything like that, but let’s just say that you will get plenty of “cream-only” bites. The best way to spread it out is to make each cookie last for two (or three) bites, which honestly just kind of negates the entire idea altogether. Why not just break them down into the typical “chunks” so that they’re spread more evenly throughout?
As for value, there’s not much to be had. They do offer some “buy 2 get one free” sales once in a while, but at their regular retail price of $3.99, the prices are more in line with premium brands, rather than private labels. The taste is definitely good, but despite having a location about a mile away from our home – and despite their legendary malts – it’s a place we never really think about when we’re on the prowl for frozen treats.
It might not be a rousing success, but you have to give it some respect for at least trying something new that makes it stand out (at least visually) among all the other cookies and cream varieties.
Overall: 7/10. This is a solid entrant into the world of cookies and cream ice creams – which happens to be my favorite flavor – in that it offers something relatively unique: Rather than cookie chunks, this one has full-size mini sandwich cookies instead (although there are some smallish chunks throughout). The downside to this is that there are long periods between cookies, so in order to maximize flavor, you’ll have to spread each cookie into multiple bites anyway. The ice cream is very creamy in flavor, as opposed to some that basically just taste like vanilla. Value is nonexistent, however, since this is a convenience store brand, so all of this comes at a premium. It’s worth a look, but not something most people will find reason to constantly keep stocked in their freezer.
