Halo Top Is Changing Their Recipe

Ah, Halo Top. The ice cream that leaves you thinking, “Was that actually healthy, or have I just been bamboozled by a capitalist marketing scheme?” In truth, the ice cream does have more protein than your average ice cream with 24g of protein per pint (instead of roughly 15) and 20g of fiber (instead of roughly 0) which, as I’m told, is called “Getting Those Macros.” This has made Halo Top the ice cream of gym bros, bodybuilders, and anyone looking for a debatably healthier, higher protein alternative to classic ice cream. However, Halo Top has apparently seen a decline in sales over the past few years. The reason? People like how creamy ice cream is and Halo Top lacks, well, cream. In addition, once companies like Breyers and Ben & Jerry’s started releasing (significantly creamier) Halo Top-esc ice creams of their own, Halo top had to pivot like Ross from Friends and find a way to compete.

And y’all, they DID IT! How? By replacing the skim milk in their ice cream base with “ultra-filtered milk” in order to create a creamier ice cream base. This ultra-filtered milk supposedly has less sugar and more protein than regular milk. The first flavor they released with the new recipe is their new Chocolate Cake Batter flavor (just in time to celebrate Halo Top’s 10^th birthday), and they are continuing to roll out the new recipe version of all of their other flavors gradually over this spring.

This leads us to the question of the day: Is it actually creamier?

A news reporter in Boston actually tried the new recipe side by side with the old one this week and noted that it was, in fact, creamier. It was so creamy that they even skipped the obligatory microwave thaw I’m told was necessary with the previous iteration of Halo Top.

Having had Halo Top once or twice, I remember it being a surprisingly good dessert, but certainly not as good as real ice cream. However, I really want to try it again now that it’s ~new and improved~ to see if it can begin to measure up to the golden standard that is good ol’ fashioned ice cream. Will the Halo come out on Top? I’ll keep you posted.

H/T Food Dive