Your Next Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

I went to Atlanta recently to visit my sister who insisted that she take me to Jeni’s Ice Cream. I love Jeni’s so I happily obliged, but we weren’t going just to get a scoop of chocolate ice cream. As crazy as it might sound, if there’s one area I love experimenting in with flavors, it’s ice cream. The wilder, the better (ask me about sea salt ice cream some time). Which meant this trip to Jeni’s would be perfect for me because we were going to try their Everything Bagel ice cream.

Everything bagel seasoning… the stuff made up of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, and salt? Yeah, that everything bagel seasoning, except now in ice cream form. I know this all sounds ridiculous, so you gotta bear with me for a moment. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and savory that such few things can achieve. The ice cream itself is a cream cheese base, and the seasoning is mixed right in for an extra crunch.

Right off the bat, I’ll go ahead and get the obvious question out of the way: yeah, you can taste the garlic. It’s a super strong, overpowering flavor (in a good way of course). And yet…it works. I wish I could fully explain it! Admittedly this was the first time I think I’ve ever eaten cold garlic, let alone frozen garlic, so it was a shock at first. But after two bites, I was used to it and kept going back for more. The seasoning mixed with the cream cheese ice cream felt just like eating an extra cold bagel (a waffle cone made for a good substitute, in this case). Eating it made me feel like “why haven’t I been eating ice cream like this this entire time?”. It begs the question of what else could we be mixing into ice cream? I find myself tempted to drive to my nearest Trader Joes to pick up a bottle of their ‘Everything but the Elote’ seasoning just to see how well cumin works with vanilla… maybe chocolate instead.

When mentioning this ice cream to people since, I’ve definitely been met with responses of disgust which I can accept. However, if you’re a fan of ice cream and everything bagel seasoning separately, I urge you to give this ice cream a try before you swear it off. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised. Personally, I can’t wait to get back to Jeni’s to get another scoop.