McConnell’s and See’s Are a Match Made in Sweet Tooth Heaven

Santa Barbara’s Original Ice Cream and the Iconic California Candy Brand Team Up For a Limited-Edition Quartet

By Leslie Dinaberg Tue Jul 09, 2024 | 01:08pm

When I read on social media that McConnell’s and See’s Candies were doing a collaboration, my first thought was “We’re in!” And we were definitely all in, throwing caution to the wind and rushing to pick up the limited-edition pints at their flagship store at 728 State Street.

Because I’m a completist, leaving no stone unturned when it comes from trying ALL the flavors, here’s my take on each of them:

See’s Candies and McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams have launched four limited-time ice cream flavors | Photo: Courtesy

Vanilla California Brittle: California Brittle is one of my go-to See’s picks, and the buttery almond brittle covered in dark chocolate pairs really well with the classic McConnell’s vanilla ice cream. I would have liked a better chocolate-to-brittle ratio, but this is definitely delicious and I’ll buy it again.

Coffee with Molasses Chips: See’s Molasses Chips are another go-to favorite and their mashup of both the dark and light chocolate with McConnell’s rich coffee ice cream is perfect. The thin honeycomb wafers are “just right” for adding texture to the creamy ice cream as well as a chocolate crunch. It’s very rich, so a little goes a long way.

Banana Cream with Toffee-ettes: While the notion of banana ice cream wasn’t something that immediately struck my fancy, when combined with the Toffee-ettes — which are crushed and roasted almonds, coated in rich, Danish butter toffee, then See’s milk chocolate and then still more almonds on top — it definitely makes for an unusual but very tasty combination.

Chocolate with Polar Bear Paws: This one was a long shot in my book, as the See’s Polar Bear Paws are not among my long list of favorites, but their combination of caramel, salt-roasted peanuts, and white chocolate, and the addition of a thread of peanut butter swirled in the Dutchman’s Chocolate ice cream were so tasty. This one was actually my favorite of the bunch, partly because the chunkier Polar Bear Paw pieces made for a satisfying texture that worked really well.

I don’t know if any of these flavors will outlast the limited edition time slot, but the Chocolate with Polar Bear Paws one gets my top vote, followed by the Vanilla California Brittle, then the Coffee with Molasses Chips and finally the Banana Cream with Toffee-ettes.

The McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream and See’s Candies collaboration flavors are available only in scoop shops and online at mcconnells.com through the month of July, while supplies last.