The first time I went to Santa Barbara, a beautiful Southern California coastal town, I visited McConnell’s ice cream. I had heard about the longtime ice cream shop, and it truly lived up to its reputation. The flavors were fun and delicious and the ice cream had the perfect texture—rich and creamy without going overboard. In the years since, McConnell’s has opened shops in other parts of SoCal and started selling its pints in grocery stores. The good news is nothing has been lost in translation during the expansion. The ice cream still slaps.
I still stop in a McConnell’s location from time to time and will pick up a pint at the grocery store on occasion. I honestly wait for it to go on sale, since it can run $9 to $10. It’s worth every penny, but I’m nothing if not thrifty. So when I spotted McConnell’s at my local Costco, I was elated. A variety pack of four half-pints goes for just $13.99, a steal for gourmet ice cream! My husband and I regularly spend that on a single visit to an ice cream parlor.
McConnell’s Ice Cream Variety Pack
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Price: $13.99 for four half-pints
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Why I Love It: McConnell’s makes truly delicious ice cream, and this pack contains its most popular flavors at a fraction of the cost at other stores.
Why I’m Excited About McConnell’s Ice Cream at Costco
I remember McConnell’s appearing at Costco once a year or two ago with a See’s Candy collaboration. It was short-lived and I missed it completely. There’s been no sign of the ice cream in the frozen aisle since … until now. And I’m much more excited about this release, since it features two of their best-selling and best-tasting flavors.
The variety pack, exclusive to Costco, contains four half-pints of ice cream. Two pints are Sea Salt Cream & Cookies, a slightly grown-up version of classic cookies & cream flavor. The vanilla base has a light saltiness that is so very good against the sweet ice cream and cookies. Speaking of cookies, instead of crunchy chocolate cookies, the ice cream contains crumbled Guittard chocolate chip cookies. It’s like if you took the experience of dipping a homemade chocolate chip cookie in milk and turned it into ice cream (therefore making it 100 times better).
The other two pints are another popular flavor, Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Vanilla ice cream is swirled with local strawberry preserves and flecks of bittersweet chocolate. It’s a flavor that’s pretty unique to McConnell’s and a classic for a reason. It’s also a personal favorite.
The four half-pints are priced at $13.99, a great deal compared to a single pint for $10. It’s the kind of price point that allows me to indulge in really, really good ice cream on a more regular basis without breaking the bank.
As it always goes with Costco, availability and the exact price will vary from location to location. If you don’t see McConnell’s at your local store, keep checking, and consider leaving feedback at customer service requesting they stock this delicious ice cream.
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