Dairy Queen's 2024 Summer Blizzards Review: 3 Cheers For Summer's Coolest New Power Players
Leave it to Dairy Queen to send a cold front rippling through the start of the warm weather season and give soft serve fans something to look forward to. This year, the summer Blizzard menu takes off in a major way with three new flavors that offer unique possibilities and potential upgrades to the existing selection of the fast food chain's creamy treats. There's Picnic Peach Cobbler, a hat-tip to summer cookout desserts; Ultimate Cookie, a round-up of three popular store-bought confections; and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party, a chewy, gooey mash-up of peanut butter and chocolate intended to quench your summer swelter. While none of these formulations stray too far from the generally-accepted Blizzard formula, they add just enough razzle-dazzle to throw a sweet snowball onto the coming heatwave.
Rather than just introduce new flavors, the release of these intriguing combinations is accompanied by three returning favorites: Frosted Animal Cookie, Cotton Candy, and Brownie Batter, all of which required the opening of the mythical DQ Freezer. This trove of more than 170 previous flavors will slowly roll out past favorites for a second run. Seeing as how those combinations are a frosty bunch of "been there, done that," we decided to sample the newest flavors to see what they have to offer. After all, if you're going to cool down with a cupful of decadence like a Blizzard, it's best to know what you're in for.
These new combinations pack some creative punch
The idea of a peach pie all blended up in Dairy Queen soft serve is a pretty tempting notion. Picnic Peach Cobbler piles on the pie elements in an effort to capture the sweet Southern essence of an actual pie with ice cream on top, sinking pieces of real peaches along with flaky chunks of actual pie crust pastry into creamy vanilla that turns the a-la-mode on its ever-loving head.
Ultimate Cookie merges chunks of Nutter Butters, Chips Ahoy, and Oreos in its soft serve base, utilizing three Nabisco cookie classics that seldom party together outside of the cookie aisle. And Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party flexes its flavor power by smashing together peanut butter in three wildly different forms: chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter topping, and peanut brittle candy.
None of these blends is an earth-shattering revelation or an overreach that might make DQ diehards shy away from their favorite sweet spot. Introducing a wild flavor like matcha green tea (as the chain has done in China) might have set heads truly spinning. But perhaps it's a good thing the Queen knows what her American subjects prefer as a summertime treat.
Prices will vary depending on your location ... but they'll likely be pretty expensive
These new Dairy Queen inventions are priced at the same rates as the other Blizzards, with price points hovering around $4.99 for a mini, $5.79 for a small, $6.39 for a medium, and $7.09 for a large. These will be different based on the exact location of your DQ outlet, of course, which means you might want to start saving your treat money now. In other words, you're not going to find these sweet heat-relievers at ice cream truck prices, and it'll take a lot of nickels and dimes to reach the $5.00 mark. Better yet, plan on using Apple Pay or a debit card so you have enough to treat your friends, if that's something you're into.
While there's no price hike for the new flavors, there's also no enticing discount to draw your attention, though there is a temporary promo that initially might get you through the DQ doors. You can use the app to take advantage of BOGO Blizzards between April 1 and 14, a substantial discount considering the surprisingly high prices. The charge of $4.99 for a mini reflects price increases throughout the fast food world that can make enjoying treats on an elective basis a price-prohibitive prospect. If you're looking to try all three, consider using the app for the major discount rather than shelling out full price.
This Blizzard warning starts on April 1 and lasts until further notice
Dairy Queen has a tradition of surprising its customers with unique flavors as a summer treat, providing limited-edition mixes that can make the season memorable and a whole lot more enjoyable. Bringing in three new flavors along with three returning flavors may also be a strategic move to get return customers back at the counter for treats they've loved in the past, while also tempting them to try something new for 2024.
Summer flavors also vary by region; instead of bringing in the Ultimate Cookie flavor for the Canada market, DQ is offering a slight variation with the Smarties Cookie Collision (Smarties in this instance are chocolate candies similar to M&M's, not the crunchy, chalky, sugary treats lingering at the bottom of your Halloween bag). This is good news for anyone planning to travel to escape the heat, as you may find even more options to sink a red spoon into.
No end date has been announced for this trip threat Blizzard batch, though they drop on April 1, which the menu seems to designate as the start of summer (oh, marketing!) and are said to be available through summer. That should give fans plenty of time to swing by and try each flavor in separate visits.
The triad is a delicious extension of what Blizzards have offered in the past
Picnic Peach Cobbler introduces a new fruit flavor into the Blizzard collection, something that doesn't happen very often. You may have caught strawberry, banana, pineapple, and coconut in concoctions through the years, and even in secret menu options among the maximized dessert selections the line is better known for. So having a bit of nature tossed into the cup is a novel occurrence. A more logical expansion comes in the form of Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party, which adds another dough-and-batter option to a revolving line of baked good tributes that also includes the return of Brown Batter for the summer.
The most traditional of the three is Ultimate Cookie, which honors the origins of the Blizzard by including Oreo cookies, which were one of the first add-ins available when DQ introduced the whipped treats back in 1985. Of course, Oreo cookies feature as one of the chain's most popular Blizzard possibilities, making this limited-time flavor a build-out of a classic. Whether it becomes as well-loved as the original is up to summer Blizzard fans to decide.
Nutrition doesn't have to be a deal breaker if you order thoughtfully
Cautious treat eaters will be interested to learn that the nutrition of this trio of new flavors runs the gamut, depending on the size you choose. A large Picnic Peach Cobbler Blizzard carries 1,070 calories, 32 grams of fat, and 174 grams of carbs, which is quite a haul for a single serving. Scale back to a mini and the numbers likewise reduce to 350 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 56 grams of carbs — a much more favorable profile. Similarly, a large Ultimate Cookie Blizzard will buy you 1,610 calories, 71 grams of fat, and 219 grams of carbs, which is not ideal if you're keeping your macros in line. But opt for a mini and you can get the math down to 480 calories, 20 grams of fat, and 67 grams of carbs, all much more favorable. And a large Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party, the richest selection of the three, brings along 1,650 calories, 78 grams of fat, and 212 grams of carbs. Go for the mini and you can distill it to 460 calories, 20 grams of fat, and 63 grams of carbs.
The large and mini size Blizzards obviously represent the worst and best case nutritional scenarios. The small and medium sizes are in between, with varying levels of calories, fat, and carbs. Consult the nutrition facts on all three flavors before ordering to make sure you're ready for what you'll get.
Review: Three cheers for summer's coolest new power players
You're in for something special when you dip into any of these three sweet sensations. Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party is the boldest of the bunch, with visible swirls of peanut butter and clumps of chocolate cluttering the soft serve base. It's also the most flavorful, bringing in sweet, creamy satisfaction with every bite, large or small.
Picnic Peach Cobbler is a refreshing delight, offering cubes of pastry and a light peach flavor that doesn't overwhelm or annoy with obnoxious artificial peach flavoring. It's the most natural of the set, a great choice for lovers of moderately-sweet treats. Meanwhile, Ultimate Cookie is a blast of nostalgia, showing off pieces of its cookie mix-ins with colorful sprinkles scattered about in the cup. The one drawback is that all of the cookies end up tasting like one another when scooped into the spoon with the soft serve. When dug out individually for specialized tasting, the party really begins.
It's safe to say you won't be disappointed with any of these three Dairy Queen Blizzard inventions. Depending on your taste at the moment, you might opt for Picnic Peach Cobbler as an after supper sweet and go for Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party as a weekend celebration starter, saving Ultimate Cookie for moments when you need a little treat for your weekday accomplishments. Be warned: trying all three at once is sure to lead to a brain freeze. We know this from first-hand experience.