10 new holiday-inspired dairy products to celebrate this season

The holidays are upon us and before you know it, winter will be too. It’s that joyous time of the year where you can find eggnog everywhere and some of our favorite holiday ice creams are back on the shelves. This year, we are seeing new flavors in ice cream, such as gingerbread, pecan pie and chocolate covered peppermint.

To celebrate the festive season, we’ve highlighted 10 of our favorite holiday-inspired dairy products. So grab a bowl of peppermint ice cream and hot chocolate and check out our list.

‘Tis the season for eggnog

HP Hood LLC, based in Lynnfield, Mass., has released a Light Eggnog for the season. The eggnog contains 55% less fat than other eggnogs, according to the company. A 1/2 cup serving contains 140 calories, 4 grams of fat, 21 grams of sugar and 4 grams of protein. It is sold in grocery stores throughout New England, while supplies last. The suggested retail price is $2.89-3.99.

The Farmer’s Cow, Lebanon, Conn., released its limited-edition Holiday Egg Nog for the season.The egg nog is sold in 32-ounce collectible glass bottles. The suggested retail price is $5.99.  A 4-ounce serving contains 326 calories, 13 grams of fat, 44 grams of sugar and 8 grams of protein. The egg nog is available through December, while supplies last. Read more about this product here.

Clover Sonoma, Petaluma, Calif., relaunched its classic organic and conventional eggnogs with a new recipe, including light eggnog. The eggnogs are now made with clean ingredients that contain no carrageenan, cornstarch or corn syrup. They retail for $4.99 for conventional and light quarts; $5.99 for organic quarts; and $6.99 for half gallons. The eggnogs are sold at local independent grocers and Whole Foods Market in California with some distribution in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, Utah and Wyoming.

Fa la la la lots of holiday ice cream

Los Angeles-based Halo Top Creamery launched its new seasonal flavor, Gingerbread House, available for a limited time this December. The ice cream features ginger cookie bites and swirls of icing. This is the second seasonal flavor for the ice cream company. It launched limited edition pumpkin pie in September. A 1/2-cup contains 90 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 7 grams of sugar, 6 grams of sugar alcohol and 5 grams of protein. It contains 360 calories and 20 grams of protein per pint. Read more about this product here.

Blue Bell, Brenham, Texas, released its Christmas ice cream, which features holiday cookies — chocolate chips, snickerdoodle and sugar — combined in a sugar cookie ice cream with red sprinkles and a green icing swirl throughout.The suggested retail price is $7.69 for half-gallon. The ice cream is available in stores for a limited time in the Southeast and Southwest region, including Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina and Missouri.

Cold Stone Creamery, Scottsdale, Ariz., launched new caramel chocolate cheesecake ice cream and brings back its dark chocolate peppermint ice cream for a limited time. As part of the launch the company is offering two special promotional creations:

• Gooey Chocolate Cheesecake – Caramel chocolate cheesecake ice cream, fudge, whipped topping, graham gracker pie crust and oreo cookies
• Chocolate Peppermint Perfection – Dark chocolate peppermint ice cream with Oreo cookies, whipped topping and fudge.

It’s also offering special promotional cakes:

• Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake Wonderland – Layers of Devil's food cake and Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake ice cream with graham cracker pie crust wrapped in fluffy white frosting.
• Chocolate Covered Peppermint – Layers of Red Velvet cake and Dark Chocolate Peppermint ice cream with Oreo cookies wrapped in fudge ganache.

The holiday ice creams and promotional holiday items are available at Cold Stone Creamery November 24, 2017 through January 9, 2018.

Back by popular demand for the season is Utica, Ohio-based Velvet's pumpkin pie ice cream. Also available is pure cinnamon ice cream. Pumpkin pie features rich pumpkin ice cream blended with cinnamon, nutmeg and bits of crispy, flaky pie crust. The pure cinnamon flavor is made from the company's original vanilla ice cream blended with pure, fine-ground cinnamon. The cinnamon ice cream is available year round.  The ice cream is available at grocery stores in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky for a suggested retail price of $6.99 for a 56-ounce package.

Pinkberry, a franchise of frozen dessert restaurants, Scottsdale, Ariz., introduced Pecan Pie Frozen Yogurt, available November 3 through January 4. The festive, non-tart flavor will also be featured as a combination called Perfect Slice O'Pie — made with pecan pie frozen yogurt topped with cinnamon crumble, whipped topping, dulce de leche and candied pecans. 

Festive milk drinks make a splash

The Farmer’s Cow also introduced a limited-edition Peppermint Milk. It features a refreshing cool taste of peppermint candy.  It’s made with whole milk mixed with the sweet flavor of peppermint candy canes. There are no artificial flavors or colors and no high fructose corn syrup. The suggested retail price is $5.99 for a one-quart bottle with four servings. Each serving provides 8 grams of protein.

Like all of the flavors of The Farmer’s Cow Limited Edition Milks, it’s produced in small batches and sold in collectible glass bottles. It has a bright red cap and signature holiday hang tag. It is available for a limited time from early December through the winter holidays, while supplies last. The flavored milk is sold at grocery stores and independent markets throughout Connecticut and Southeastern Massachusetts.

For limited-time only, La Colombe, Philadelphia, debuted its seasonal batch peppermint mocha draft latte, made with roasted cold-pressed Nizza espresso and fresh milk, combined with drk chocolate and peppermint extract.

A 9-ounce serving contains 120 calories and 4 grams of added sugar. The suggested retail pricing is $2.99 for a single can, $12 for a 4 pack, $48 for a 16 pack. It's available at retailers nationwide, online and in La Colombe cafes from November 6, while supplies last.