Summertime Treats
Dairy Queen has built the Blizzard into one of the most recognizable fast-food desserts in America, and plenty of flavors still deliver exactly what you want from what’s essentially a little cup and red spoon. Still, not every Blizzard lives up to the promise on the menu, especially when the mix-ins are too sweet, too heavy, or not distinctive enough. With that, come with us as we break down which ones make the summertime more bearable, and which only make the heat worse.
1. Choco Frosted Donut Blizzard
The Choco Frosted Donut Blizzard sounds good at first glance; it uses choco frosted donut pieces and sprinkles, so it sounds great! The thing is, the idea is more exciting than the finished cup. Donut pieces lose their appeal once they’re blended into cold soft serve, especially when you expect a bakery-style bite and get a softer, sweeter mix instead. The sprinkles don’t do enough to keep the flavor from feeling like a novelty, either.
2. Cotton Candy Blizzard
You know, sometimes it’s okay to not combine two winning treats into one. Cotton Candy makes sense on paper if you want something sweet and seasonal, but that very sweetness can dominate the soft serve without giving you much depth beyond sugar. You’d have an easier (and cheaper) time putting food coloring into your sugar bag at home!
3. M&M’S Milk Chocolate Candies Blizzard
The M&M’S Milk Chocolate Candies Blizzard has a familiar candy-shop appeal, but familiarity doesn’t always mean memorable. Oh, sure, the M&M’S bring crunch and chocolate, but they don’t melt into the soft serve, so you’re getting more crunch than you bargained for. Compared with Blizzards that include cookies or fudge, this one can feel surprisingly plain.
4. HEATH Blizzard
Funnily enough, the HEATH Blizzard should be a stronger pick considering the toffee brings a sharper flavor than standard chocolate. In practice, though, the hard candy pieces make the texture uneven, especially when you hit a larger chunk in the middle of all that soft serve.
5. SNICKERS Blizzard
We know, we know! A SNICKERS Blizzard has a lot going for it, but remember what we just said about combining treats? Exactly! Even with classic ingredients, the flavor can feel muddled once everything is chopped into soft serve—no single element gets enough room to stand out.
6. Turtle Pecan Cluster Blizzard
Call us crazy, but we prefer our Turtles right out of the box. Though the Blizzard brings together what you expect (pecans, caramel, and chocolate), it also becomes heavy fast, especially if the caramel pools in certain bites while the pecans dominate others.
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7. Mocha Brownie Mudslide Blizzard
Mocha Brownie Mudslide has a bigger flavor profile than many Blizzards, and it doesn’t take long to see why. It includes brownies, choco chunks, and caffeine-free coffee flavor, and while that combo can be appealing, the coffee note isn’t bold enough for those of us who want a true mocha taste.
8. Strawberry Angel Food Cake Blizzard
The Strawberry Angel Food Cake Blizzard is one of the lighter-sounding options, with angel food cake pieces, strawberry, soft serve, and whipped topping. The issue is that angel food cake is delicate, and that doesn’t translate into a Blizzard. Strawberry helps brighten it, but the result is too strange.
9. Nestlé Drumstick Blizzard with Peanuts
The Drumstick Blizzard has a recognizable ice cream truck name behind it, along with all the delicious Drumstick pieces to ideally back it up. Well, that nostalgia creates high expectations, and the Blizzard format makes it harder to capture the crisp cone-and-chocolate experience that makes a Drumstick so satisfying.
10. Royal Ultimate Choco Brownie Blizzard
The Royal Ultimate Choco Brownie Blizzard is built for serious chocolate lovers: brownie pieces, choco chunks, cocoa fudge, and a fudge center. What more could you ask for, right? It sounds indulgent, but it can also cross into too much of the same flavor without enough contrast to keep each bite interesting.
Contrary to popular belief, a good DQ Blizzard doesn’t need to be complicated to make the day feel a little better, and these next 10 prove why simpler is sometimes better!
1. S’mores Blizzard
The S’mores Blizzard is one of DQ’s best seasonal returns, and it’s easy to see why people love it. It brings together graham, marshmallow, chocolate, and soft serve in a way that feels complete. You get enough crunch from the graham-style pieces and enough sweetness from the marshmallow flavor without losing the creamy base. It’s honestly a slam dunk cup.
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has stayed popular because it gives you exactly what you came for: soft serve packed with cookie dough pieces and fudge. The dough pieces make the Blizzard feel more substantial than a plain candy mix-in, and the chocolate keeps it from being too mild. It’s a classic for a reason, even though we all ignore the warnings about cookie dough when we eat it!
3. Mint OREO Blizzard
Is there any better duo than mint and chocolate? We didn’t think so! Mint OREO works because the cool flavor gives the soft serve a cleaner finish than many richer options. The OREO pieces also add the familiar cookie crunch, and they keep the flavor grounded instead of letting the mint take over.
4. Choco Brownie Extreme Blizzard
If you love chocolate, this is the only Blizzard you should reach for. The brownie pieces, choco chunks, and cocoa fudge make every spoonful rich, but the soft serve helps keep the texture from feeling too dense. It’s a mouthful, yes, but that’s why we’re here!
5. OREO Cookie Blizzard
If you don’t like mint with your ice cream, could we direct you to the OREO Cookie Blizzard? It remains a classic because it doesn’t need a long ingredient list to be satisfying! Crushed OREO cookies give the vanilla soft serve enough chocolate and texture without turning the whole cup into a sugar overload. It’s the best of both worlds.
6. REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard
If you want something familiar, you can’t do any better than the REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup option. Best of all, all that peanut butter brings more depth than plain chocolate. The pieces also blend into the soft serve in a way that gives you creamy, salty, and sweet notes at once.
7. Butterfinger Blizzard
Butterfinger doesn’t sit right with everyone, but it goes down much smoother in a Blizzard. How could it not? It brings a crisp, flaky candy texture that stands out clearly in the soft serve. The peanut-buttery center and chocolate coating also create a bigger flavor than you might expect from a simple candy Blizzard.
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8. Royal New York Cheesecake Blizzard
Hey, we love cheesecake, and we love ice cream, so why not bring them together? This combo actually works, and it feels more dessert-shop than candy-counter, thanks to cheesecake pieces, graham cracker crumbs, and a strawberry-topping center. It’s rich, but the strawberry helps cut through the creaminess enough to keep it enjoyable.
9. Strawberry Cheesecake Blizzard
Need a little more sweet berry in there? Don’t worry—feast on the Strawberry Cheesecake option instead (if you’re in Canada). Strawberry and cheesecake already make sense together, and the soft serve turns that pairing into something creamier without any extra candy pieces.
10. Royal OREO Blizzard
Royal OREO is another Canada-listed Blizzard, but it still earns its spot—it takes the familiar OREO Cookie Blizzard and adds a fudge center. What more could we ask from DQ? That center gives the dessert a little more payoff than the standard version without making the whole thing feel overworked!
