Everyone remembers their first time. Picture it now. Remember the anticipation in the air and the buildup of excitement. Some people were so affected, they got poetic. Whether you were driven to compose poetry afterward or not, everyone can agree that their first taste of Speculoos Cookie Butter was a life-changer.

For those of you who thought you were done with cookie butter-firsts, get ready. In August, Trader Joe’s released Speculoos Cookie Butter Ice Cream. I repeat Cookie Butter Ice Cream. No more painful attempts at melting cookie butter in the microwave and pouring it over vanilla ice cream. Instead, for $4.49 you can buy a quart of vanilla ice cream with cookie butter swirls that would make the gingerbread man proud.

For those of you new to the cookie butter game, here is a quick summary. Speculoos Cookie Butter is a spreadable version of the caramel-ly ginger-y Belgian Speculoos cookie. Once released, it quickly gathered a cult following and Trader Joe’s followed up with the release of a crunchy version of the spread as well as a Speculoos Cookie and Cocoa Swirl (basically Nutella + original cookie butter). Which leads us to its newest magical concoction: Cookie Butter Ice Cream.

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Photo by Becky Hughes

The texture of the sweet, sweet cream is gritty, as one would expect due to the abundance of cookie butter swirls, yet lacks actual chunks of cookies. But so far I don’t hear anyone complaining. The grittiness is a small price to pay considering two of the universe’s most wondrous creations have come together to form one. And I am not the only one raving. All over the internet, bloggers are going crazy.

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Photo courtesy of whatsgoodattraderjoes.com

Trader Joe’s humbly refers to it as a “miracle of milk transformation” and challenges all die-hard fans to create a cookie butter milkshake. Once you have completed that challenge check out these 12 other ways to mix up your cookie butter experience.

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Photo by Kirby Barth

If sweets aren’t your thing (shame on you), but you still appreciate Trader Joe’s for its many other genius ideas, check out this website full of reviews of Trader Joe’s products written by people that promise they aren’t affiliated with Trader Joe’s.

Addicted to sugar and need another outlet? Check out these links: