Looking for Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls ice cream? Here's where to find it

Yael Grauer

Ben & Jerry's popular limited-edition flavor is a best-seller

If you've been curious to try it, here's where you can pick up a pint in the Twin Cities.

Inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit in which Alec Baldwin plays NPR guest and baker Pete Schweddy--who describes his family's irresistible ball recipes in innuendo-laced detail (see video below)--this delicious ice cream flavor boasts both rum-covered fudge balls and chocolate malt balls--islands of flavor swimming in a tasty sea of vanilla.

Watchdog organization One Million Moms has been lobbying hard against the flavor due to concerns of vulgarity, and some supermarkets have pulled it off their shelves

Ben & Jerry's PR representative Liz Stewart, who declined to provide names of Twin Cities retailers that have pulled the flavor, says its absence on a store shelf doesn't necessarily mean the store has banned it.

Yael Grauer

Schweddy Balls features chocolate malt balls and rum-flavored fudge balls.

"Some stores just don't have the shelf space because it is a limited batch," she explains. "Only about one-third of our retailers choose to take these limited-batch flavors because they do need extra shelf space room to take it in the first place."

The flavor has also been selling out in many locations, making it difficult for Ben & Jerry's headquarters to direct customers to retailers. To further complicate matters, Ben & Jerry's flavor locator is unavailable for Schweddy Balls since it shares a SKU number with Pumpkin Cheesecake, another limited batch.

Schweddy Balls has been spotted at Kowalski's and Cub Foods in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Scott Eller, owner of Ben & Jerry's Calhoun Commons, points out that the popular flavor is also available at scoop shops around the state. "We never ran out, but we've got tremendous publicity. In the last month I've sold more of that than any other flavor," he says. The flavor is available by the scoop as well.

Perhaps the name Schweddy Balls has been a bit overhyped. "There are plenty of flavors that are pretty edgy. We sell a Karamel Sutra and sold a Clusterfluff. People could get offended by other ice cream flavors too," Eller says, adding that Klondike has a What the Fudge brownie as well. (Incidentally, Clusterfluff's name has since been changed to "What a Cluster.")

WHERE TO FIND SCHWEDDY BALLS:

All Kowalski's markets (when available)

Select Cub Foods stores (when available)

Ben & Jerry's Calhoun Commons, 3070 Excelsior Boulevard,
Minneapolis; 612.927.9900

Ben & Jerry's Eden Prairie, 125 Eden Prairie Center,
Eden Prairie; 952.829.4060

Ben & Jerry's Southdale Center, 6601 France Avenue, Center Court,
Edina; 952.929.4167

Ben & Jerry's Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
Lindbergh Terminal, 4300 Glumack Drive, Suite LT3244, St. Paul