My favorite is a Dove Ice Cream bar with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate coating on the outside.
1
Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches. Superior product.
The Drumstick finishes fifth? Come on. Everyone knows it's the best frozen treat ever.
BIG omission - Snickers (bite size or mini)
3
I always thought of a Fudgesicle as 'frozen chocolate water'. I mention that because the one time I tried that pricey HALO low calorie chocolate 'ice cream' it tasted like a Fudgesicle. I find GH products to be a chemical feast and avoid them
4
Good Humor ruined the Strawberry Shortcake, Eclair and Toasted Almond bars that they sell in boxes of 6 in the supermarket. You can see the ice cream on the bar because the amount of "topping" is so paltry. What a disappointment. Maybe the single bars you get from the truck are different.
3
None of these compares with San Francisco's legendary It's It: a thick slab of good vanilla ice cream, topped and bottomed by 2 oatmeal cookies and then dipped in semi-sweet chocolate.
The best!
6
I was wondering if they would get their sad East Coast hands on the greatest frozen treat! I guess not. Maybe Mark Bittman can fill them in.
1
Best article in the NYT today! Thanks- I needed that!!
4
Sorry, wrong again, Tejal Rao. You must have forgotten your childhood. Fudgsicles are number one and ice cream sandwiches number two.
2
Chaco Taco, though Chip Witch ain't bad.
4
Your comment is underrated. The Choco Taco is an amazing flip on the sundae cone.
1
A word about Klondikes: there are some sold in grocery stores in the folded foil packages that are great - pick your favorite flavor - but in the local gas station markets and corner stores there is a second version that is in a sealed wrapper and these are not so good.
2
Canadian mint ice cream bars. Sadly, they were discontinued years ago. They had a thick hard fudge centre surrounded by mint ice cream and coated in chocolate. Sigh. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I wish they'd come back. Anyone else remember them?
1
The mint flavor is chemical??? This is considered good?
3
Organic artisan mint stinks
The Fat Boy ice cream sandwich, the creamsicle, the Nutty Buddy, the Hagen Daz bar (any flavor combo will do) are all worthy of the top 7
4
No-one is advocating the Push-Up? Peeling off the scraggly little top paper and wrestling with the scrawny plastic tube handle to persuade the recalcitrant core to, in fact, push up? Finally getting that first bite of violent orange, slightly grainy, absolutely wonderful tang? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
10
New York produces a great newspaper, but they do sometimes have to be reminded that there is a West Coast where you'll find It's It.
8
When these "Chipwich" first came out, they were named a "Big Wheel". I assume the company was bought out; however, the taste and size didn't change. They are the best!
My favorites are:
1) Trader Joe's Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches
2) Firecracker
3) Chipwich
1
How does Chipwich not make it on the gas station list?
2
what about the Choco-Taco?
6
While your top seven certainly includes some awesome treats, leaving the creamsicle off the list is a real oversight. The sharp orange offset by the true creaminess is a delight on a hot summer day.
20
Supermarket ice cream sandwiches. No matter how many sprinkles, chocolate fillings or extra textures there is nothing that beats a good old fashioned ice cream sandwich from the supermarket.
5
I tried a Chipwich a while ago and was revolted. Back in the day I loved a Strawberry Shortcake, but I'm going to skip it now to preserve my fond memories and not spoil them with the reality of it. Same with the Dreamsicle. I'll stick to my Outshine Lime or Tangerine bars. Tart and sweet -- and way too addictive.
1
i think this list is awful...much better stuff out there. The skinny cow salted pretzel ice cream bar is better than any of the stuff on this list. Thismis a bery old fashioned, low brow list
2
I can still recall the distant summons of the Good Humor truck, 9 times out of 10 we came away empty, but that 10 % of the time when our Mom's or Dad's came out and allowed us the luxury of choice. Wow !
You never wanted to eat the treat too fast, and summer temperatures prevented you from streching the treat into an hour long obsession.
8
7 treats we do not have out here. What we do have is a local farmer with cows and an ice cream churn. Everything else is ho hum commercial.
11
I'm reading the wrong article. With so many small, good one-off ice cream shops around, I just can't recapture the mindset of my ten-year-old self chasing down the street after the Mr. Chemicalizedtee truck. All I need and want these days is Holy Cow ice cream, in Charlestown, RI. Their stuff is the real deal.
3
Great food writing. Brought back great memories with these on point descriptions. One suggestion for the coffee table book this needs to be: the Fudgsicle, if mistreated, would develop a dried rubbery outer coat, that we had eat past or scrape off. BTW, did you combine your research on this story with another article on the impact of cannabis on taste sensory receptors?
1
Magnum ice cream bars. The Infinity is our fave!
Cheers
irina
6
The Chipwich pales in comparison to the It's It!
21
Agree 100%!
6
You beat me to it. It’s Its are the perfect convenience store freezer ice cream. They’re practically standalone meals. The real question is which flavor. Mint? Strawberry? I usually pick vanilla because it’s the easiest choice to make and it’s delicious.
6
Look, Tejal. It's really simple. You failed the test. The best packaged ice cream treat is an IT'S-IT ice cream sandwich. If you've never had one, I suggest you have your venerable employer the NYT send you out to the Bay area to try, at least one. A hotel stay is not even required their factory is just down the road from SFO in Burlingame. You gotta try it, anything less and you are doing a disservice to your readers!
28
you can get them in NYC, too.
3
Dreamsicles/Creamsicles are nice, too.
My favorite ice cream sandwiches are these, which I've made about 20 times now. Everyone I've shared them with has been amazed. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018812-ice-cream-sandwiches?action=...
2
Choco Taco or bust
9
I think it is safe to say that the Rao got it right -- Chipwich is the NY classic, and after 7 years off market is back. #theorigchipwich. It truly is a NY original. How did it ever go off the market for so long?!!!?!
Good Humor Toasted Almond Bar!
And for Boston only: Richie's Slush.
9
I'm currently living in Pretoria, South and they have the equivalent of the Nestle cone that I used to call a Nutty Buddy. They aren't that big on ice cream sandwiches. I'm heading back to the US for a visit and I am now craving an ice cream sandwich. It's a tough job tasting all those treats but someone has to do it...I eat loads of fruit and nuts 364 days a year but sometimes you have to indulge!
3
The best frozen treat that I have found in years is the Trader Joe's "Gone Bananas." It is a box of sliced bananas, each coated in real chocolate, not chocolate-flavored coating. You can just grab one or two to satisfy your sweet tooth.
2
The chocolate eclair is superior to the strawberry shortcake. A perfect mix of chocolate, vanilla, and crunchies.
18
Out west, the preferred prefab ice cream treat is the It's It. This is an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich dipped in chocolate. The classic ice cream flavor is vanilla, but there are others. It was first sold at Whitney's-at-the-Beach, a long defunct amusement park on Ocean Beach, San Francisco.
17
What is Whitney's at the Beach? We used to go to Playland at the Beach all the time in the 60's. This is where we were introduced to the best ice cream treat of all time, the Its It! The roller coaster that scared the bejesus out of you, Laughing Sal and the Fun House, the intensely foggy summer days (when it was sunny at home in Noe Valley), my dad giving us each $5 and telling us to be back in 2 hours - the best of times.
5
Turkey Hill Drumstick-like confections are hands down my favorite. They have actual ice cream in the cone.
1
I just commented in an article on Mister Softee that the strawberry shortcake bar was my favorite. It is not even an ice cream and is composed of multiple chemicals but it is oh so good.
I also have to put in a vote for homemade ice cream. My father would get up early and go buy ice and rock salt at the ice house in the Bronx. My mother used Junket to make the ice cream mix. My sister and I would take turns with the crank until we couldn't handle it and then my father took over. Mmmmm, good times.
7
Fudgsicles ! The author brought back fond memories of my parents stopping at Dairy Barn to buy fudsicles. I recall sitting in a roasting hot car, savoring my fudgsicle.
13
Was this done this year? Ice cream trucks on the city streets in April or May or in the dead of winter? With all this cold and rainy weather?
1
I absolutely love the Chipwich. I now end my suppers with this amazing cookie ice cream sandwich. The only problem is that it's gone in less than a minute.
4
Coke? Chipwich? Water'll do for me, especially ice cold, than you. A container of mixed nuts, unsalted and organic, from the local food coop is entirely perfect. A long road trip? Ha! I'll make sure to bring along my favorite healthy snacks—like crisp organic apples—in a cooler. Honey Crisp: my current No. 1.
5
Choco Taco by Klondike!
5
Tejal, you put Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake on your short list, therefore, you move up on my short list of favored NYT food writers. Nice work, even if you for got It's Its. ;)
11
Orange Creamsicles. You get the orange iciness of a popsicle on the outside with frozen creaminess in the middle.
36
It's Its! Oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwiches dipped in chocolate. Every time I'm back in the Bay Area, I stop at a gas station for one or two. When Costco in Seattle started carrying cases of It's Its in the summertime, I almost died from happiness.
https://www.itsiticecream.com/
31
YES!!! When I lived in San Francisco, I stopped in the at the deli on the corner to get an It's-It on a regular basis. In those days they only made them with vanilla ice cream.
On later visits to the Bay Area I saw that they had other ice cream flavors, but I would still only get the vanilla ones, because why mess with perfection? How I miss them.
12
I’m loyal to the mint It’s It, except when I cheat and choose the coffee instead. A Chipwich could never compete. If you ARE in the Bay Area, there’s an It’s It outlet in Suisun—perfect when you want to induce instant happiness at a summer potluck.
9
This, entirely this. The best of them are the mint It’s Its — they have the pure taste of summer joy out by the pool, with little flakes of chocolate making a melted trail on the concrete behind you.
4
I've had the pleasure of tasting all seven, and they are indeed wonderful -- and infinitely better than their free-range, all-natural and gluten-free counterparts.
God bless America and summer!
13
Some of us have celiac disease and can only enjoy gluten free treats. Currently I’m in Rome where everyone is educated about what celiac is, and nobody rolls their eyes or mutters “snowflakes” (at least where I can see or hear it). I just have to say, “Ho il celiaco” and they start showing me what they have that I can eat. I long for the day in America when “gluten free” is not shorthand for fussy weirdo, but understood as a medical condition deserving kindness and consideration, like diabetes.
3
About 1% of the population has celiac disease, according to the the Celiac Disease Foundation. As we all know too well, a great many more claim gluten-free as a “lifestyle” choice or an imagined cure to what ails them. Hence, the “fussy weirdo” term is pretty accurate, more often than not. Nonetheless, happy snacking!
2
That’s 3.26 million people with celiac, many of them children. There are also millions more with gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivity (yes, those are real medical diagnoses). What do you care, anyway, if people are quirky about their food? How does it actually hurt anyone else? Why put so much energy into gluten-intolerance intolerance?
2