19 Ice Cream Sandwiches That Are Just Like Your Childhood Favorites—Only Better
These recipes are even easier if you start with store-bought ice cream.
A vendor created this genius treat in the 1940s so rushed New Yorkers could eat their ice cream on the go, smashing the frozen treat between two large cookies. Since then, the ice cream sandwich has been the object of our summer affections. Backyard barbecues, playground trips, picnics in the park, outdoor concerts, and summer camp just wouldn’t be the same without that sweet moment when you pull the sticky paper wrapper from your ice cream sandwich and take a bite.
There's no need to settle for the plain vanilla versions available at the grocery store when you can craft your own sweet treat at home—and buying ready-made ice cream reduces the amount of time you’d spend making it. You can experiment with flavor combinations that will please both kids and adults. Invigorating, refreshing, and joyfully sweet, these ice cream sandwiches will bring new meaning to old memories, especially if you share them with someone who loves them as much as you do.
Related: 25 Frosty Treats That Start With Store-Bought Ice Cream
Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches
Whip up this easy, thin layer of cake on parchment and you’ll have the perfect canvas for spreading your ice cream. Pick your favorite flavor of the good cold stuff, or pick several—this recipe is tailor-made for an ice cream party buffet.
Ginger Crisp Ice Cream Sandwiches
Want a more sophisticated ice cream sandwich, one you could even serve at tea? This recipe calls for precise circles cut from parchment paper, on which you’ll make your ginger crisp cookies. Spoon your homemade peach ice cream in between cookies and press gently.
Brownie-and-Peanut-Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ice cream swirled with crunchy peanut butter is a pure pleasure, but when you bake slim slices of brownies to sandwich them between, it’s a sweet indulgence. Want to get extra with this sandwich? Spread actual peanut butter on the brownies before you add the ice cream.
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
This recipe requires chilling the dough, but in return, you get a very consistent cookie that provides a stable platform for beated ice cream, which makes it easier to spread. You can pre-make all the sandwiches and wrap in the freezer for a party.
Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches
We find the combination of a fudgy chocolate wafer and strawberry ice cream irresistible, like the best parts of Neopolitan ice cream combined. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter makes this a lovely dessert for a festive occasion like a kids’ party or holiday.
Easy Pumpkin-Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ice cream sandwiches aren't just for summer. If you don’t have time to make homemade cookies, pair these two flavorful ingredients: chewy gingerbread cookies (you can also make them at home) and pumpkin ice cream. Together, there’s a spice and a sweetness that’s unique and utterly craveable.
Brownie-Ice Cream Sandwich
This recipe cuts your time required in half by slicing a large brownie in half, sandwiching the ice cream in the whole thing, and then adding the other brownie half on top. Once frozen, you can remove it and slice it into individual sandwiches.
Lemon-Spice Ice Cream Sandwiches
These cakey cookies use cinnamon, ginger, molasses, lemon zest, and juice for a punchy taste that’s not your ordinary ice cream sandwich. You can choose your flavor of ice cream, but vanilla and fruit flavors are a sure bet.
Mini Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches
These petite chocolate chip cookies make snackable ice cream sandwiches, especially when rolled in chocolate chips. Vanilla ice cream is the most classic combination, but try it out with mint ice cream or even pistachio, too.
Chocolate Sea-Salt Brownie Ice Cream SandwichesYou’ll need two pints of assorted ice cream, such as pistachio, caramel, chocolate, and berry swirl, to nestle between two brookies, our brownie cookies that bake up moist and fudgy. The sea salt makes these brookies even more flavorful.
You’ll need two pints of assorted ice cream—such as pistachio, caramel, chocolate, or berry swirl—to nestle between two brookies, our brownie cookies that bake up moist and fudgy. The sea salt makes these brookies even more flavorful.
Chocolate-Creme Brulee Ice Cream Sandwiches
If it never occurred to you to make creme brulee as your ice cream, this take allows you to create the elegant dessert sandwich of your dreams, with lacy sugar tuiles serving as your cookie.
Red-Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches
The soft texture of red velvet combined with vanilla ice cream is lovely a la mode, but when sandwiched together, it’s even better. Use high-quality kosher salt, bittersweet chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, coconut oil, and cocoa powder to concoct this tasty treat that’s as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
If you’re having a party, make this chocolate chip dough and use it as the base for several desserts. It’s used twice in this recipe for chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches: in the cookies, which are layered with ganache, and in the ice cream filling.
Strawberry-Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches
There’s nothing as fresh as homemade strawberry ice cream in the summer, but this recipe works equally well whether you make the ice cream yourself or not. The chocolate chip cookies, though, you must make fresh for the ultimate pleasurable dessert.
Coconut and Almond Ice Cream Sandwiches
Coconut lovers, unite for this toothsome take on an ice cream sando that layers creamy coconut ice cream between two homemade chocolate cookies, then rolls the exposed outsides of the ice cream in candied almonds or shredded coconut.
Pecan-Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches
Pecans work so well with desserts, their sweet nuttiness nicely complementing both brown sugar and fruit flavors. Make this a DIY ice cream sandwich bar, providing a few flavors of ice cream on a buffet for your guests. Peach ice cream and apple spice ice cream go together with the pecan cookies, as do vanilla and butter pecan.
Grasshopper Ice Cream Sandwiches with Hot Fudge Sauce
If one of your fondest food memories as a kid is heating up and drizzling hot fudge sauce on top of your sundaes, you’ll love this grasshopper ice cream sandwich that features mint chocolate chip ice cream. Like most sandwiches, these make them ahead of time and freeze slightly 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Coffee-Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches
The decadent cookies in this recipe are superpowered with pure coffee extract, instant-espresso powder and bittersweet chocolate, then sandwiched with a rich creamy mint filling. It’s not ice cream exactly, but it’s just as sweet.
Ice Cream Sandwiches with Raspberry Frozen Yogurt
For a healthier and gluten-free take, lather frozen yogurt made with fresh raspberries and Greek yogurt between almond shortbread cookies. If you’d rather make it with gluten, you can use all-purpose flour, and it’ll be just as scrumptious.
Related: 19 Ice Cream Cake Recipes to Sweeten Any Celebration
