The Best Ice Cream Sandwiches in Brooklyn
What could possibly be better than ice cream in the summertime? Especially when that ice cream comes wedged between cookies, cakes and pastries. And while we’re still mourning the loss of Rosie Hay’s inimitable Barnburners (featuring hot, panini-pressed brownie “shells”) there’s certainly no lack of innovative ice cream sandwiches in Brooklyn nowadays, crafted from squishy whoopie pies, sugar-glazed donuts, and oh so much more.
Peter Pan: While it’s spawned many, many imitators over the years (and who can blame them?) Greenpoint’s venerable Peter Pan serves the OG of donut ice cream sandwiches, which can be mixed and matched at will. In fact, there’s no reason not to try a new one every day of the week, including red velvet cake filled with chocolate ice cream, blueberry buttermilk paired with vanilla, and banana ice cream inside of glazed sour cream donuts.
727 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint
The Good Batch: Since they have a rep to protect as one of Brooklyn’s premiere cookie companies, you know The Good Batch would never deign to use pedestrian chocolate wafers in their seasonal ice cream sandwiches. Instead, you’ll find chewy toasted almond cookies coupled with chocolate ice cream and ringed with toffee candy pieces, and vanilla ice cream slipped inside of two caramel rice crispy cookies—yes, we’re talking about fully-loaded rice krispie treats here.
936 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill
Coolhaus: Giving Chipwich a run for its money since 2008, Coolhaus continues to raise the bar with their “architecturally inspired” ice cream sandwiches. Current cookie options include Maple Flapjack, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, and the pretzel, cornflake and potato crisp-studded Snack Food Chip, angled astride ice creams flavored with avocados and sea salt, fried chicken and waffles, and cheddar popcorn and crumbled Doritos—known, appropriately enough, as the “Netflix.”
eatcoolhaus.com
Robicelli’s: Martin’s potato rolls are definitely having a moment, and at Robicelli’s, they’re even breaking the boundaries of barbecue. Crusted with caramelized sugar, the cushy buns form the base for strawberry shortcake ice cream sandwiches, swollen with frozen vanilla mascarpone custard, and topped with diamonds of fresh fruit.
9009 5th Avenue, Bay Ridge
One Girl Cookies: Clever, clever—in addition to smearing their sticky, moon-shaped cakes with gobs of vanilla frosting, One Girl offers pumpkin or chocolate whoopie pie ice cream sandwiches in the summer, stuffed with velvety scoops of Il Laboratorio’s ricotta gelato.
68 Dean Street, Boerum Hill
Pok Pok Ny: While it’s actually a standard way to consume ice cream in Thailand, to Western eyes, Pok Pok’s hot dog bun-encased sandwiches look not unlike lobster rolls. But there’s nothing remotely fishy about these toasted peanut-strewn sweets, lined with pandan and coconut cream-infused sticky rice, and mounded with coconut-jackfruit ice cream.
117 Columbia Street, Columbia Waterfront District
Ample Hills and Baked: Add the Black & Walt to our list of Brooklyn’s best edible collaborations—featuring mini black and white cookies from Baked, sandwiching vanilla malted ice cream from Ample Hills, and rolled in malted chocolate-rice krispies crunch.
amplehills.com and bakednyc.com
The Burger Bistro: You might expect something a bit wonkier from the bistro that gave us the Donut Burger, but trust—these are the platonic ideal of Chipwich-style ice cream sandwiches. Choose from house-baked oatmeal, snickerdoodle, cinnamon, chocolate chip or chocolate crackle cookies, packed with vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon or peppermint ice creams.
177 5th Avenue, Park Slope