At The Chloe in New Orleans, the ice cream sandwich stays true to America’s praline capital, offering a version with two praline crunch cookies holding brown butter ice cream (chef Katie Pedroza was inspired by a recipe from an old issue of Food & Wine).
Photo by Brittany Conerly, courtesy of The Chloe
Eyval, a Persian spot in Brooklyn, has become famous for its ice cream sandwich since opening in 2023. The sandwich includes saffron rosewater ice cream (one of the oldest ice cream flavors to exist) held between two Persian raisin butter cookies called shirini keshmeshi. The sandwich is dusted with a sprinkle of dried roses and finished off with pistachios.
Photo courtesy of Eyval
In New York, Korean hot spot Naro (from the team behind Atoboy) serves a “grilled corn popsicle.” Upon closer look, what resembles knobs of grilled corn are actually corn-flavored shortbreads that hold roasted corn ice cream and a tangy-sweet corn jam, with the shortbread dipped in dark chocolate to resemble a grill’s char.
Photo by Dan Ahn, courtesy of Naro
At $16, the ice cream sandwich at Sunny’s in Miami is the priciest one on this list, and with reason: a warm kouign-amann (the croissant’s sweeter, more buttery cousin, dubbed the “king of pastries”) is split and filled with vanilla bean ice cream and finished with a sprinkle of Maldon salt. Making the pastry alone takes three days: “Similar to croissant dough, it’s essential to maintain the correct temperatures for the dough and butter to guarantee the most beautiful layers,” pastry chef Zasha Gazder explains.
Photo by Cleveland Jennings, courtesy of Sunny's
In D.C., Perry’s draws from monaka, the centuries-old Japanese treat, transforming it into a crunchy mochi shell that holds Okinawan black sugar coffee gelato and red bean whipped cream. “I’ve always loved having coffee after dinner, a habit many Japanese people share,” chef Masako Morishita says. “The black sugar in the gelato comes from my mom’s love of Okinawa. She used to scuba dive there during her college days.”
Photo by Charissa Benjamin, courtesy of Perry's
At Ramen Shop in Oakland, the black sesame ice cream sando with brown butter cookies is a menu staple. Chef Chelsea Nichols starts the ice cream base by roasting Wadaman black sesame seeds and blending them into a milk and cream mixture sweetened with agave. “The sesame seeds add fat and a beautiful roasty flavor to the mixture,” she says.
Photo courtesy of Ramen Shop
At Palma in Miami, the ice cream sandwich includes sourdough miso and white chocolate cookies, puffed buckwheat, and a 30-year-old aged port ice cream sweetened with maple syrup. “We did an event last winter that left us with a lot of sourdough bread trimmings, so we went ahead and turned them into miso, which we use to add an umami aspect to the cookies,” says chef-owner Juan Liscano.
Photo by Jaime Bolin, courtesy of Palma
In New York, modern Indian restaurant Passerine came up with a no-waste cocoa ice cream sandwich that plays well with its fragrant, spice-forward menu: a cocoa husk ice cream layered in between chocolate and tea cookies. “I took parts of the cocoa pod, the husks, powder, and nibs to steep the ice cream base to give you this nutty and creamy flavor without using pure chocolate,” says pastry chef Michael Werrell.
Photo courtesy of Passerine
In Los Angeles, at chef Antonia Lofaso’s Scopa, you can order a Sicilian ice cream sandwich made with hazelnut gelato and Nutella, tucked into a toasted brioche bun, and finished with powdered sugar. Lofaso tried one during her first solo trip to Italy. “That’s when it hit me that this is the original ice cream sandwich,” she says. “Everything I thought I knew about them in the U.S. changed from that moment on.”
Photo courtesy of Scopa Italian Roots
One of New York’s buzziest seafood spots, Penny boasts a storied sesame brioche ice cream sandwich that changes with the seasons, with ice cream flavors ranging from salted plum, malted milk, and apple butter. The sesame brioche stays the same, but this summer, you’ll find it filled with corn ice cream, blueberry jam, and honeycomb.
Photo by Karissa Ong, courtesy of Penny
Cactus Wren in New York sandwiches a salted sesame semifreddo between two brownie slices, drizzled with smoked caramel. “I play around with flavors I grew up eating and make them my own, hoping that one day, something I’ve created becomes nostalgic for someone else,” pastry chef Doria Martinez says.
Photo courtesy of Cactus Wren
On the dessert menu at Bon Bon! in Lawrence, Kansas an ice cream sandwich boasts two slices of fresh banana bread that pack peanut marzipan ice cream in between.
Photo courtesy of Bon Bon!
And finally at Lord’s in New York, the British restaurant’s lineup of summer desserts include a chou au craquelin stuffed with corn ice cream, blueberry compote, Chantilly cream, and buckwheat honey.
Photo courtesy of Lord's
