If I’m getting ice cream from the store, chances are high it’s going to be cookies and cream. The vanilla base combined with the nuggets of soft, chocolatey cookies typically beats out any other flavor. But which store-bought brand is the best? To solve the mystery, I tested five popular brands of cookies and cream ice cream.
How I Chose The Ice Creams
When it came down to choosing the best ice creams, I kept my criteria simple. I sought out basic cookies and cream flavors from popular and well-known ice cream brands you’d likely find in your household or local grocery store’s freezer aisle. I also made a point to avoid special varieties or those with additional add-ins.
How I Tested the Cookies and Cream Ice Creams
I enlisted an extra taste-tester to help judge the brands blindly. Together, we paid special attention to both the flavor and the texture, while also paying particular attention to the ice cream-to-cookie ratio. We judged them straight from the freezer, just after opening the container. I’m happy to report that we enjoyed all of them, but we also have a new favorite…after all, it’s cookies and cream. How can you really go wrong?
The Best Store-Bought Cookies and Cream Ice Creams, Ranked
6. Target’s Favorite Day Cookies ‘n Cream Ice Cream
Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
Target’s Favorite Day ice cream had the fewest cookies of any brand we tried, automatically sending it to the bottom of the list. While the texture and creamy vanilla flavor were nice, we couldn’t get past the fact that it was basically vanilla ice cream with a spray of cookies here and there.
5. Aldi’s Sundae Shoppe Cookies & Cream Ice Cream
Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
Aldi’s ice cream was a solid option, but it just didn’t stick out to us at the end of the day. The ice cream itself wasn’t vibrant, nor were the cookies memorable. My taste tester detected a slight aftertaste in this brand, though I did not share that same experience. Also, it was the hardest to scoop of the lineup, and had a slightly icy texture. Aldi’s ice cream is actually our go-to brand, so we were surprised by how it ranked when we thoroughly analyzed it against the others.
4. Breyers’ Cookies & Cream Ice Cream
Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
Breyers had a stronger cookie taste that wasn’t overwhelming or too powerful for our palate. However, the cookies packed a lot of flavor that was enough to overpower the taste of the sweet-but-bland ice cream. It had more cookies than Aldi’s ice cream, though this may vary by individual product. Visually and texture-wise, it was similar to Aldi’s ice cream, which I suspect is because Sundae Shoppe is modeled after Breyers.
3. Häagen-Dazs’ Cookies & Cream Ice Cream
Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
If I had closed my eyes while eating this brand, I could’ve sworn it was just vanilla ice cream. That being said, it was good vanilla ice cream with a marvelously soft consistency. If I were judging on taste alone, this ice cream likely would’ve won second place. However, the ice cream ultimately overpowered the soft cookies inside significantly. While the amount of cookies inside was decent, I could’ve used perhaps 25 percent more. So while I’d reach for this Häagen-Dazs ice cream over the three previous brands, it wouldn’t satisfy a cookies and cream ice cream fix entirely.
2. Van Leeuwen’s Cookies & Cream Ice Cream
Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
Van Leeuwen had about the same ice cream-to-cookie ratio as the aforementioned ice cream from Häagen-Dazs. The cookies were of high quality, with a subtle dark chocolate flavor. Most were soft, but a few were crunchy. While I thought the cookies could use more flavor, we were impressed enough by the quality of the soft vanilla ice cream to rank this brand second.
1. Oreo’s Ice Cream With Oreo Cookie Pieces
Allrecipes / Abbey Littlejohn
Oreo’s ice cream is the Platonic ideal of cookie and cream. The texture of the ice cream was similar to soft serve, and it had plenty of cookies inside to satisfy my liking. Although I know I’m mistaken (because Oreo’s don’t contain cinnamon, and I double-checked the ice cream’s ingredients to be sure), I almost detected a slight warm note of cinnamon in the cookies. The vanilla ice cream had a great flavor that was neither overpowering nor underwhelming, and it didn’t have an artificial taste. Most importantly, the brand nailed the balance of flavors between vanilla ice cream and chocolate cookie, which the other brands struggled with.
