Sandwiched In
It may be the holiday season, but it's still 80 degrees on any given day in NOLA. If it's a warm Christmas, consider leaving Santa a neat pour, a cookie, and ice cream sandwich. Here's where to find some options locally for the latter.
Brothers Food Mart | Multiple Locations
Sometimes it's so late at night, or during the holidays, nothing is open. And you—or Santa—have a craving. Lots of convenience stores and late night gas stations in the area carry ice cream sandwiches, but Brothers is the most numerous and well-known such store in town. Their freezers stock Klondike ice cream sandwiches of varying kinds but always in at least two classic varieties: Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip and Oreo-style cookies and cream. Choose wisely.
Insomnia Cookies | Multiple Locations
Founded by two college students who were craving something warm and comforting in the wee hours of the morning, Insomnia began opening bakeries near college campuses. When things got busier, and they realized they had a late night audience besides coeds, they opened more bakeries elsewhere. What started as a craving now has locations nationwide with 20 kinds of cookies and about 10 kinds of ice cream available all year. This totals to a staggering 1,000 possible combination options for an ice cream sandwich. Jacque Breaux, who manages the Magazine Street location, said that two of the combos popular with his staff are salted caramel cookies and Carmellionaire ice cream, with extra caramel sauce drizzle, and chocolate chunk cookies and Cookies and Dream ice cream, with sprinkles.
Lucy Boone | 3918 Baronne St.
Chef and owner Abby Boone always keeps ice cream sandwiches stocked in the freezer at her scoop shop. "For Christmas, the Candy Cane—peppermint ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate brownie cookies dipped in dark chocolate—is always around." Also available year-round is Lucy Boone's go-to version, which is the same chocolate-dipped brownie cookies with either vanilla ice cream or coffee ice cream. "We make the cookies, the ice cream, and everything from scratch. It's all homemade." The sandwiches sell out really fast, however. "Just come by. If they are out of stock, they will be back in a day or two."
Sucré | Multiple Locations
Please note that this was an insider recommendation. What some people call a menu hack. No one from Sucré could be reached for official comment. Sucré regularly carries several flavors of macarons and of gelato. Purchase these and mix and match to your desired combination. Or, if you ask (and tip) nicely, perhaps the staff at certain locations will build your macaron/gelato ice cream sandwich for you. Personally, the ideas of chai macarons with toasted almond gelato and of salted caramel macarons with eggnog ice cream sound delightful and perfect for the season.
The Chloe | 4125 St Charles Ave.
This hotel's signature ice cream sandwich is two praline crunch cookies above and below brown butter ice cream, made exclusively for The Chloe by nearby institution Creole Creamery. Chef Todd Pulsinelli, the culinary director for the entire LeBlanc + Smith group, said the inspiration for the sandwich came from friend and colleague Chef Katie Pedroza, who was working at Coquette on Magazine at the time doing the pastry program there. "She was inspired by an old magazine issue—Food & Wine, I believe—and made an ice cream sandwich that was a macadamia white chocolate cookie with brown butter ice cream. It was amazing and sparked my mind to do it with a praline crunch cookie. The result is awesome."
Make It at Home | Your Home
If you really want to spoil your Santa or friends and family, buy or bake a batch of dark chocolate cookies. Then, hit your favorite ice cream parlor or grocery store and get a mint (chocolate optional) ice cream or a raspberry (chocolate optional) ice cream or sorbet. Build your ice cream sandwich from there. A little dusting of powdered sugar and a sprig of mint never hurt, either.
Honorable Mentions
Angelo Brocato's famously serves biscotti, gelato, cannoli, and all kinds of classic Sicilian pastries but no ice cream sandos in the vein of this piece. The Wine Bar of Emeril's has run ice cream sandwich dessert specials in the past. Now they do fresh-baked cookies and perfect sundaes, separately. Not many places do the combination of ice cream between cookies.
That aside, a few favorite ice cream spots are Creole Creamery, Parish Parlor, and the perennial 31 flavors of Baskin Robbins—specifically the Riverbend location. Also, a few of favorite cookie spots include French powerhouse Croissant d'Or in the French Quarter, joyful and modern Ayu Bakehouse in the Marigny, and, of course, the always incredible "warm baked chocolate chip cookie, ice cold vanilla milk, and pasteurized cookie dough in a beater" plate Chef Kelly Fields pioneered at Willa Jean Restaurant in the CBD.
