The ice cream stars are aligning over the next three weeks: it’s Klondike’s 100th anniversary this year, National Bomb Pop Day is the last Thursday in June (the 30th this time around) and National Ice Cream Day is July 17. Thus, alas, I’m bound by fate. What is there to do but single-handedly try every item in the ice cream truck? Such a difficult job. Woe is me, but I live to serve you, the reader.
Better stuff a napkin in the neck of your T-shirt! This definitive ranking of that bastion of childhood summers — ice cream truck treats — is going to get messy!
One of my fondest visual childhood memories is looking up at the row of snow cone syrups in every color, the light glittering through in the impromptu street cathedral of a sunny afternoon, a literal rainbow promise of any flavor I wanted. The reality, though, was without fail a disappointment: faintly scented crushed ice on top, undiluted corn syrup at the bottom — the worst of both worlds. Not to be confused with uniformly flavored and finely textured raspados (Mexican shaved ice), snow cones are irretrievably busted, but if you feel you must indulge in the inferior crushed ice variety, Hawaiian Shaved Ice has a great flavor assortment for home use. On a scale of 1 to 10, snow cones go to 11 in a bad way, but Id suggest using it for Italian soda instead.
Made in the shapes of your favorite cartoon and comic characters (or rather in the shape of their heads), these are definitely popular with the knee-high crowd. They’re vaguely fruity and sherbet-like, with extremely fine ice crystals, as though someone froze and sliced a Slurpee. The drawing on the package will hook you, but the treat inside is often a pale imitation —the colors are faded and the details scant by comparison. I prefer the Popsicle brand to the ice cream vendor-exclusive Blue Bunny character pops, even though the latter seals the deal with gumball eyes. Those peepers are teeth-crackingly frozen solid of course, and you get to them before you finish the pop. Now what? Hold them in your sticky hands? Try to chew them and eat the ice pop at the same time? These are near the bottom of the barrel, unless you’re a kid and they have SpongeBob today. Then obviously they’re five stars, and at the top of not just this list, but every list.
Flavored ice pops are available in a dizzying variety of flavors, from single flavor sticks to triple-banded Bomb Pops and their doppelgängers. Almost every brand has their take, but I have to give kudos to tried-and-true Popsicle, which is transitioning to natural colors without sacrificing saturation. They’re also the makers of Warheads and Jolly Ranchers flavors, and the owner of the trademarked name Popsicle! That’s right, like Kleenex, Band-Aid and Google, its brand name is so well-known that it has trouble keeping it to itself. Original Bomb Pop’s cross-marketing answers with Hawaiian Punch and Nerds in appropriately crazy colors. If you love those candies and drinks, you’ll love those flavors, but a word of warning: the top section is unsecured by the Popsicle stick and prone to falling off, resulting in great toddler wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Even though ice pops are not high on my list, I get the occasional hankering. My favorite nostalgia picks are Original Bomb Pop’s Banana Fudge (sometimes I just want fake banana flavor, OK?), and Popsicle’s Firecracker, which we are all legally required to purchase on the Fourth of July. Hope you brought some wet wipes!
These were a staple of my late 20th century upbringing. I can still see the orange sherbet and the primary-colored dots on the packaging, which I adored. It reminded me of clown suits, in that cheerful way that appeals to you before you read Stephen King’s “It.” It seems like a lot of packaging waste for a small treat, but they are undeniably fun. They don’t have dots anymore, but Nestle makes Push-Up Pops in orange, grape and cherry, with no artificial colors or flavors.
I’ll admit these taste pretty good. Somehow they manage to keep the texture smooth and largely uncrystallized despite long-term freezing. But self-contained packaging is cheating. You can’t order something from an ice cream truck that isn’t going to melt all over your hand and drip down your arm, or at least turn your tongue blue! Plus, how are you going to steer your bike holding the spoon?
Blue Bunny has a bajillion great flavors. I love the Salted Caramel Pecan and, of course, Bunny Tracks.
Three treats emerged in essentially a tie for the top spot: the Crunch Ice Cream Bar (which won 64.2% of its weighted match-ups), the original peanut-covered Drumstick ice cream cone (64.1%), and the classic vanilla ice cream sandwich (64.1%).
Ice cream sandwiches
I love the idea of an ice cream sandwich. Homemade ones are spectacular. Most of the packaged ones are like dipping cookies in milk but with none of the charm — it’s soaked and soggy all the way through the cookie part in a flash, and the ice cream melts too fast. The last couple of “bites” are cookie soup in the bottom of the folded wrapper. Still, let an entire summer pass without having one? Unthinkable.
Blue Bunny brand makes several unusual flavors, and Rocky Road is my pick for the chocolate wafer sort.
Unless you’re lucky enough to live where you can get your warm hands on a cold Chipwich, the tastiest iteration of the ice cream sandwich is Good Humor’s Chocolate Chip Cookie one. It’s not traditional, but it is pretty chipper.
Ranking Ice Cream Truck Treats | Bless Your Rank
FAQ
How do I make my ice cream truck profitable?
Do ice cream trucks make good money?
What are ice cream truck treats?
These are the treats designed for mess-free handling, or at least in theory; when the summer heat inevitably causes the popsicle to drip down your hand, you relish it. Here’s a ranking of the most delicious, iconic ice cream truck treats. We may earn a commission from links on this page.
What kind of ice cream can people with diabetes eat?
A person with diabetes choosing an ice cream, should take into account the number of carbohydrates, the calorie count, and any fat content in the product, as well as serving size. It should have no more than 15gr of carbohydrates (by portion), low in fat and high protein and with no sugar. Some brands Blue Bunny Ice Cream, Breyers Creamy Vanilla, Edy’s and Halo Top.
Which ice cream novelties are the best?
When it comes to fruit-flavored ice cream novelties, the push pop is the best by far. It’s relatively mess free, interactive, and even comes in TV character-inspired designs. We’d take the Spongebob-themed push pop over the terrifying popsicle any day. A taco in ice cream form had to come from the brain of a child.
What are the best ice cream pops?
The red, white, and blue ice pop features three flavors — cherry, white lemon, and blue raspberry — making it essentially a three-for-one deal. As a kid, these things felt HUGE to me. 3. The Push-Up Pop Nestlé really tried here. I can see what they’re going for: a mess-free ice cream pop that you can take your time eating.