6 Bold Ice Cream Sandwich Recipes to Change Things Up This Summer

Photo: Nina Gallant • Food Styling: Madison Trapkin. Photo: Nina Gallant • Food Styling: Madison Trapkin

No shade to the two-note schoolyard frozen treat, but lately, ice cream sandwiches have grown up. In New York City , cool-kid scoopshops, pop-ups, restaurants, and even wine bars have peppered their menus with vibrant frozen sandos redolent with spiced, floral, herbal, and savory notes to tempt those of us inclined to eat the world—brain freeze be damned. Here’s how to make a few of our favorites.

Coconut-Taro Ice Cream Sandwiches with Ritz Crackers

The vibrant, violet-colored ice cream in this sweet-and-salty recipe from SAVEUR contributing editor Jessie YuChen is dairy-free and comes together easily—no ice-cream machine required. Get the recipe >

Sweet Fried Milk Buns with Ice Cream, Peanuts, and Cilantro

Peanuts and cilantro may be surprising toppings for many ice cream lovers, but the flavor combination is popular in Taiwan’s coastal Yilan County, where night market vendors roll the ingredients in thin wheat-flour wrappers for a beloved snack called hua shen juan bing qi. At Win Son in Brooklyn, pastry chef Danielle Spencer pays homage to the famous street food with this ice cream sandwich. Get the recipe >

Ginger Matcha Ice Cream Sandwiches

The secret ingredient in these bracing, eye-catchingly green sandwiches from Noona’s owner Hannah Bae is dextrose, a grape sugar that keeps the ice cream soft and scoopable. Get the recipe >

Vanilla-Rose Ice Cream Sandwiches with Cardamom Toast

In this fork-and-knife-optional sandwich from Malai ’s Pooja Bavishi, buttery cardamom toast encases a heady rose-scented cream filling that requires no churning whatsoever. Get the recipe >

Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

At Bad Habit Ice Cream , chef Javier Zuniga often sandwiches chewy sugar cookies with fruit-based ice creams such as roasted banana or sweet milk with a swirl of fig jam. Fake it at home by softening a quart of store-bought vanilla and folding in a ripple of your favorite preserves. Get the recipe >

Bastani Sonnati Ice Cream Sandwiches

At Eyval in Brooklyn, chef Ali Saboor’s artful hand and Persian influence shine through in this elegant sandwich that’s perfumed with saffron, rosewater, and citrus and studded with raisins. Get the recipe >