Uncover the Surprising Secrets Behind Your Favorite Ice Cream Sandwiches!

What makes an ice cream sandwich truly an ice cream sandwich? Is it the classic duo of ice cream nestled between two chocolate wafer-like discs punctured with holes, or can it be anything sweet that gets the job done—biscuits, cookies, you name it? Honestly, I’ve often found myself debating this very question mid-bite, staring suspiciously at a concoction that claimed to be an ice cream sandwich but looked more like a dessert imposter. Originally, vanilla was the reigning champion of fillings, but now the flavor roster reads like a kid’s wildest dream—Neapolitan, chocolate, strawberry, and pretty much every luscious flavor imaginable. From humble street vendor roots in late 19th-century New York City to the cookie-wrapped innovation born in San Francisco, the ice cream sandwich has journeyed far and wide, charming both penny-pinchers and high-end foodies alike. So, buckle up as we unwrap the fascinating, delectable history of this cool treat that’s anything but one-dimensional. LEARN MORE

Ice cream sandwiches are a beloved treat, whether you’re pulling one out of your freezer or buying one from an ice cream truck. But what exactly constitutes an ice cream sandwich? In America, it’s typically ice cream flanked between two chocolate wafer-like pieces with holes punched in them, but you can use biscuits, cookies, and a number of other treats as the “bread.”

In the beginning, vanilla was the standard flavor for the filling of an ice cream sandwich, but flavors evolved to include Neapolitan (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) and, nowadays, every flavor under the sun.

1. New York City street vendors started selling ice cream sandwiches in the late 1800s.
2. Early ice cream sandwich recipes used sponge cake.
3. They were developed as a cheap treat, but soon became a staple at high-end eateries.
4. The ice cream cookie sandwich was born in San Francisco.
5. A baseball stadium food vendor gets a lot of credit for inventing the modern-day ice cream sandwich, but that might be because of Wikipedia.
6. Other countries have their own versions of the ice cream sandwich.

New York City street vendors started selling ice cream sandwiches in the late 1800s.

No one is sure of the exact date the ice cream sandwich was first invented, but food writer Jeri Quinzio told The Boston Globe that the earliest versions of them were called hokey pokeys and that street vendors were selling them on the Bowery in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Back then, the humble sandwich was just ice cream held together with two pieces of paper. The cost of the frozen treat? One penny.

Quinzio cited an 1899 article in the New York Mail and Express, which stated, “there are ham sandwiches and salmon sandwiches and cheese sandwiches and several other kinds of sandwiches, but the latest is the ice-cream sandwich.”

Early ice cream sandwich recipes used sponge cake.

According to some sources, early ice cream sandwich recipes didn’t include biscuits, but instead used two slices of sponge cake.

They were developed as a cheap treat, but soon became a staple at high-end eateries.

Because the “sandwiches” were sold on the street, they catered to working-class individuals. However, the deliciousness of the treats quickly caught on and became a hit with Wall Street workers. On August 19, 1899, the New York Sun ran a story about the phenomenon, reporting, “the brokers themselves got to buying ice cream sandwiches and eating them in a democratic fashion side by side on the sidewalk with the messengers and the office boys.”

Eventually, high-end restaurants started serving them, and “elite confectioners started using plates and forks in a dainty fashion, and saying [their sandwiches were] so much better than the ones sold on the street,” Quinzio told The Boston Globe.

The ice cream cookie sandwich was born in San Francisco.

Cookies have become a popular alternative to the basic chocolate wafer in building an ice cream sandwich, and we apparently have California to thank for that. In 1928, an ice cream vendor in San Francisco decided to place a glob of ice cream between a pair of oatmeal cookies and dip the whole thing in chocolate. A whole new kind of ice cream sandwich was born.

A baseball stadium food vendor gets a lot of credit for inventing the modern-day ice cream sandwich, but that might be because of Wikipedia.

According to various accounts, it was Jeremy Newberg—an ice cream vendor at Pittsburgh’s former Forbes Field—who supposedly created the vanilla-and-chocolate ice cream sandwich: a perfect block of vanilla ice cream gently placed between two rectangular chocolate wafers. He made and sold these ice cream treats at baseball games in the 1940s.