Your Ice Cream Sandwiches Will Be Better If You Swap Out The Cookie

Perhaps more so than apple pie, the ice cream sandwich is a keystone in American dessert cuisine. And if you're looking for a way to make this already great dessert even better, try this swap: Instead of using the traditional cookies for your vessel, switch to a bun.

There have been many iterations of the ice cream sandwich since its inception in the late 19th century. First, sponge cake was the method for carrying the shaped slabs of ice cream; graham crackers were used next, but they tend to get soggy quickly and no one wants a soggy sandwich. By the mid-20th century, the consensus for what to use moved to cookies. Oatmeal was the initial choice, but, thanks to Pittsburgh's historical connection to the ice cream sandwich, local vendor Jerry Newberg made chocolate wafer cookies the stars of the show.

One unfortunate downfall of some ice cream sandwiches is when the cookies harden due to how cold the ice cream is. This leads to tougher bites that are hard to chew. It's a culinary catch-22 — you want your ice cream soft enough to bite into but cold enough that it retains its shape, yet you don't want your cookie to either be too tough or to dissolve under all that cream. You can avoid these issues altogether by using a soft and pillowy brioche-style bun instead.

Brioche is a type of enriched dough fortified by the inclusion of eggs, sugar, and water, which enrich the flavor and texture. Slider buns are also made with an enriched dough and are a perfect bite-sized option. By switching out the type of baked good used to build an ice cream sandwich you open the door to endless combinations. As a nod to an early rendition, toast your slider buns in the oven before brushing them in melted butter and rolling them in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Once cooled, they will mimic the flavor of a graham cracker minus the soggy factor. Then add in some marshmallow fluff and chocolate ice cream for a decadent s'mores inspired ice cream sandwich.

Another fluffy bun-inspired choice is a waffle. Throw on a strawberry glaze loaded with soft bites of juicy strawberries and French vanilla ice cream — talk about delicious! So, the next time August rolls around and you find yourself celebrating National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, or whenever you just want a tasty cold and sweet snack, substitute the cookies with a bun. Mix it up even more and use a buttery, flaky croissant as the base or swap for a different type of cookie with a bite-sized macaron for double the deliciousness.