Ice Cream Sandwiches: Julie’s Organic Vs. Whole Treat

June is always uncomfortably warm in Sonoma County, but we’re currently in the middle of a heat wave that’s ridiculously hot. I’ve been sitting in the back of our house, sweltering in my oven-like office. We do have an air conditioner that sits in our dining room window, but its soothing cool air just can’t seem to make it around the corner and all the way down the hall into my office. Besides, I always feel guilty running it, because it releases CFC’s into the air. Our air conditioner has also been known to beat up kittens in dark alleys, and I’m pretty sure it’s cheating on its taxes.

When the first heat wave of the season hits, my mind can only focus on one thing: how to get an ice cream sandwich in my hands as soon as possible. I don’t usually love ice cream. I mean, it’s okay, I guess. My husband thinks this makes me a Communist, especially since I generally prefer sorbet over ice cream. But during the hottest days in summer, the thought of eating an ice cream sandwich always makes the heat more bearable.

This has made me something of an ice cream sandwich connoisseur. That isn’t to say that I’ve tried every single ice cream sandwich on the market; there are still many companies whose treats I haven’t tasted. But I do know a yummy ice cream sandwich when I try one. So, with the heat wave prompting my craving, I decided to do a taste test between two particular companies: Julie’s Organic Ice Cream, and Whole Treat, Whole Foods’ dessert private label.

This taste test’s clear loser (sorry, Julie).

I usually love Julie’s Organic products, namely their chocolate-covered blackberry ice cream on a stick. Who doesn’t love ice cream on a stick, especially when it’s been dipped in chocolate? But their ice cream sandwich was a total disappointment. It was just okay. When any dessert is “just okay”, I always feel like it’s a waste of calories. After all, if I’m going to wake up and go for a jog or go do yoga class, I want to feel like the calories I’m burning were worth it. Sadly, Julie’s ice cream sandwiches do not fall into that category.

Now, the Whole Treat ice cream sandwiches were a total surprise. I’ve had them before, but I guess I forgot how good they are. Compared to Julie’s, the Whole Treat ice cream sandwich I tried was delicious. The ice cream was richer, and the chocolate wafers were… well, more wafery. And more chocolatey.

All in all, the Whole Treat ice cream sandwich was the clear winner. This surprised me, because I was expecting the outside vendor’s product to be better than the private label product. This just isn’t so, and I strongly encourage you to try Whole Treat’s ice cream sandwiches, if you like that sort of thing. For what it’s worth, their ice cream on a stick is also delicious. It’s possible that if someone were to put meatloaf on a stick, I’d love that, too. Just probably not for dessert.