The Best Store-Bought Cookies And Cream Ice Cream Brand You'll Find On The Shelves

Digging through the tub to find the chunkiest nuggets of chocolate cookie is one of the best things about eating cookies and cream ice cream. And no matter whether you scoop it lavishly onto an extravagant sundae or eat it straight out of the tub while curled on the sofa, this popular flavor is a guaranteed winner. But which brand is the best? According to our (hugely satisfying) taste test, it has to be Häagen-Dazs.

The hands down champ in our list of 11 store-bought cookies and cream ice cream brands, ranked, this tub of vanilla-scented goodness is abundant with crumbly cookies. While some brands are stingy on the mix-ins, Häagen-Dazs makes a point to go heavy on the chunks, which means they appear distinct and defined against the vanilla ice cream base they're swirled through. Unlike some cookies and cream ice creams, where the cookies create an almost powdery crumb throughout the tub, Häagen-Dazs's outstanding version of this classic treat has generously scattered nuggets throughout. These textured nubs, described by the brand as a "goldmine of cookie pieces," pair well with the dense texture of the ice cream itself, which is smooth and rich. Better yet, Häagen-Dazs is cheaper than the other options we taste tested, which means you get a sumptuous ice cream at an affordable price point.

While Häagen-Dazs cookies and cream is a delight when scooped straight from the tub, it also makes the perfect stuffing for the best ice cream sandwiches. To slice your pint of ice cream into flawless discs, simply lay it sideways on a cutting board and cut straight through the tub with a sharp knife. Then sandwich the round between two cookies before peeling off the cardboard for a neat, no-fuss assembly job, resulting in a fun dessert with a double dose of cookie flavor.

Beyond this, the worst store-bought cookies and cream ice cream in our ranking was Halo Top because it had a flavorless and almost artificial taste. This lighter, low sugar offering has a higher amount of protein than traditional ice cream brands but the presence of sweeteners, like stevia and erythritol, overwhelmed its natural milky taste, giving it a synthetic quality. Moreover, the cookies that were speckled throughout the ice cream were extremely fine rather than chunky and characterful, which gave the dessert a bland, uniform appearance and texture that lacked interest. Having said that, there are other ice creams from the same brand that have a creamier texture, such as the chocolate chip cookie dough, which was No. 1 in our list of 10 popular Halo Top ice cream flavors, ranked worst to best.