"While most kids are happy with just about any ice cream, at Consumer Reports we found a couple of them that topped our ratings, that just might make the discriminating big kids happy, too," said Consumer Reports' Erin Gudeux.
Taste testers evaluated 21 different frozen treats, including bars and sandwiches from Dove, Good Humor, Häagen-Dazs, and Klondike.
Nostalgia-favorite Good Humor bars were the lowest-rated dark chocolate ice cream bars tested. Sensory tasters described the coating as thin, waxy, and crumbly, with ice cream that tasted of artificial-vanilla and a hint of the wooden stick.
Several other dark chocolate bars got sweeter reviews, including Häagen-Dazs and Dove. Both rated excellent.
Although kids might not notice the nuances, the bars had rich and complex vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate. But they do come at a price.
"They're expensive," said Gudeux. "They cost about a 1.25 a bar. And just like all the ice cream bars, nutritionally, they have a lot of fat and calories, so you might want to save them as a splurge."
For only 50 cents apiece, consider the ice cream sandwiches from Walgreens. That's right. The drugstore's "Old Fashioned Ice Cream Sandwich" was the only sandwich tested that wasn't gummy.
It has a soft, cakelike cookie that has a big cocoa flavor.
Consumer Reports says if you're looking to satisfy a craving for an icy, cold treat with fewer calories and no fat, consider frozen fruit bars.
Testers sized up strawberry bars. It rated Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value strawberry bars excellent and the strawberry bars made by Whole Fruit rated almost as good.
