25 Ice Cream Novelties, Ranked Worst To Best
Imagine this: It's a sweltering summer day, and you hear the familiar musical melody of the neighborhood ice cream truck approaching. You make haste and hurry to the metal window of the truck, waving around a handful of dollar bills before choosing your frozen selection from the truck. Plenty of ice cream novelties are listed on the truck's sides; these single, pre-portioned ice cream treats come in numerous shapes, sizes, flavors, and colors. All that's left is for you to decide which one to pick.
Ice cream novelties entered the frozen confection stage in the early 20th century. The word "novelty" suggests newness — which is what this type of ice cream was when it first entered the market. The first novelties were popsicles and ice cream bars, which eventually evolved into cones and a menagerie of other products. The demand for these products has also expanded to include convenience stores, snack bars, and even supermarkets. Here are some of our favorite and least favorite ice cream novelties.
25. Scribblers
Crayola Scribblers ice pops resemble colorful crayons made out of fruit juice. Each pop contains different flavor combinations, including Cherry Red, Wild Watermelon, Razzmatazz Raspberry, and Outrageous Orange. The one good thing about these pops is their Crayola-inspired colors — because eating them is nothing short of a nightmare. The pops are always hard and hurt your teeth, and the flavor is lackluster compared to our other ice cream truck favorites. And if the pops melt, they leave your hands covered in a gooey, sticky mess.
24. Screwball
We want to have a quick conversation with whoever decided it was a good idea to put a gumball in the bottom of a snow cone. Good Humor's Screwball dates back to the 1970s in both cherry and blue raspberry flavors. While the original Screwball only contained a single gumball, the company eventually offered a two-ball treat for overachievers. Our biggest qualm with this novelty is that its flavor is bland, and the gumball isn't worth the effort of scraping through the frozen, slushed ice.
23. Snow Cone
Popsicle's Snow Cones are undoubtedly a nostalgic childhood treat. But as much as you remember the conical shape of these icy treats, you probably also remember the painful memories of trying to bite into it, only to have it not budge. Moreover, the syrup on the ice isn't as flavorful as expected and melts down into an unsatisfactory purple slush that doesn't taste like anything in particular. Snow cones — good in theory, terrible in practicality.
22. Fun Pops
Fun Pops are distinguished from the other types of fruit popsicles by one major characteristic: They're wrapped in a plastic seal that is nearly impossible to open. Maybe if Fun Pops (or Fla-Vor-Ice, or whatever off-brand marketing names them) includes a pair of scissors with every bag of 30 popsicles, we would be more inclined to rank them higher. Did we mention that the "juice" for these tastes like chemicals, too? Overall, there is nothing pleasurable (or fun) about eating Fun Pops — except maybe the low price.
21. Bubblegum Swirl
It shouldn't be rocket science that anything "bubble gum" flavored should fall to the bottom of our list. These swirled pops look very youthful with their pastel swirls of pink and blue but taste flat-out bad. Plus, Good Humor didn't even include gumballs in the popsicle. It seems like the only good thing about this ice cream novelty is that it is no longer in production. If this is your favorite type of ice cream novelty (even at five years old), you might want to get your tastebuds checked.
20. Push-Up Pops
Push-Up Pops are both entertainment and a culinary experience. These sherbert pops come in fruity flavors like Cherry Blast, Turbo Grape, and Outrageous Orange and taste sickeningly sweet (as popsicles should). Although the flavor on these pops is solid, you will find yourself putting in a lot of work if the stopper fails to function. If you find that your pop is defective, you'll have to shimmy your tongue to scoop out the remaining sweet liquid. It's awkward, to say the least.
19. Fruit Pops
Fruit pops were made for those who wanted to get something from the ice cream truck under the guise of being "healthy." Fruit pops can come in several sizes, including the standard single-stick, double-stick, or wide design. Our favorite thing about these pops is that there is a lot of flexibility in the ingredients. Some are made with real fruit, while others stick to sugar water. Proceed with caution, and avoid the grape flavor at all costs.
18. Mini Melts
We'll get a lot of flak for saying this, but Mini Melts is a terrible invention. Although these ice cream treats come in many different flavors, like chocolate, cotton candy, and cookies and cream, their texture is all strange. You're not getting a whole bite of ice cream at any time, just tiny flecks of it that stick to your tongue and always manage to fall off the stupidly small spoon. Furthermore, we're convinced that no one actually seeks out Mini Melts; they're just the zoo or amusement park treat that you begrudgingly pay too much for.
17. Dibs
It is unlikely that you will remember Dibs — but they're truly a special kind of ice cream novelty that deserves much more credit. A chocolatey Crunch bar coating covers these tiny vanilla ice cream balls. They're deliciously small enough to eat a whole bunch in one sitting but aren't always the most practical on a hot summer day (unless you like your hands getting covered in chocolate). Overall, these novelty treats have a solid crunchiness, thus making them perfect to snack on.
16. Banana Babies
If you're seeking a "healthier" ice cream novelty, you really need to check out banana babies. These pops are undoubtedly one of the more forgotten-about ice cream novelties; they're made by coating a frozen banana on a stick in a layer of decadent chocolate. On a hot day, you can bite in and get the fruity flavor of the banana, along with the decadent splintering chocolate. Of course, if you don't want to pay the premium for these frozen banana treats, you can always stock up on those speckled bananas, freeze them, coat them in melted chocolate, and re-freeze the pops until solid.
15. King Cone
The King Cone is our first introduction to pre-packaged ice cream cones. This treat is made with a vanilla ice cream base covered in a thin fudge ripple and topped with chopped peanuts. There are also some variations on the cone that include chocolate and vanilla-swirled ice cream.
The most significant benefit of these cones is that they are considerably larger than other ice cream novelties. But although the cone is big in size, it isn't big in flavor. The vanilla ice cream just tastes bland, and there isn't enough fudge or peanuts to make it worth eating. You might as well just stop at a scoop shop for a vanilla soft serve.
14. Creamsicle
We've never heard anyone ever say that a creamsicle is their go-to ice cream novelty. This vanilla ice cream pop is covered in a sweet orange sherbert coating, giving it a distinct fruity yet creamy flavor. While the original taste of the creamsicle was orange, other iterations of the pop include raspberry and blueberry.
The overall engineering behind this novelty is solid, but there's just not enough endorsement of the pop from ice cream enthusiasts. We doubt you would pick it from an ice cream truck; it's instead typically reserved for older adults wanting to take a bite back from their childhood.
13. Fudgesicle
The fudgesicle deserves slightly more applause than the creamsicle because of its distinct texture and flavor. These fudge pops are not quite the texture of ice cream but are also not as icy as a standard popsicle. The taste is also very chocolate-forward, which is leaps and bounds above the other novelties we ranked. The design deserves some points, as well, since these pops are not as melty as a fruity popsicle.
These pops would have performed better on our rankings if people deeply appreciated their flavor and design. In short, there are just some better options out there — and at least it's not the lowest scoring on our list.
12. Looney Tunes Ice Cream pops
If you went to an ice cream truck before age 10, you probably ordered at least one Looney Tunes ice cream pop. Each character came in different flavors, such as Bugs Bunny with mixed berry, orange, and cherry ice cream with bubble gum eyes or Tweety Bird with orange and cherry ice cream. While these pops were indeed the most delicious part of a day at the beach (at age five), the odd placement of the eyes always made us feel a little weird. And, the colors were never as vivid as the deceptive marketing made them seem.
11. Chocolate Éclair Good Humor bar
Good Humor bars are loved by all who enjoy them, and it's clear that the Chocolate Éclair bars appeal to folks of all ages. Each pop is filled with a chocolate cakey core, a layer of vanilla ice cream, and a vanilla cake coating. Although we don't think that the structure and shape of this bar resemble anything close to an éclair, we give it some merits for combining many different textures together on a single pop. The cake pieces are soft and chewy, contrasting the hard fudge core well. Plus, you get a little bit of everything in each bite.
10. Crunch Bar
The frozen Crunch bar is definitely on the more confectionary end of the ice cream novelty spectrum. These vanilla ice cream pops are coated in thin, crunchy chocolate dotted with puffed rice pieces. Unfortunately, although you get a solid combination of chocolate and vanilla in every bite, the chocolate layer is much too thin for the vanilla ice cream. And since the chocolate is so light, it tends to splinter and come off in pieces rather than stay together in every bite. The Crunch bar would score higher on our ranking if it had a thicker chocolate coating that was more resistant to splintering.
9. Toasted Almond Good Humor bar
There's just something more mature and complex about a Toasted Almond Good Humor bar that its other products don't offer. Every bite into one of these summertime classics is filled with nutty toffee notes and undercurrents of almonds. It almost has an amaretto flavor, which is not distracting from the thick layer of vanilla ice cream and cake piece covering. However, Good Humor has gotten more stingy with its cake coating in recent years, and the poor textural contrasts just leaves you with an imbalance of vanilla ice cream.
8. Strawberry Shortcake Good Humor bar
The Strawberry Shortcake Good Humor bar receives a higher ranking than the Chocolate Éclair and Good Humor bar because it better reflects the food product it's trying to represent. Each bite of a Strawberry Shortcake bar is filled with mouthfuls of strawberry cake core, smooth vanilla ice cream, and light vanilla flavor pieces on the outside. This ice cream bar is ridiculously soft all the time but magically remains resistant to melting in the hot summer sun (provided that you eat it fast enough).
7. Klondike Bar
What would you do for a Klondike bar? Like many individuals who adore eating these novelties, we would do many things for a Klondike bar. Klondike bars are traditionally made with a square of chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream. But, the brand has since expanded its options to include cookies and cream, Heath Bar, dark chocolate coated, mint chocolate chip, and Reese's. While these bars are a blank canvas for different flavor combinations (and we should admit that nothing is wrong with the creamy, plain vanilla ice cream, either), some design flaws make eating Klondike bars difficult on summer days. If your chocolate starts to melt, the bar goes slipping and sliding all over the aluminum foil, forcing you to lick the wrapper clean.
6. Snickers Ice Cream bar
If you're going to eat a candy-inspired ice cream bar, it better be a Snickers. This chocolate-covered bar is filled with peanut butter ice cream, smooth caramel, and crunchy peanuts, making it an even better version of the classic candy bar. In addition, the chocolate on this bar is the perfect robust cover for the ice cream; it is also less prone to splintering and breaking than other bars we've reviewed. Plus, the size of this bar is standard (not too little, but not too much), meaning you can eat two in a single sitting and not feel bad about it. The only thing that would make it better would be if this bar came on a stick — since we don't like getting our fingers covered in chocolate.
5. Firecracker Pop
The winner of the fruity pop award undoubtedly goes to the Firecracker Pop, otherwise known as the Bomb Pop. These patriotic popsicles are made with three layers of colored ice, shaped into a missile ready to take off. Every lick brings you a delightful pop of cherry, lemon, and blue raspberry. The flavor of these popsicles isn't too syrupy, which lends well to folks just looking for a fruity way to cool off on a hot summer day. We love how refreshing these pops can be, but they cannot touch our top contenders for the best novelty ice cream.
4. Drumstick
Drumsticks are often forgotten about in the world of ice cream novelties, but they deserve much more credit than they receive. Other competitors' cones might have a little chocolate element, but they don't have a dip like the Drumstick. The peanut coating on top is the perfect textural contrast to the sweet vanilla ice cream inside, and every bite gets you a little bit of chocolate, vanilla ice cream, and cone. Did we mention that Drumstick cones are deliciously crisp, too? If you choose one of these classic novelties, you'll never have to worry about a soggy cone.
3. Ice cream sandwich
It's hard to beat an ice cream sandwich — especially when the traditional chocolate cookie and vanilla filling combination has gone so far. You can now find ice cream sandwiches in flavors like Neapolitan and cookies and cream. But, there's something to be said about the joy of eating a regular ice cream sandwich as a snack after dinner. It's the nostalgia that really hits us with the ice cream sandwich. The only downside is having to lick the sticky cookie pieces off your fingers — if you count that as a negative.
2. Chipwich
There's always the opportunity to upgrade your ice cream sandwich into one of our all-time favorite desserts: a chipwich. Chipwiches are made by sandwiching a layer of ice cream between two cookies. Although your bite has to be big, it will pay off when you get a mouthful of soft cookies and creamy ice cream. Although a common combination for these novelties is chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream, you can make your own soft cookie ice cream sandwich with double chocolate, red velvet, or nutty cookies combined with a scoop of your favorite ice cream.
Our favorite combination is a coffee ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie, but you have some editorial freedom on this one. The main reason why the chipwich didn't make it to our top spot was because of the ergonomics of eating it (seriously, don't add too much ice cream, or you'll have to unhinge your jaw) and because biting into a frozen, hard cookie isn't always our idea of a fun time.
1. Choco Taco
All hail the Choco Taco! Although Klondike discontinued the Choco Taco in 2022, many consumers have fond memories of this novelty, which included light vanilla ice cream encased in a waffle corn tortilla and covered in chocolate and peanuts. Each bite was full of the perfect ice cream-to-waffle cone ratio, and the chocolate element contrasted the rest of the dessert well. Plus, the Choco Taco had what not many others on our list did: novelty. These treats were shaped like no other and were as fun of an eating experience as it was tasty. Even if you can't get a Choco Taco, you can try making our Choco Taco-inspired ice cream sandwich recipe and relive every second of this iconic ice cream novelty.