8 Of The Most Overlooked Desserts In The Freezer Aisle

Unless you're a skilled pastry chef, desserts aren't often the kind of dish you can whip up on the fly when the mood strikes. That's why, when the night calls for a little treat-yourself goodie, nothing beats the convenience of reaching into the freezer for something sweet and satisfying. Sure, there are popsicles and ice cream, but there are also unique treats in the freezer aisle, some of which don't even need to be enjoyed cold — all they need is a few minutes in the oven. So, if you have the space in your icebox, it's always worth it to stock up on a wide assortment of sweet treats to satiate any craving.

In this list, we'll take a look at some underrated desserts lurking in the freezer aisle, usually skipped over for that tried-and-true ice cream favorite or classic novelty. Some of these are obscure store-brand goodies, while others are sleeper hits, often overshadowed by more traditional, popular options. But all these treats have one thing in common: Every single one proved more impressive than expected when we put it to the taste-test. Each dessert on this list earned a top spot in a previous Tasting Table ranking and, therefore, deserves a seat of honor in your freezer.

Leave it to good ol' TJ's to give us a convenient frozen dessert that looks and tastes like something from your favorite small-town bakery. Trader Joe's Rustic Apple Tarte lives up to its name with hand-folded edges, giving it a little bit of homemade wabi-sabi charm. This differentiates it from typical frozen desserts, which are usually all flash and little flavor. This tarte is the opposite; it doesn't look like much, but within its delicate pastry folds is a punch of unique taste and texture.

On top of the tarte — which resembles a dessert pizza — is sweet (but never too sweet) apple compote blended with cream cheese, cinnamon, and sugar. The finishing touch is a sprinkle of slivered almonds for a hint of nuttiness to complement sweet fruit, plus a little added crunch that goes a long way if you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The tarte's crust strikes the perfect balance of buttery, crunchy, and sweet, with a subtle enough flavor that the apples are never drowned out. This is the kind of show-stopping Trader Joe's frozen dessert that your guests are sure to be blown away by — you can probably even get away with telling them it's homemade (we won't tell).

Vanilla ice cream is, well, pretty vanilla. But the way Costco's house brand does it is anything but basic. Kirkland Signature's ice cream might sound gimmicky, but this Super Premium Vanilla earns its title with high-quality ingredients and a particularly high fat content with minimal overrun, which refers to the amount of air introduced into the dessert. The result is a rich, dense dessert with a velvety texture — but that's not all that makes this Costco treat so irresistible.

Despite its less-than-eye-catching packaging, Kirkland Signature's Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream is considered one of the best vanilla ice cream options out there by some Costco enthusiasts — it even earned the top spot (beating out much funkier recipes) in our ranking of Costco frozen desserts. It isn't overly sugary like a lot of affordable grocery store ice creams; instead, it has a bold vanilla flavor enhanced by smooth, fatty richness and highlighted by just the right amount of sugar.

While most vanilla ice creams need fun toppings to make a worthy dessert, Kirkland Signature's doesn't need a thing — although a drizzle of hot fudge never hurts. If you're a vanilla milkshake fan, this rich dessert with intense vanilla flavor is an ideal choice for blending; all it needs is a splash of milk to transform into a delicious shake with a smooth, creamy texture.

We have a tendency to overlook Target while on the hunt for unique grocery items to change up a boring kitchen routine, but the big-box store has a lot to offer in terms of convenience foods. Favorite Day is one of Target's house grocery brands, this one specifically for desserts. Among Target's sweet-treat repertoire is an assortment of Favorite Day-brand frozen desserts, none of which hit the spot quite like the Triple Berry Tarts.

If presentation, convenience, and taste all matter to you in equal measure when it comes to desserts, these Triple Berry Tarts are a must for your freezer. The crust is delicate and buttery, yet substantial enough for a satisfying bite. Meanwhile, the berry puree that makes up the filling is slightly tart with a sweet, robust finish thanks to a unique blend of red and black currants and raspberries. Meringue tops the tarts with an elegant seashell pattern that makes them look straight from a bougie French bakery. The metaphorical cherry on top of these delicious, fruity desserts is that they don't even require an oven; just defrost them in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

We all know that Marie Callender's is the queen of frozen pies, but we'd guess that your mind goes right to Dutch apple or lemon meringue when you think of this famous frozen food brand. However, our personal favorite from this cult classic dessert company is an explosion of velvety chocolate goodness that deserves as legendary a reputation as Dutch apple.

For starters, the Chocolate Satin Pie is a must for your freezer simply for the fact that it's an easy thaw-and-enjoy dessert. Say you have some drop-in guests, or an unexpectedly hard day that requires a luxurious treat to lift the spirits; all you have to do is toss this pie in the fridge or leave it out on the counter for a bit before digging in.

What separates the Chocolate Satin Pie from other Marie Callender's frozen pies is its cookie crust, while most pies from the company have a more traditional pie shell. The crunch from the crust complements the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate filling and fluffy whipped cream. Meanwhile, the crunchy chocolate chips on top act as the ultimate finishing move to complete this complex texture profile. Some fans of the Chocolate Satin Pie claim it doesn't require a plate — as in, it's easy to treat the entire pie as a single serving — and we can't say we disagree.

Ice cream sandwiches are one of the most beloved frozen desserts for good reason: They combine two fan favorite treats into one grab-and-go sweet snack that's equally refreshing and comforting. Sometimes, when it comes to the humble ice cream sandwich, simple is best. Great Value Hip Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches are modeled after this philosophy; they don't try to get too creative. Instead, they stick with a classic formula and manage to pull it off just as well (if not better) than the name brands.

Out of Walmart's vast selection of frozen desserts, the Hip Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches are easily the best bang for your buck. Most name-brand ice cream novelties are overpriced and overhyped, but Walmart's house brand offers name-brand flavor at an affordable price with these treats.

The cookie is soft and chewy after it's left to thaw for a few minutes — some Hip Chip fans compare it to a fresh-baked, soft Chips Ahoy. The delicate bite of the cookie paired with dense, creamy ice cream makes it irresistible. Mini chocolate chips on the outside rim of the sandwich give it the added crunch and chocolate flavor that it needs to take it from decent to devourable, meaning the only thing preventing you from scarfing this treat down is brain freeze.

We know what you're thinking: "So it's a mini ice cream cone — what's the big deal?" Well, ask any Trader Joe's fan, and they're sure to tell you all about the legendary status of the Mini Chocolate Chip Hold the Cone! Ice Cream Cones. This treat also comes in vanilla and chocolate flavors, but we prefer the chocolate chip variety, which combines the best of both worlds.

The ice cream inside these cones is loaded with little chocolate chips, giving it a fun mouthfeel, like a party on your taste buds. Combined with smooth frozen cream and a crunchy cone, these mini desserts basically have every texture at play. But the ice cream might not be the best part: The mini treat's most irresistible quality is a cone lined with a thick layer of chocolate, rather than just a tiny dose of hardened chocolate at the bottom of the cone to act as a leak barrier like some — ahem — other frozen novelties.

It isn't just Tasting Table that sings the praises of these little treats; the Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones were the champion dessert in Trader Joe's 2023 Best Product Awards. Meanwhile, Ted Allen — host of Food Network's "Chopped" — says he can't get enough of this mini Trader Joe's frozen dessert.

A frozen cake doesn't sound very appealing until you consider the painstaking process that goes into crafting a cake from scratch versus the convenience of simply defrosting a dessert. While some store-bought frozen cakes miss the mark, Pepperidge Farm delivers a winner in the form of its Classic Coconut Cake. This dessert is a simple layer cake with vanilla-flavored batter and a thick layer of vanilla and coconut-flavored frosting topped with real coconut flakes.

What makes this cake so appealing is its excellent balance of coconut-to-vanilla flavor, never being too much of one thing. It's plenty sugary, but not sickly sweet, like a lot of commercial dessert products. The sponge layers are delicate, airy, and have a melt-in-your-mouth quality, but they're still satisfying to bite into, especially when contrasted with thick, creamy icing that doesn't taste too artificial.

This eight-serving cake is decently large enough to offer at a small gathering, but it's small enough to stash away in your freezer for a random weekday that deserves dessert for just one or two. If you're a big fan of frozen sweets, here's a coconut cake pro tip: Don't defrost the cake fully before serving, as it's uniquely delicious when the sponge layers have a slight frozen crunch to them, and the icing is extra dense and chilly.

We know, we know — mint chip isn't for everyone. In fact, it might be the most divisive ice cream flavor out there. But for fans of this minty fresh dessert, Wegmans — of bougie grocery and ridiculously excellent produce department fame — is a brand to add to your mint chip bucket list. Unlike other versions of this cult classic flavor, Wegmans' take doesn't have a medicinal, spearmint taste; instead, it has a light, playful peppermint essence, accentuated by small chunks of robust chocolate chunks. Unlike a lot of minty ice creams out there (looking at you, Breyer's), this one doesn't leave behind a funky aftertaste, making it our top pick in a ranking of Wegmans ice cream flavors.

Mint chip isn't just controversial because of the (arguably) toothpaste-esque taste; the chocolate chips are also a major point of contention. More often than not, thick, chunky chocolate chips are frozen solid when floating around ice cream, making them hard to munch. But this Wegmans dessert is stocked with delicate, flaky chocolate over thick chips. You can either let the chocolate melt on your tongue and naturally mesh with the ice cream, or bite into the layers of slightly-bitter cocoa for a little explosion of richness amid the fresh-tasting peppermint and cream.

To put together this list of the best overlooked desserts in the freezer sections of your favorite grocery stores, we stuck with products that earned a top spot in past Tasting Table product rankings. These treats all proved their worth when stacked against similar products or different desserts under the same brand during one of our comprehensive taste tests. During these taste tests, we judge a group of commercial foods based primarily on flavor, texture, consistency, and quality and rank them accordingly.

To supplement the list with additional information on each product, we leaned slightly on some insight from online testimonials via social media sites like Reddit, or via the retailer's website. Additionally, some personal experience from the writer was included to help build the case for these unsung heroes of the freezer aisle.