Review: Little Debbie transforms into classic snack cakes into wildly cool ice cream sandwiches

In our grocery store, the Little Debbie items don’t have shelf space in an actual aisle. They sit on a display in the middle of the final aisle of frozen foods, perfectly positioned to not only grab your attention but to also take advantage of your mood as you push a full cart through the final stretches of your shopping trip.

Toss a package of Zebra Cakes into your cart, the display whispers. You’ve earned it.

Growing up, my family often visited the Hostess and Entenmann’s thrift stores. (I don’t think these places exist anymore, but imagine an entire store full of just cookies, cupcakes and those amazing coffeecakes covered in cinnamon crumbles.) But we also pretty much always had some kind of Little Debbie dessert on hand too, with the go-to favorites being Cosmic Brownies and Zebra Cakes. I don’t understand the economics of snack cakes in the 1990s, but if I wanted a Star Crunch, I had to go to a friend’s house and hope they’d offer me one.

When I saw that a line of Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches were making their debut early this year, I knew I had to track them down. The glory of a Cosmic Brownie could only be improved upon by putting two of them on both sides of chocolate ice cream.

The first wave of Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches turn Cosmic Brownies and Oatmeal Creme Pies into frozen treats. How cool is that?

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What they cost

Kroger’s website lists both a four-count of Cosmic Brownies and a six-count of Oatmeal Creme Pies for $8.99.

My thoughts

While I wait on Little Debbie to release an ice cream version of Star Crunch, let’s tear open those wrappers and try the Cosmic Brownies and Oatmeal Creme Pies before they melt.

Cosmic Brownies

Look at this chonk. The Cosmic Brownies ice cream sandwich is absurd. Two slices of “chewy fudge brownies with rainbow chips” with brownie-flavored ice cream in between them. If I had one complaint about the classic Cosmic Brownies, it’s that their design (a line down the middle to make it easier to break one in half) implies that you should share them.

That’s not a problem you’ll run into with the Cosmic Brownies ice cream sandwiches.

This is a chocolate lover’s dream. Chocolate sandwiched between chocolate. I only wish they had more rainbow chips. You gotta play up the “cosmic” part of Cosmic Brownies!

Snack Score

Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies Ice Cream Sandwiches

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5)

Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies Ice Cream Sandwich

Oatmeal Creme Pies

I’m a chocolate guy, so I went into this taste test with the mindset that Cosmic Brownies would come out on top of Oatmeal Creme Pies. I wasn’t really familiar with your game, Oatmeal Creme Pies.

There was something instantly nostalgic about this ice cream sandwich when I opened the plastic wrapper, its slightly spiced oatmeal cookie smell beckoning.

If I wasn’t already on board with the Oatmeal Creme Pies ice cream sandwich, my wife’s immediate endorsement of this flavor locked in its perfect snack score. The combination of vanilla ice cream and “real oatmeal cookies” is unbeatable.