Here's Our Favorite Cookie Dough Ice Cream Brand

Cookie dough is a popular ice cream flavor for a reason. The classic richness of vanilla ice cream is always a hit and the excitement of searching for cookie dough chunks like an archaeologist can be delightful. But choosing the right cookie dough ice cream is of the utmost importance. This can be tricky, but we recently took on the quest and ranked 12 different brands of cookie dough ice cream to find out which one was the best. You may be surprised to learn that an underrated brand took the number one spot.

Unlike some of the other brands on our list, such as Turkey Hill and Friendly's which disappointed us with their lack of cookie dough chunks, Graeter's ice cream wowed us with its creaminess and generous amount of cookie dough chunks. With its impressive version of cookie dough, we're excited to learn even more about the brand and its other flavors you can try.

Similar to Van Leeuwen ice cream (another favorite here at The Takeout), Graeter's also uses a French-style recipe with egg yolks mixed into the standard base of milk, sugar, and cream. Another special element of Graeter's that we noticed was its chocolate chips which were diverse in their size, both small and big. According to Graeter's website, its gourmet chocolate is frozen and then broken into the chips that we know and love. That, and all of its ice cream flavors are made in French pots.

Graeter's history dates back to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1870 with Louis Charles Graeter. His widow Regina took over the business after his death, and after opening a parlor in 1922, the family business took off and continued even in hard eras like The Great Depression and World War II. Graeter's makes the most classic ice cream flavors for you to enjoy, even if you aren't a cookie dough fan, but its menu also features sorbet. Besides Ohio, the company runs stores mainly in southern states such as Kentucky and Indiana (although there are two stores in Pennsylvania, as well.) If you don't live in these states, you can also get Graeter's ice cream shipped to you or purchase them in some grocery stores, such as Wegmans.

Graeter's is on the pricier side, but we definitely think it's worth it. Money can't buy you happiness, but it can certainly buy you a really good pint of Graeter's Cookie Dough Ice Cream.