Nastassia Johnson might have the biggest sweet tooth in LA. The brains (and stomach) behind the Let Me Eat Cake food blog is a virtual resource of LA's best ice cream shops, bakeries, donut shops and dessert trends, where she documents her saccharine expeditions across the city. Oh, and her Instagram? Try not to drool.
In honor of National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, LA's veritable dessert queen is sharing her top picks for the creamy treat, from traditional ice cream cookie sandwiches to a donut sandwich that's hard to turn down.
The Cookie
The cookie is the classic serving vessel for ice cream sandwiches, but these sweet options are a cut above the rest.
McConnell's Fine Ice Creams: This scoop shop with locations in Studio City and Grand Central Market in Downtown LA churns out small batch ice cream using milk and cream from their own creamery. They also offer equally delicious freshly baked cookies that you can mix and match into some delicious ice cream sandwich combos. My current favorite is their summer special Summer Fruit Cobbler with Vanilla Gooey Butter Cookies and Raspberry Lingonberry Sauce. This isn't your average cookie ice cream sandwich—when you can use thick homemade macaroons for your cookie or fill your sandwich with jam, you know that you've hit the jackpot. 12073 Ventura Place, Studio City; 317 South Broadway, DTLA
Milk Jar: This shop specializes in ooey gooey, decadent cookies. They happen to have ice cream in their shop as well, so on those days that you want to turn these cookies into an ice cream sandwich, you can and you should! 5466 Wilshire Blvd, Mid-City
Coolhaus: For those days when you don't want to go to a scoop shop, a cookie shop or even an ice cream truck, then Coolhaus is definitely the answer. This LA institution that started out as a food truck is now serving a selection of their ice cream sandwiches in your favorite local grocer and also at places like Target or Amazon Fresh. My favorite is the Frank Berry, featuring snickerdoodle cookies and strawberry ice cream. Various locations
The Macaron
This combination of two beloved desserts is a crowd favorite—partly due to the fact that they are so photogenic and partly because people just love to love macarons.
Milk: Milk offers these hockey puck sized macaron ice cream sandwiches in fun flavors like Thai tea or Fruity Pebbles (my favorite) from their shops in Mid-City and Silver Lake. 7290 Beverly Boulevard, Mid-City; 1639 Silver Lake Blvd, Silver Lake
The Churro
It was only a matter of time before the LA ice cream world moved beyond the cookie or the macaron and found that churros were a perfect pairing with ice cream.
Photograph: Let Me Eat Cake
Churro Borough: This Los Feliz favorite started as a dessert catering company serving made-to-order churro ice cream sandwiches at events. They're now a neighborhood gem—and after you've had one bite of a still-warm churro with ice cream, you'll understand why. When it comes to flavors here, I love the horchata sherbet sandwiched between two churros. 1726 N Vermont Ave, Los Feliz
The Donut
What could be better than a warm glazed donut paired with cold ice cream?
Afters Ice Cream: Just when you thought ice cream sandwiches couldn’t get any better, Afters brings you warm donut ice cream sandwiches. The most popular flavor here seems to be their bright blue ice cream sandwiched inside a warm, milky bun donut and topped with mini chocolate chip cookies—the creation is aptly named the Cookie Monster. There's usually a long line for these fun confections, but they are definitely worth the wait. 1265 E Green St, Pasadena
The Waffle
Why didn't anyone think of this sooner? We love waffles, we love ice cream and together they're even better.
Photograph: Courtesy Happy Days Cafe
Happy Days Cafe: The place to get this ingenious waffle and ice cream mash up is Happy Days Café, a small shop on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Freshly made waffles rolled in cinnamon sugar with your choice of ice cream is the ultimate ice cream sandwich. 14552 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks
Want to see what other sweet treats Nastassia is loving right now? Check out her drool-worthy Instagram.