With the 4th of July holiday upon us, we’re guessing that an ice cream sandwich may be in your immediate future. Our guest contributor, Densie Webb, PhD, RD, gives her top picks for healthier and delicious cold treats. – Katherine
I don’t know about you, but summer just isn’t summer without one of my favorite frozen treats—ice cream sandwiches. It’s a flashback to being a young girl and running through sprinklers and jumping into the pool on a hot summer day.
Fast-forward some 20, 25, 30, 35 years and we are all grown-up and more worried about calories and fat, than fun, in our food. But, you can still indulge in some summer fun without breaking the calorie bank or sending your LDLs and triglycerides and blood sugar levels through the stratosphere.
Several ice cream sandwich options are available, including Good Humor, Klondike, Turkey Hill, Skinny Cow and, for the lactose intolerant or vegetarian ice cream lovers, Soy Dream Lil’ Dreamers and Tofutti Cuties.
Good Humor, Klondike and Turkey Hill range from 160 to 190 calories, 4.5 to 7 grams of fat and 2.5 to 3.5 grams of saturated fat each. And as the name clearly suggests, Skinny Cow is the best calorie bet, providing 140 per sandwich, only 2 grams of fat, and a single gram of saturated fat.
Soy based options are “snack-size,” or “minis” so they offer more built-in portion control. Ounce-for-ounce, they aren’t much lower in calories or total fat than the dairy version, but they make up for it by being significantly lower in saturated fat. So Delicious Minis and Soy Dream Lil’ Dreamers, for example, provide only 90 and 100 calories per sandwich, 2 and 4 grams of fat, respectively. But they really shine in the saturated fat, with less than a gram of saturated fat per serving.Tofutti Cuties, another soy option, have 130 calories per sandwich, 6 grams of fat, and 1 gram of saturated fat.
My pick of the pack goes to Skinny Cow for lovers of real ice cream. For those avoiding dairy for any reason, check out So Delicious Minis or Soy Dream Lil’ Dreamers to satisfy that summer ice cream sandwich craving.
| Sandwich | Calories | Fat | Sat Fat | Sugar (grams) |
| *So Delicious Minis | 90 | 2 | .5 | 8 |
| *Soy Dream Lil’ Dreamers | 100 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| *Tofutti Cuties | 130 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| Skinny Cow | 140 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Good Humor | 160 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| Kondike | 180 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 16 |
| Turkey Hill | 190 | 7 | 3.5 | 15 |
| *Non-dairy soy-based ice cream | ||||
– Densie Webb, PhD. RD, strives to beat the heat of Austin, Texas by eating her kids’ ice cream sandwiches
