The Only Positive About The Worst Store-Bought Ice Cream Sandwich Is That It's Cheap

Ice cream sandwiches are a formidably simple sweet treat — all you need are cookies for the "bread" and some vanilla ice cream to go in between (of course, there's plenty of room to level up your ice cream sandwich with different ice cream flavors or types of cookies). But the simplicity doesn't mean that every ice cream sandwich maker nails them, as Chowhound found out when ranking nine of the most common store-bought varieties, discovering there's one to avoid at all costs.

The lowest-ranked ice cream sandwich on the list had practically no positive features, except for its price (a box of 12 goes for just $3.27, that's less than 30 cents a sandwich). The sweet treat in question? Walmart's store brand, Great Value, with its vanilla-flavored ice cream sandwich. Neither the cookie nor the ice cream have redeeming features. The ice cream lacks the kind of richness you should get from milk fat, even though the product isn't a low-fat one — although there is a low-fat version available. The cookie seems to have a confusing burnt taste to it, where it simultaneously tastes freezer-burned and overcooked. The cookies are also overly hard to the bite — because cookies will harden up in the freezer, chewier ones are usually seen as preferable here. The verdict is that while they might be fine for kids who aren't fussy about the quality of their sweet treats, they're otherwise to be avoided.

There's no shortage of negative opinions out there on the Great Value ice cream sandwiches, although in fairness, there are also some positive reviews. Some criticisms center on the flavor: Neither the chocolate nor the vanilla taste of the cookies and ice cream are particularly strong, with the former coming closer to tasting like graham crackers rather than chocolate cookies. Some find the chocolate flavor too artificial, as well. They've been called a little too hard and dense, too. It's also been noted that the ice cream can have a slightly gross yellow color to it, although this is apparently from food coloring.

On the pro-Walmart side, some contend that the cocoa flavor of the cookies is actually sufficient, and that they have a well-balanced sweetness. The crunch of the cookies is also lauded by some, who prefer it over offerings from other brands that can get a bit mushy. Whether or not it's exactly a compliment could be debated, but the Great Value ice cream sandwiches are often praised as being loved by kids, too.

As a side note, the Great Value ice cream sandwich allegedly doesn't melt as much as others. Some people have tested these claims and found some truth to them: When heated or left out, the ice cream softens and congeals but doesn't totally liquify. Whether that's a good or bad thing is for you to decide, but there are plenty of reasons why this ice cream sandwich belongs on the list of Great Value products to avoid at Walmart.