Thick and chewy or thin and crispy, cookies are hard to resist—especially when paired with another classic sweet. Here are our six favorite Orange County spots serving two-in-one treats.
1 Chunk-N-Chip
Find much more than chocolate chip cookie varieties here—such as graham cracker with marshmallows, and PB&J with pretzel. The cookies are par-baked then finished in the oven when you order, so they arrive soft and warm. Ice cream is where Chunk-N-Chip shines, and the ever-changing, inventive flavors make for endless pairings. Our favorites: the brioche cookie topped with a scoop of black raspberry cheesecake ice cream, and the chocolate brownie cookie with cinnamon-laced horchata ice cream. $4.50 for one cookie and ice cream pairing; $5.50 for a regular ice cream sandwich. 201 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana, 562-650-0374, chunknchip.com
2 Blackmarket Bakery
The cookies here are as big as your face. Each serves as a great base for the Hot Cookie Sundaes—the Hipster is made with a warm, old-school drop cookie, thick and chewy, with milk chocolate and dark chocolate chips, crowned with gobs of peanut butter, crumbled chunks of bacon, ganache, and vanilla ice cream for a decadent, salty-sweet treat. $5 to $8. 2937 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 714‑662-3095, blackmarketbakery.com
3 Cookie Connection
The modern, bright space offers a digital menu screen showing nearly two dozen cookies, from the Caramello with milk chocolate and caramel chips, to seasonal flavors such as the Maple-Glazed Donut cookie. The ice cream is from L.A.’s favorite funky creamery, CoolHaus. Try the bacon ice cream between two Crackle cookies, melt-in-your-mouth brownie-like cookies rolled in powdered sugar. Counting calories? Try a Cookie-N-Cream: just a scoop of ice cream topped with a single cookie of your choice. $5.50 for a Cookie-N-Cream, $7.50 for an ice cream sandwich. 3972 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, 949‑554‑5551, cookieconnection.com
4 Drive Me Cookie
What’s better than an ice cream sandwich made with fresh-from-the-oven cookies? One delivered to you. Run by “doughmander-in-chief” and surfer Kohlman Verheyen, the business operates as a standard find-me food truck but also delivers throughout Orange County. The cookies are baked in the truck and served gloriously gooey and warm. Get the “Goth” ice cream sandwich—double chocolate cookies surrounding a tennis-ball-sized scoop of mint-chip ice cream. It’s like an extra-fudgy brownie sundae. $5 per ice cream sandwich. 855‑436‑2637, drivemecookie.com
5 CREAM
An acronym for “Cookies Rule Everything Around Me,” CREAM boasts 20 ice cream flavors, including Banana Walnut Fudge and Cinnamon Chill, which can be stuffed between two fresh-baked cookies and rolled in toppings such as smashed Oreos, candied sprinkles, and gummy bears. The cookies are soft as clouds but somehow hold up to melting ice cream. We’re partial to the snickerdoodles with the Cup of Joe ice cream. $4 per ice cream sandwich. 26841 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, 949‑349‑9502; 640 Spectrum Center Drive, Irvine, 949-341-0636; creamnation.com
6 Stax
There’s no better ice cream sandwich deal than the one at Stax: For less than $3 you nab a whopper, with two thick, soft cookies of your choice that barely contain a softball-sized mound of ice cream. Kids will go crazy for the psychedelic-hued cotton candy ice cream nestled between scratch-made snickerdoodles, while grownups will dig the sesame green-tea ice cream with white-chocolate macadamia cookies. $3 per ice cream sandwich. 4187 Campus Drive, Irvine, 949-861-2055, staxcookiebar.com