Is anyone else instantly brought back to their childhood when they hear “La Cucaracha” or “Camptown Ladies” come over the loudspeaker of an ice cream truck? You might be tempted to yell, “Mom! Can I please have a couple of bucks?!” before remembering that you’re an adult now and don’t have to ask Mom for money.
The ice cream truck never loses its magic, although the menu has changed since childhood. These 20 old-school ice cream truck treats, however, will transport you right back to the good old days.
Best: Choco Tacos
I vividly remember the day Klondike announced the discontinuation of Choco Tacos. I almost had to use a mental health day to mourn the loss of my beloved treat and scavenge the state for any remaining Choco Tacos I could find. These things were truly perfect, and the higher-ups at Klondike were off their rockers for axing them.
The vanilla ice cream with fudge swirl was sandwiched between a waffle cone shaped like a hard taco shell. Except the waffle cone wasn’t overly crunchy; instead, it was sturdy and soft all at the same time and topped with a fudgy peanut coating. I will forever pine for these.
2. Strawberry Shortcake
I remember scanning the menu of my childhood ice cream truck and seeing Good Humor’s Strawberry Shortcake beside its siblings, Toasted Almond and Chocolate Eclair (read on for more about the latter). Strawberry Shortcake was always my favorite of the three.
These days, the fruity ice cream treat has somewhat of a cult-like following, and there are tons of cookie, cake, and other dessert recipes that draw inspiration from it.
3.Character Ice Cream Treats
There are too many character ice cream treats to narrow them down to the best one. From the Looney Tunes’ Tweety Bird to Bubbles from “The Powerpuff Girls,” character ice cream bars were always stocked in the truck, and they all pretty much tasted the same — creamy and fruity all at once. The creators of these bars added a “cherry on top” in the form of gumball eyes, to the delight of kids everywhere.
Between the gumballs, fruity flavor, excellent ice cream consistency, and the chance to bite the head off your favorite cartoon character, these never miss.
4. Bubble Play
Bubble Play feels like a fever dream now, but just seeing the picture of this cherry-flavored, baseball mitt-shaped ice cream bar sends me straight back to darting down the block to catch the ice cream truck. The themed desserts always seemed to taste better, and the baseball gumball on this was almost too cute to chew up.
5. Ice Cream Chipwich
How can you go wrong with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream slathered between two chocolate chip cookies? The mini chocolate chips on the outside of the ice cream were an appreciated finishing touch.
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6. Candy Center Crunch
Who doesn’t love a treat with a good surprise inside? I was a sucker for the Candy Center Crunch bar’s chocolate guts, covered in vanilla ice cream and dipped in chocolate with a crispy rice coating (hence the “crunch”).
7. Chocolate Eclair Bar
I’m a chocolate lover, and the Chocolate Eclair bar is definitely delicious (although I reach for its sister Strawberry Shortcake whenever there’s a choice between the two). What I appreciate most about this guy is that there’s some vanilla mixed in, so the chocolate doesn’t smother my tastebuds.
8. Two Ball Screwball
This ice cream truck treat sounds like an insult, but it was pure delight. You could dye your tongue and lips either blue or red with cherry or blue raspberry flavors.
At the bottom of the funnel-shaped treat were two surprise gumballs; I almost always dug them out before reaching the bottom so my fingers could match my mouth.
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9. Push-Up Sherbert Treats
These little guys still exist, but only in imposter form. Today’s Push Pops are no match for the Fred Flintstone-backed Push-Ups of my childhood. They were creamy, bursting with orange flavor, and so refreshing. Plus, pushing the little ice cream elevator up with my thumb as I slurped the sherbert off the top was just plain fun.
10. Lick-a-Color
For the days when it was hard to be decisive, Lick-a-Color offered several popsicle flavors all in one, including strawberry, lemonade, blue raspberry, and others. I remember feeling a sense of accomplishment each time I licked my way to a new color of this layered treat.
11. Snickers Ice Cream Bar
Snickers is one of the most beautiful candy bars to ever exist, and, not surprisingly, it’s pretty delicious in ice cream bar form. The nougat is replaced by vanilla ice cream, but the composition is otherwise identical to the real thing.
12. Vampire’s Deadly Secret
Ordering this treat from the ice cream truck was like channeling Halloween during summertime. Picture a black cherry-flavored ice pop with a gooey, bright red cherry center. I should’ve committed to this more in the ‘90s, eating it with the neon green plastic vampire teeth I won at Chuck E. Cheese.
13. King Cone
On an ice cream truck menu where the choice was between a Drumstick or a King Cone, I’d rock with King Cone because it was less messy and abrasive with the peanuts. The same flavors were at play — chocolate, vanilla, waffle cone, and peanuts — but it was more balanced.
14. Klondike Bar
What would you do for a Klondike Bar? I’d get my fingers extremely messy and drip vanilla ice cream down my chin as the fudgy shell came apart with each bite. And I’ll still do it.
15. Fudgesicle
There is — and has always been — something so beautifully simple about a Fudgesicle. It’s just a creamy, chocolatey ice cream bar. The texture is spot-on, making this a formidable go-to. Ole reliable, if you will.
16. Banana Bob
Oh, Nanner Bobby. How I miss you so. The chocolate-covered banana on a stick was so tasty. There are plenty of substitutes for Bob these days, much to my nostalgic delight.
17. The Great White
Is it just me, or were some of the best ‘90s treats shark-themed? Shark Bites fruit snacks were elite, and The Great White popsicle was in a league of its own. In the shape of a Great White shark, this popsicle had a super refreshing lemon flavor.
18. Itzakadoozie
It was the popsicle your mom never wanted you to order because it was massive, made a mess, and was undoubtedly full of sugar. But boy, was it fun. It had a twisted pattern of colors and flavors and was roughly a foot long. Plus, it had a fun name.
19. Bomb Pops
Kids these days think of Bomb Pops exclusively as the red, white, and blue version, but I remember the agonizing choice between the different flavors the ice cream man offered. There was even a Jolly Rancher version, as well as my personal super-sour favorite: the Tear Jerker.
20. Warheads Bars
If you wanted to impress your neighborhood buddies with your ice cream truck order, you ordered the Warheads bar. It was shaped like the Warheads logo (a surprised-looking dude), and the ice cream was a blend of sour raspberry and black cherry. And, of course, the pièce de résistance: a Warhead sour candy in the dude’s mouth.
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