Guess who’s back, back again? Debbie’s back, tell a friend.

The talented folks at Hudsonville Creamery, who have previously brought us the Little Debbie Snack Cake-inspired pints of ice cream, are at it again with their latest frozen offering: Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pie and Cosmic Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

I’d like to begin this review by establishing that I authentically like Little Debbie Snack Cakes—specifically, Oatmeal Crème Pies and Cosmic Brownies. I enjoy the ubiquitously soft chewy texture, the sweetness so intense it almost hurts your teeth, and the artificial colors in the candy sprinkles. I love it all, in moderation. You might think that because this is a junk food blog, enjoying classic Little Debbie is a cost-of-entry detail. But I find it important to mention because I’ve seen internet hatred spewed toward Little Debbie Ice Creams by people who, admittedly, don’t even LIKE the snack cakes themselves. Their reviews felt negatively skewed until they revealed that detail, so I wanted to make it clear where I stood in case you hadn’t figured it out from my 2022 review. Now, onward.

I started with the Cosmic Brownie ice cream sandwich, and my first emotion was extreme disappointment. These bad boys cost almost $10 for a pack of FOUR, and they look terrible straight out of the box. The chocolate ice cream filling had smooshed out of a couple of sides, and there was a sad view of visible rainbow candies.

Tasting the Cosmic Brownie ice cream sandwich was a different experience. The brownie’s texture was soft and chewy, and the ice cream held its integrity through the bite, not squishing out the sides at all. The brownie-flavored ice cream itself was light in texture and not so fudgy as to take away from the fudgy brownie surrounding it. Together, it was an enjoyable and well-balanced bite. I also noticed many more rainbow candies throughout the brownie as I ate.

I tasted the Oatmeal Crème Pie ice cream sandwich next. Without looking up the Nielsen data, I’d still guess the Oatmeal Crème Pie is Little Debbie’s top-selling snack cake. My 90’s nostalgia will never forget that scene from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids where they encounter a larger-than-life snack cake while shrunken in their backyard. Anyway, the appearance of this ice cream sandwich was much more promising straight out of the box, and the box came with six rather than four. Off to a better start already.

Similar to the Cosmic Brownie version, this one absolutely nailed the texture. The cookies were so incredibly reminiscent of the snack cake. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say I like these substantially more. They had cinnamon and molasses notes and were soft but substantial.

The ice cream had almost a marshmallow flavor, although the box described it as “Vanilla Crème,” so I can only imagine they were aiming to replicate the snack cake flavor there, too. These are very good. If you’re only going to buy one of the two, buy these. My husband and I fought over the last one; they were so delicious.

Look, you might have reached this point and rolled your eyes six different times at the earnestness of a woman who told you she liked Little Debbie and then waxed poetically about these ice cream sandwiches for several paragraphs, and to that I say LET ME LIVE.

My ONLY issues with these are that they are expensive and the Cosmic Brownies are kind of messily packaged, which seems like a rip-off given the price. The Cosmic Brownie sandwich is a little bigger, but I only noticed that when filling out the pricing details below. Otherwise, I think Hudsonville has done an excellent job paying homage, yet again, to our friend Deborah.

Purchased Price: $9.50 (each)
Size: 6 – 3 oz sandwiches (Oatmeal Crème), 4 – 4 oz sandwiches (Cosmic Brownie)
Purchased at: Mariano’s
Rating: 10 out of 10 (Oatmeal Crème Pie), 7 out of 10 (Cosmic Brownie)
Nutrition Facts: (1 sandwich) Oatmeal Crème Pie – 210 calories, 8 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 17 grams of sugar (including 16 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein. Cosmic Brownie – 250 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar (including 20 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

Back in 2021, I reviewed Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes Ice Cream. Two years later, Deborah hasn’t aged a day, but she has brought us an additional frozen flavor inspired by one of her yuletide treats: Chocolate Christmas Tree Cakes! (I’m tempted to spell “treat” as “treet” for this review, but I will forbear. You’re welcome.)

Besides the obvious flavor difference, there are some subtle differences between regular CTCs and chocolate CTCs. The regular ones feature a red icing drizzle with green sugar crystals, while the chocolate ones have a white icing drizzle with red and green sprinkles. Hudsonville, the maker of the ice cream, did not overlook these small details.

The regular CTC ice cream features vanilla ice cream with white cake bits and a red swirl with green crystal sprinkles. The chocolate version has a chocolate base with chocolate cake bits and red, green, and white sprinkles. White swirls were swapped out for the white sprinkles.

The chocolate base is wonderful. It’s not that exciting, but it’s a classic ice cream flavor for a reason. And I also really enjoy the cake bits. They almost have the consistency of brownie bits you find in ice cream, so they’re a textural delight.

And speaking of texture: I am so glad the chocolate variety uses sprinkles instead of sugar crystals! The crystals were my biggest complaint about the regular CTC ice cream. They had a gritty, sand-like texture that seemed out of place in the creamy treat.

The sprinkles in the chocolate version, however, have a slight crunch from the cold, but I don’t feel like I’m munching on quartz granules. They are a sensory pleasure. And, of course, we can’t overlook the festive appearance they give this dessert.

My other biggest complaint with the original CTC ice cream was that, although it was good, it was just kind of boring. And, I must admit, this one is also kind of boring. The color of the sprinkles is the only thing festive or seasonal. Chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake are nothing new.

But, you know what? I’m going to overlook the boringness because it’s still a delightful dessert that I will be more than happy to finish.

Purchased Price: $2.74
Size: One pint
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup/97 grams) 230 calories, 10 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 21 grams of sugar including 17 grams of added sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

For better or worse, I have had every Little Debbie ice cream flavor since its partnership with Hudsonville took flight a couple of years ago. The most interesting part of the whole thing isn’t the novelty of turning America’s most beloved snack cakes into ice cream, though — at least not for me. It is that there is seemingly no correlation between my personal enjoyment of a snack cake flavor and its corresponding ice cream.

To wit, Fudge Rounds, my favorite Little Debbie, is one my least favorite of the ice creams. Ditto Oatmeal Creme Pie. Star Crunch, which I find okay but would never intentionally purchase a box of, has been my unparalleled ice cream favorite.

Another wrinkle to add to this already-too-complex equation: I have also tended to really enjoy ice creams stemming from snack cake varieties I’ve never eaten. This happened recently with the Apple Pie and Chocolate Chip Creme Pie offerings. The ice creams were stellar; the snack cakes from whence they sprung, however, remain unconsumed by me.

So, if I tell you that I’ve never had a Cherry Cordials snack cake, well, maybe you can guess where this is going.

Hudsonville’s website says the new Cherry Cordials Ice Cream is “Cherry flavored ice cream with cookie pieces, chocolatey flakes and a cherry variegate.” I had to look up “variegate,” by the way. To save you the same effort, should we be shipmates, here you go: “In the food industry, variegates (also referred t’o as ribbons, ribbonettes, swirls, spirals, revels, etc.), are textured flavor dimensions primarily used in ice cream and frozen desserts.” Okay, this is a cherry ice cream with cookie pieces, chocolatey flakes, and a cherry ribbon.

The ice cream base has a mild cherry flavor, like kissing your aunt who just had a Wild Cherry Halls cough drop. The “chocolatey” chips are your standard issue chocolate chips you’d get with any other kind of ice cream. There are many of them; they are of varying sizes and taste semi-sweet. The cookie pieces don’t have much of a standalone taste, but the crunchy texture provided a nice respite. And the textured flavor dimension, see, that’s where the magic happens. If you like hardcore artificial cherry flavor, you’ll be in heaven. My only complaint, as it is whenever there is an enjoyable component with these Little Debbie ice creams, is that I could have done with quite a bit more of the cherry variegate. I guess you could say it was varie-good?

I’ll show myself out.

Purchased Price: $2.74
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (97g) 230 calories, 11 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 mg of cholesterol, 70 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.