After profiling a few small-scale ice cream operations from across the country, a fellow ice cream enthusiast tipped me off to another. Eskimo Jacks, based out of Michigan, specializes in artisanal cookies and ice cream. According to their website, Andy Gelsey, Chief Cookie Officer and Josh Charlip, Founder & President, “Have one goal in life – to rid the world of cardboard cookies and flavorless ice cream! Growing up, we were obsessed with cookies - and for good reason! Our timeless family recipe for hand-made, artisan cookies set the bar for all things sweet. We’ve taken that recipe, added an extra splash of love, and slathered rich, creamy ice cream in between. Behold – the Eskimo Jacks ice cream sandwich! We let our creativity loose and are proud to offer 21 kinds of cookies and 16 flavors of ice cream. Do the math if you must, but that’s LOADS of scrumptiously sweet sandwich combinations!”
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| Andy Gelsey, Chief Cookie Officer (left) and Josh Charlip, Founder & President (right) |
They start off with scratch made cookie dough using a family secret and then add their favorite ice cream. After a lot of research, they ultimately decided to use Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream to stuff inside their sandwiches. You can choose from cookies like Caramel Apple and Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip to pair with ice cream flavors like Nana’s Banana Puddin’ and Tennessee Toffee to create over 600 possible combinations. If there were an Eskimo Jacks in my area, I’d probably go with a scoop of Cinnamon ice cream inside two Snickerdoodle cookies.
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| Eskimo Jacks Menu (some flavors not always available) |
