The Baked Bear, a custom ice cream sandwich dessert shop, opened this weekend. I was quite excited about this grand opening because it combines two of my favorite sweets: cookies and ice cream.
I don’t know of any other shops in San Diego that focus on ice cream sandwiches, but now I’m wondering why no one thought to try it sooner. In addition to custom built ice cream sandwiches, you can also buy just ice cream, cookies and brownies. They also have some drinks on their menu. The cookies and brownies are baked fresh in the store, several times a day, and the owners even hired on a French chef to make the baked goods.
With the hot summer weather we suddenly experience earlier last week, it was the perfect time for an ice cream sandwich shop to open. But even when we returned again on a rainy Sunday, the store was still very packed, so I guess I’m not alone in my excitement.
On both of our visits, there was a constant line, but it moves pretty fast.
Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, Ghiradelli brownie, and Red Velvet cookie ($3.50)
Now I’ve had brownie ice cream sandwiches and I’ve had cookie ones, but I’ve never had both at the same time. I highly recommend the combination. The combination is not actually listed on the menu, but you can request it, as I did at the recommendation of one of the owners.
I’ve always found a cookie ice cream sandwich to be a little too hard (even though the cookies themselves are soft and chewy they get a little hard from the cold ice cream) and a brownie ice cream sandwich a little too rich. This was the perfect balance for me. Having only one cookie made the ice cream sandwich softer. And with only one brownie, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the sweetness of eating two rich brownies at the same time.
The ice cream sandwiches are also pretty substantial in size, which I was pretty happy to see.
Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie, Snickerdoodle cookie ($2.95)
I wasn’t as crazy about this one mainly because I found the strawberry cheesecake ice cream to be a little too sweet for my liking. I enjoyed the cookies though.
Here’s Mr. K being a hand model so you can get an idea of the size of the sandwiches.
Cookies and Cream ice cream, chocolate chip cookie, white chocolate macadamia nut cookie ($2.95)
Here’s our rainy Sunday one. I had been craving the brownie cookie combo, but they were temporarily out of brownies with a fresh batch still cooling, so we opted for two cookies. Still yummy.
We were pretty happy with both our visits. It’s great to see a new dessert option open with reasonable prices and we’ll be back soon to try even more combinations. It’s located in Pacific Beach, but there is a parking lot right next to it, so parking isn’t an issue. It’s also open late (10 pm on most nights). On Friday and Saturday, it’s even open until 2 am, though the later hours will be through a glass window.
The Baked Bear
4516 Mission Blvd Ste C
San Diego CA
https://thebakedbear.com/
We were driving about aimlessly today, found a parking place, walked down Crystal Pier and then found The Baked Bear right around the corner! They make waffle ice cream sandwiches- which I grew up having at the counter at the Five and Dime (Kresge’s) in Detroit. It was wonderful!
I haven’t tried the waffle ice cream sandwiches. I was curious but it seemed like they were really emphasizing the cookies so I stuck to cookies and brownies.
after visiting my family in the east bay area last year and going to C.R.E.A.M. (cookies rule everything around me) in berkeley, which is this exact formula, ive been wondering why no one has done this is san diego yet, and finally here it is! fresh baked cookies and ice cream? its a no brainer really… also, lighthouse ice cream in OB has a waffle iron where they sell ice cream hot waffle sandwiches for 1.50. really delish as well. https://www.yelp.com/biz/lighthouse-ice-cream-and-yogurt-san-diego
Oh I have been to Lighthouse! I forgot about it though I really enjoy their waffle ice cream sandwiches. Yes it def makes sense for SD to have a cookie/ice cream sandwich shop, and near the beach.
Oh neat, a custom ice cream sandwich shop! That is actually a good idea now that I think about it. That’s a good place for them to be down at the beach. The cookie options look fun, too. I’ll have to add this to my “to try” list.
Yeah it totally makes sense, so I’m surprised we don’t have more shops like this. I love ice cream sandwiches. And using fresh baked cookies and brownies is even better.
I saw the sign for this place about a month ago, and wondered what it was going to be. It reminds me of Diddy Riese in LA, and the prices here look pretty reasonable. Sometimes two cookies AND ice cream are sugar overload for me, so I end up eating the ice cream first, cookies later.
You know I was trying to think of somewhere to compare this to, and Diddy Riese kept popping in my mind too since there really just aren’t many ice cream sandwich shops I’ve been to or been aware of. The portions are really big like Diddy Riese though they are not producing mass quantities like DR.
Yay, it has a parking lot, which is a big plus in Mission Beach! A quick check on the net showed that it’s the same lot with Urban Outfitters on one side and Kafe Yen on the other. Nice variety of ice cream sandwiches, but it seems supersweet to combine a cookie with ice cream AND a brownie! 🙂
Hmm. I didn’t find it any more sweet than two cookies and ice cream, but maybe because mine was paired with the mint chocolate ice cream which wasn’t as sweet as the ice creams pairs with the two cookies. It’s right next door to fatburger and yes, I was so happy to see a parking lot.