I tried the winning Houston Trader Joe's ice cream sandwich recipe
It's a mouthful and a seemingly odd combo. And of course, with my love of trying interesting food mashups, I had to test out this local winner.
Context: Out of roughly 400 submissions nationwide, Houston's came out on top. On the Trader Joe's podcast discussing the contest, they said the room went silent after the judges tasted it. And I can see why.
How it works: The annual contest allows only five Trader Joe's ingredients per entry — and they have to be staples available year-round. Pantry basics like salt, butter and flour don't count toward that limit.
Zoom in: The Shepherd Drive location held its own internal competition with about seven contenders. Summer, an employee there (Trader Joe's didn't share her last name), created the winning recipe. She originally wanted to use miso, but since it's not stocked consistently, she pivoted to Korean red chili paste — gochujang.
My experience: My brain's internal dialogue was exactly: "What am I eating, and how does this work so perfectly?" It surprised me just how well the flavors and textures came together.
The corn cookie adds crunch, while the ice cream softens it all and cuts the gochujang heat.
I got a spicy aftertaste, but that was likely baker error by adding too much paste. They're not like the New York Times' Gochujang Caramel Cookies — you need the generous scoop of ice cream to make the whole thing click.
It's creative, easy to make and a crowd pleaser. A couple of friends tried it with me — and they had a similar reaction trying to process all the flavors and immediately another bite.
If you try it: I used the exact Trader Joe's ingredients for testing purposes, and they totaled about $20, making about nine sandwiches, with a lot of leftover ingredients.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
19 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
In this novel, experimental theater crosses moral, legal lines
Experimental theater of the early 1970s had an undeniable allure. Immersive long before 'Sleep No More,' it blurred the boundary between self, show and world. For Allison, who attends the kind of cosseting school with a curfew and a 'dorm matron,' it promises more: 'Change me,' she silently begs her first such show as she stands on a seedy Times Square sidewalk. 'Form me. Teach me who and what I am.' 'Flashout' is the second novel from New York Times theater critic and culture reporter Alexis Soloski, and it unspools across two timelines. One follows Allison's youth in a past-its-prime troupe with a predatory, narcissistic leader. In the other, it's 1997 in the San Fernando Valley, as a wry high school theater teacher with a very healthy work-life balance is always looking over her shoulder, wondering, 'Had she been caught? Found? Finally?'
Forbes
20 minutes ago
- Forbes
NYT ‘Strands' Hints And Answers For August 2
Looking for Friday's Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here: How To Play Strands The New York Times' Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It's in beta for now, which means it'll only stick around if enough people play it every day. There's a new game of Strands to play every day. The game will present you with a six by eight grid of letters. The aim is to find a group of words that have something in common, and you'll get a clue as to what that theme is. When you find a theme word, it will remain highlighted in blue. You'll also need to find a special word called a spangram. This tells you what the words have in common. The spangram links two opposite sides of the board. While the theme words will not be a proper name, the spangram can be a proper name. When you find the spangram, it will remain highlighted in yellow. Be warned: You'll need to be on your toes. 'Some themes are fill-in-the-blank phrases. They may also be steps in a process, items that all belong to the same category, synonyms or homophones,' The New York Times notes. 'Just as she varies the difficulty of Wordle puzzles within a week, [Wordle and Strands editor Tracy] FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia LadderWhat Is Today's Strands Hint? Time to do the NYT hint and then my own hint after that: Pretty as a picture And mine is: You can do it on your phone now What Are Today's Strands Answers? Now we begin the answer portion of the program which is the spangram and the full list of the other answers, the spangram is: PHOTOEDITING Here it is on the page, and read on: Here is the answer list: So this was an interesting one, given that I thought it was just going to be about photography in general, but it's getting more specific about the process of editing in particular. For a long while it was only professional photographers who did this, but now anyone with a phone can as well. Some of these are used more than others, and I feel like 'adjust' was a little broad, but yes, my hunt for normal photo words like LENSE and APERTURE did not pan out today. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
CNET
2 hours ago
- CNET
Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 2 #517
Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. Today's NYT Strands puzzle has a pretty modern topic. If you've ever used Photoshop, or even one of many similar photo-editing programs, you'll know all the answers. If you need hints and answers, read on. I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page. Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far Hint for today's Strands puzzle Today's Strands theme is: Pretty as a picture. If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Photoshop that image. Clue words to unlock in-game hints Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work: LUTE, TORE, TATE, JUST, CARE, CARES, CARS, CARET, CARETS, SCAR, SCARS, SCARE, SCARES Answers for today's Strands puzzle These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: BLUR, CROP, ERASE, ADJUST, FILTER, ROTATE, MARKUP Today's Strands spangram The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 2, 2025, #517. NYT/Screenshot by CNET Today's Strands spangram is PHOTOEDITOR. To find it, look for the P that's six letters down on the far-left row, and wind up, over and down.
