The Baked Bear will be turning out fresh cookies and ice cream sandwiches in the Delmar Loop beginning in early October. The San Diego-based brand has found an enthusiastic following for its colorful ice cream sandwiches and baked goods, with franchises in a number of states. Located at 6140 Delmar, across from The Pageant, this location will be No. 29 and make Missouri the 10th state.
The brand’s appeal largely rests on the quality of its products. “Our cookies are all baked from scratch—original recipes, butter, sugar, eggs,” says co-founder Shane Stanger, who launched the company in 2014 with lifelong friend Rob Robbins. “And it’s our own ice cream—super-premium, really high quality. I think it stands against any ice cream shop out there.”
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So what should a first-time visitor order? “You’ve got to start with an ice cream sandwich,” says Stanger. “One side brownie, one side Funfetti Cake cookie. And in the middle, I would throw in our signature flavor, Bear Batter—blue cake batter with brownies and fudge.” The Bear Bowl is another signature item, featuring a warm cookie on bottom and a dollop of ice cream on top.
Alternative cookie options include chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal cinnamon, and red velvet. There’s also a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie. Customers are free to mix and match cookies, brownies, or even donuts. Among the dozen or so ice cream options: traditional vanilla, blackberry crumble, toasted s’mores, and vegan chocolate chip.
After being warmed in a press, ice cream sandwiches can be dressed up with a variety of toppings, from brownie bits and Fruity Pebbles to sprinkles and whipped cream. “For the sandwich that I recommended, I would go with Oreo bits in hot fudge or Nutella,” adds Stanger.
He adds a word of warning: “It gets a little messy if you don’t eat quick enough. But the cookies are really soft, so you can just bite right through it. A lot of times, I’ve had other people’s ice cream sandwiches, and they’re too hard on the outside and it squishes the ice cream out. That’s why we bake everything fresh. Every single cookie we serve is made that day. Those fresh cookies are the key to an ice cream sandwich.”
And expect a few ice cream flavors specially designed for the St. Louis location, teases Stanger, who says we’ll just have to wait and try them.
