The Celebratory Return of the Cool-A-Coo

Ballpark food is a very serious subject to me. The experience of attending a Dodger game cannot feel complete without partaking in a Dodger Dog. You can read my homage to The Dodger Dog, So Cal’s Favorite Frankfurter. I’m a creature of habit, so I routinely purchase one Dodger Dog, a bag of peanuts, and a Coca-Cola. Once in awhile I’ll also head to the concession line around the fifth inning to grab myself some soft-serve ice cream which is sold in a small souvenir Dodger cap. There is also Dibs ice cream which are small chocolate covered morsels. Yet these two options kept me wanting. They didn’t satisfy my Dodger Stadium ice cream craving. I had almost forgotten what I was in fact longing for until the end of this past season when a familiar ice cream friend made a comeback. Yes! The Cool-A-Coo had returned to Dodger Stadium. What a glorious homecoming for a treasured treat.

A sweet Dodger Stadium treat. Photo:Stacie Wheeler

Now it had been many years since I had enjoyed one of the tasty ice cream cookie sandwiches, but I never forget a favorite dessert. In fact a few times during the long drought when the Cool-A-Coo disappeared from Dodger Stadium, my father often said, “they need to bring back the Cool-A-Coo.” My dad sure does love his ice cream.

I finally was able to delve into the cold cookie deliciousness during the last St. Louis/Dodgers series in September. The Cool-A-Coo seemed a bit different than the original that last was sold at Chavez Ravine in the late 1990’s, but it’s tasty nonetheless. I got to share the sweet moment with my five-year old daughter as she bit into her first Cool-A-Coo at the same time as my retro taste. She approved.

If you are unfamiliar, the Cool-A-Coo is a cinnamon oatmeal cookie vanilla ice cream sandwich dipped in chocolate.  It is quite large, and both of us were unable to finish the entire Coo. The ice cream novelty sold for $5.75 each at the concession stand.

Of course our rivals up north have their own version of the Cool-A-Coo. The It’s It has been a Golden Gate city favorite since 1928. I have bought them from my grocer’s freezer section as well, and I have found different flavors of ice cream like cappuccino and mint. The difference between an It’s It and a Cool-A-Coo is that the cookies in a Cool-A-Coo are much larger, softer, and have cinnamon baked in. The It’s It has smaller and crisper cookies with more ice cream filling.

Stan Kasten and the new ownership group sought out the fans and asked them what they would like to see as far as fan experience improvements. The return of the Cool-A-Coo was one of the top requests. The Dodgers had to do some wheeling and dealing to make the Cool-A-Coo comeback a reality since the original dairyman who made the confection had sold his company. It took most of the season for Kasten and the Dodgers to acquire the rights and original logo as well as perfect the recipe, but the outcome was a creamy and dreamy success.

Cool-A-Coo Photo: Stacie Wheeler

The only thing sweeter than enjoying a Cool-A-Coo at Dodger Stadium would be to indulge in the ice cream sandwich during postseason Dodger baseball.