When I moved away from home two years ago, I thought I would start completely fresh and form an identity separate from who I had been and where I was from. Now, my entire personality is based on being from the Ice Cream Capital of the World, aka Le Mars, Iowa.

I was born and raised on classics like Vanilla Bean and Bunny Tracks, and you would NEVER catch our household without a pint in our freezer and especially not any brand other than Blue Bunny. We have always been committed to our hometown brand.

Suffice to say, I’m an avid ice cream fan, and after 21 years of perusing Blue Bunny’s flavor array, it’s time for the ultimate ranking. With more than 50 flavors that can be found in stores and a few parlor-exclusive ones on top of that, I had to limit my ranking to the classics and my own personal favorites.

My credentials speak for themselves: Ice Cream Capital of the World (born and raised), former employee of an ice cream cone plant, bowl of ice cream every night kinda gal.

Without further ado, here are the rankings that have been 21 years in the making.

11. Homemade Vanilla

Rounding out the bottom of the ranking is the classic Homemade Vanilla. Yes, I am including all three of Blue Bunny’s vanilla flavors in this ranking.

Homemade Vanilla just doesn’t do it for me. I’ve never been a huge fan of Nilla wafers, and that’s what this tastes like. It’s too plain. I know, I know. What else can one expect from vanilla? But I do expect more, and Homemade Vanilla doesn’t live up to that.

10. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I can hear the hissing and screaming of the critics now. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough so low? Who doesn’t like chocolate chips and cookie dough?

And I say to you, hear me out. The chunky pieces of cookie dough are the perfect amount of chewiness in comparison to the smooth texture of the vanilla ice cream. I’ll give it that. But the taste is nonexistent. It tastes like I just took a bite of water. It’s disappointing.

Then we get to the ratio. The ratio is so important when it comes to flavors like chocolate chip cookie dough. In this case, there isn’t enough cookie dough to combat the plain Jane vanilla.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has been one of those flavors I’ve tried to love over and over again, but every time, I’ve been disappointed.

9. Scooper Hero

Scooper Hero holds a special place in my heart. It’s one of the flavors that is only available at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor in town.

It’s a fun flavor with vibrant streaks of red, blue and yellow. Every kid goes through a Scooper Hero phase. We see the bright colors and immediately must have it. Plus, it leaves plenty of fun stains.

However, Scooper Hero is literally just vanilla. I tried to convince myself when I was little that each color tasted different, but I was wrong.

So while the classic flavor looks like a blast-and-a-half, it doesn’t live up to the hype in terms of taste.

8. Vanilla

Yes, I am ranking the plain, boring vanilla higher than the fun and fresh Scooper Hero. At least Vanilla doesn’t claim to be something that it’s not. I see a bowl of vanilla ice cream, and I’m like, “That’s a bowl of vanilla ice cream.” I see a bowl of Scooper Hero, and I’m like, “Wow, that must be such a flavorful bowl of ice cream,” only to be let down.

Vanilla doesn’t play games with my emotions. I can add whatever toppings I want and know exactly what I’m getting myself into.

7. Coffee

Next is another parlor-exclusive flavor. I don’t have much to say about this one. For coffee-flavored ice cream, it’s pretty good.

And that’s about it. It’s not the worst flavor, but there’s also much more exciting flavors to get.

6. Vanilla Bean

I’m placing this one here solely because of the more exciting flavors to come. As far as a tub I would buy from a grocery store, this one takes the cake (in fact, my dad would rate it his all-around number one choice). There’s just something light and comforting about the flecks of vanilla bean. It pushes it beyond Vanilla and tramples Homemade Vanilla.

Seriously though, Vanilla Bean has two thumbs-up from my dad, an EMPLOYEE at Blue Bunny. How much more credible can this review get?

5. Cookies and Cream

This one is going to come as a shock to those close to me. I am a FIEND for cookies and cream flavored anything. In fact, this flavor has been there for me in good times and in bad ones.

But in comparison to the flavors to come, this one is kind of boring. There’s just not enough crunch to the cookie pieces. I always have to add my own to give it the texture I want. The cookie pieces are deceiving in their softness, and in a ranking as cutthroat as this one, every aspect of the flavor has to be on its game.

So Cookies and Cream didn’t pull through for me.

4. Salted Caramel Craze

This one was hard. Between the caramel flavored ice cream and caramel swirls, the flavoring is superb.

However, the chocolate bunny pieces ruin the overall texture game. The chocolate hardens too much. There’s something to be said for a nice crunch, but the chocolate goes too far and ruins the experience of the flavor.

Salted Caramel Craze, I’m sorry, but you’re number four.

3. Peanut Butter Party

I love peanut butter. It’s one of my all-time favorite foods. But my complaint here is similar to my complaint for Salted Caramel Craze: The chocolatey peanut butter cups throw off the texture. The peanut butter inside keeps it from getting too hard and gives a nice, soft bite. But we’re talking top-tier flavors now, and the competition is fierce.

2. Strawberry Cheesecake

Again, a parlor-exclusive flavor. But this one is SO GOOD. The texture: *chef’s kiss.* The balance of flavors: *chef’s kiss.* The decadence: *chef’s kiss.*

My life changed when I took my first bite of Strawberry Cheesecake. The only reason why it’s not number one is that it can be too heavy sometimes. It’s definitely a decadent flavor and can be too much.

1. Bunny Tracks

Unsurprising. If this isn’t the official ice cream flavor of my town, then I don’t know what would be.

Bunny Tracks contains chocolatey peanut butter bunnies, chocolatey covered peanuts and caramel and fudge swirls. You’d think I would have the same complaint here as I did with Salted Caramel Craze and Peanut Butter Party, but somehow, the crunchiness works. The crunch is the experience with Bunny Tracks.

As for the flavor, you get the ultimate experience. All my top players are here to dunk on the other flavors; you’ve got chocolate, peanut butter, caramel and fudge, all in vanilla ice cream. Every part balances the others out.

One doesn’t just “eat a bowl of Bunny Tracks.” One experiences a bowl of Bunny Tracks. It is everything that an ice cream flavor should be.

And that wraps up my official ranking of Blue Bunny ice cream flavors. Time to go test each one out, just to make sure.

Kayla Mayer can be reached at maye8518@stthomas.edu.