Clementine’s Ice Cream has partnered with six pastry chefs from around the country to develop flavors based on the chefs’ cookie recipes. Among them is St. Louisan Reine Keis, founder of SweetArt Bakeshop and Café.
The collection debuted this week at all Clementine’s locations and is available for nationwide shipping.
The chefs have transformed signature cookie recipes into limited-edition ice cream flavors that celebrate the creativity and comfort of the classic holiday cookie exchange. The flavors were launched.
The inspiration came from a Midwest tradition where friends and family gather to swap homemade cookies.
“When I first moved into the Lafayette Square neighborhood, my neighbors invited me to a holiday cookie exchange,” said Tamara Keefe, founder and CEO of St. Louis-based Clementine’s. “I had never even heard of one before, but I instantly fell in love with the idea of trading sweets.”
For Keefe, the experience was a way to build community and find connection in a new city.
“It reminded me how food can open doors, build community and turn a city into a home,” she said.
Keis’ contribution to the collection is Thick Mint, a plant-based twist on the iconic Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie.
“I was a Girl Scout, and my favorite time was selling cookies,” Keis said. “Thin Mints were my favorite, with Samoas as a close second.”
Known for her award-winning pastry work flair for reimagining classic treats, Keis brought that same energy to her ice cream flavor. Thick Mint is a rich, creamy malted non-dairy ice cream packed with chunks of thick mint cookies.
“Everyone loves the traditional Thin Mints — you can eat them by the sleeve, and I’ve seen people do it all the time,” Keis said. “But I wanted something more substantial.”
Thick Mint is a staple in Keis’ holiday cookie box, and it’s the one fans reach for first. She said she was curious how the cookie would translate in frozen form.
“I’m not quite sure what the Clementine’s team added to make this ice cream come alive,” she said. “But whatever they did — it’s phenomenal. … It’s exactly how I want my plant-based desserts to be in ice cream form.”
Other flavors in the Holiday Cookie Exchange Collection include:
- Sticky toffee pudding, by Justine Doiron
- Cranberry vanilla linzer, by Anna Gordon
- Chipotle cherry rugelach, by Fany Gerson
- Nana’s 7 layer bar, by Megan Garrelts
- Pandan polvoron raspberry cheesecake cookie, by Abi Balingit
The chefs emphasize the tradition of recipe sharing and reinterpretation in pastry work.
“Recipe sharing and collaboration with chefs and home bakers is part of the connection we all share through our love of sweet things,” Garrelts said. “No one in this generation — or any before us — can claim to have invented the first cake, cookie or ice cream.”
But everyone can pass down methods and flavor combinations, Garrelts said.
“Clementine’s is a perfect example of this spirit,” she said.