Cookie dough parlours have arrived in Australia

Chances are you thought it was ice cream on your Instagram feed, but it's actually safe-to-eat cookie dough, the breakout dessert trend for 2017.

Three-hour queue's at New York's first cookie dough parlour, DŌ. Source: Instagram

“I’d been making edible cookie dough for myself for years. It wasn't until this year that I realised other people loved eating cookie dough as much as I did,” says No Baked Cookie Dough founder Megan Beavan, who started spruiking the sweet treat in Nashville just four months ago.

Three-flavoured packs from No Baked Cookie Dough 'cos one's not enough. Source: Wind & Gold Photography

She’s not the only one. Since DŌ, New York’s first dedicated cookie dough purveyor, swung open its doors early this year to epic crowds (there’s a near-constant three-hour queue), sweet entrepreneurs from around the world have been jumping on the bandwagon – from LA and London to Montreal.

You can try it in Melbourne and Sydney

Now, The New York Times’ proclaimed ‘latest dessert trend’ has reached Aussie shores. In Melbourne, there’s is Cookie Doh Co. and Cookie Dough Dream while Sydney’s Joe Dough peddles it as part of a broader sweet line-up.

“It was a last-minute addition,” says owner Dan McGuirt, who saw it as a cheaper option to a gelato machine he was considering. “We’re an American doughnut shop, but the cookie dough outsells them 10 to one.” Apparently one customer spent a three-hour airport pit stop in Sydney dashing to the store for a taste.

One customer spent a three-hour airport pit stop in Sydney dashing to the store for a taste.

Of course, unbaked cookie dough is not entirely new. In the US, The Cookie Dough Cafe has been selling supermarket tubs of it since 2011 (it scored celebrity investment on America’s Shark Tank) and beloved in ice cream since the early 90s (thank you Ben & Jerry’s).

Isn't cookie dough dangerous to eat raw?

This familiarity, coupled with warm and fuzzy childhood memories licking the bowl, have been part of raw cookie dough’s meteoric rise to fame, but so too has allaying people’s long-held fears of salmonella.

“A lot of people ask, ‘Isn't cookie dough dangerous to eat raw?’” says Beaven, who, like a host of vendors, dropped the usual culprit eggs and tinkered with her recipe so it still tastes like good ol’ homemade cookie. She also uses heat-treated flour, which other vendors combine with pasteurised eggs so you can still bake it off as you would regular dough - not that you would.

Cookie dough 2.0 is taking over your next dessert

Cookie dough 2.0 ain’t mere balls – think double-scoop waffle cones, cups loaded with toppings, and display cabinets bursting with every imaginable flavour – even unicorn cookie dough.

The next wave has already begun, with cookie dough sandwiches, stacks, pies,

brownies,

and cannoli.

I haven’t had a chance to try it – even for current trends, this one has been breakneck (along with ice cream rolls and bubble waffle cones) – but I’d love to hear your take on it if you have. Let me know via Facebook @Yasmin Newman or Instagram @yasmin_newman.

In this column, Dessert Date, I scour bakeries, patisseries and dessert joints from around the world for the hottest sweet trends, up-and-coming ingredients and game-changing pastry techniques.