Provo’s Dough Nation offers ‘cookie dough for a cause’
Clockwise from top: Snickerdoodle, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate Chip, Loaded Brownie Batter, and Cake Batter cookie dough are served at Dough Nation in Provo.
Half Baked Peppermint Bark cookie dough, left, and Peanut Butter and Chocolate cookie dough are served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, and a chocolate and caramel drizzle at Dough Nation in Provo.
Vanilla ice cream is served at Dough Nation in Provo.
A wall at Dough Nation in Provo.
Cookie dough lovers can now feel less guilty about indulging in their cravings thanks to Dough Nation in Provo.
There is no risk of salmonella with Dough Nation’s edible cookie dough, which doesn’t contain eggs, and the dessert shop also donates a percentage of its earnings to charitable causes like the Utah County Children’s Justice Center.
I’ve been known to save out cookie dough in the refrigerator when making chocolate chip cookies to enjoy on its own, preferring the taste to baked cookies, so when I heard about Dough Nation, it sounded like a dream come true to me.
My party of four visited the small shop in downtown Provo at the end of a long day and were pleased to be met with several sweet treat options from which to choose.
Wanting to sample a variety of menu items, we got a single scoop each of Snickerdoodle, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate Chip, Loaded Brownie Batter, and Cake Batter edible cookie dough. In addition to these flavors, Dough Nation also has some vegan and gluten-free options, though we didn’t try them on this visit.
We also ordered a Half Baked Single Serving with a scoop each of Peppermint Bark and Peanut Butter and Chocolate cookie dough — served warm with ice cream, whipped topping, and a chocolate and caramel drizzle — as well as some milk and vanilla ice cream to wash everything down.
The Peanut Butter and Chocolate flavor was my favorite by far. I tend to particularly love anything that includes a combination of peanut butter and chocolate, and this edible cookie dough definitely lived up to my expectations. The smooth peanut butter dough was perfectly balanced with the chocolate chips and tasted especially delicious Half Baked.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the Cookies and Cream flavor, a creamy white dough mixed with Oreo cookie pieces, and the Loaded Brownie Batter dough, made with a bittersweet chocolaty base and chocolate chips. The classic Chocolate Chip cookie dough was equally delicious and satisfied my expectations of the traditional flavor.
I wasn’t as big a fan of the Snickerdoodle flavor, which contained a little too much cinnamon for me, and the Cake Batter dough, which I thought was too sugary between the vanilla cake batter flavor and plethora of mixed-in sprinkles.
We also didn’t love the Peppermint Bark cookie dough, largely due to the large peppermint chunks it contained, but were glad we decided to make that one of our Half Baked options, as it seemed to soften the candy pieces.
We all agreed the cookie dough tasted better with milk and ice cream. I also learned a little of the rich dough goes a long way and wouldn’t recommend eating it in large quantities. A single scoop per person should be more than sufficient.
Dough Nation also sells tubs of take-and-bake cookie dough that does contain eggs — made from a different recipe than the edible dough — which I can also vouch for. The batch of chocolate chip cookies I baked from the tub at home turned out soft, moist and delicious after about 10 minutes in the oven.
All in all, the cookie dough satisfied our sweet tooth, and we felt good that some of the money spent on our treat went to charity. Dough Nation was indeed a dream come true for a cookie dough lover like me.
DOUGH NATION
Where: 286 N. University Ave., Provo
Hours: Monday-Thursday from noon to 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday from noon to 11 p.m., closed Sundays.
Prices: $1.50-$10
Info: (801) 866-9940, provodesserts.com