We Tasted And Ranked Doughy's Edible Cookie Dough Flavors

The inspiration behind the Doughy brand of cookie dough products is the childhood experience many of us grew up with of licking the raw batter from a mixing bowl while baking a batch of delicious cookies. As health and food safety standards have evolved, the CDC has updated its recommendations regarding consuming raw cookie dough, noting that uncooked flour and raw eggs can harbor pathogens that may cause foodborne illnesses.

Doughy seeks to recapture this bit of nostalgia by creating raw cookie dough that is safe, delicious, and sustainable. All its cookie doughs are made from plant-based ingredients and packaged in recyclable containers. Its doughs are also gluten-free, grain-free, low in calories, free of cane sugar, and use seven or fewer ingredients.

I had the opportunity to sample all of the flavors produced by Doughy. While these cookie doughs can be baked, the entire point is that they are safe for consuming raw. Therefore, I sampled them as such and ranked them accordingly based on aroma, texture, flavor, and how well they captured the essence of cookie dough containing eggs and flour. If you love cookie dough and want to journey down memory lane with these clever products from Doughy, you'll want to read on to see how they rank from least to most favorite.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

Last but not least on our list of Doughy cookie dough is the limited-edition Birthday Cake flavor. This dough is made in partnership with Upbeet & Kaleing It. This flavor comes with a MustLove all-natural sprinkles package but can be enjoyed as is. I sampled it without sprinkles to ensure I got the essence of a birthday cake dough for the most basic comparison.

The aroma of this variety is mild, with a hint of nuttiness from the cashews peeking through. Its texture is slightly grainy, chewy, and a touch gummy. This may have to do with the inclusion of coconut flour in this flavor, which can cause baked goods to take on a starchy mouthfeel.

The flavor of this dough has elements of Marzipan and almond paste, thanks to the addition of almond extract. It is moderately sweet with a hint of lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. Though the dough is tasty, it felt the least authentic to the flavor it sought to emulate, even though almond extract is a personal favorite ingredient of mine in baking.

Next to last among the Doughy varieties is the Chocolate Chip dough. Again, this is not because it was not tasty, but it simply was less to my liking than the others. The aroma of this cookie dough is dominated by maple syrup, which is used to sweeten all the Doughy varieties. For some reason, it shines in this batter.

The texture of this dough is punctuated by crunchy, snappy organic chocolate chips enveloped in a batter that is slightly grainy but tender. Where this dough was markedly better than the Birthday Cake was the absence of coconut flour, which eliminated that starchiness. This gave it a much more pleasant overall mouthfeel.

The flavor of the dough itself is cashew-forward. Cashews have a distinctive aftertaste that is simultaneously buttery and rich while having a note of sourness and astringency. This complexity makes it ideally suited as a foundation for plant-based baking. It is also what makes it a bit of an acquired flavor profile. Though the chocolate chips are abundant, they too are more on the dark, bittersweet side, giving this cookie a very modestly sweet taste, which may not be everyone's cup of tea but that I enjoyed.

Selecting a top three among these cookie doughs from Doughy was a bit unfair. I am simultaneously a chocoholic, a peanut butter fanatic, and a pumpkin spice lover. Nevertheless, I had to choose, so the Brownie Batter flavor landed third. This super dark-hued batter was reminiscent of a fudgy brownie more than a cookie, but that appears to be what they were going for.

Its aroma is distinctly maple and cocoa forward with just hints of vanilla poking through. The texture of this dough is slightly chewy and grainy, yet soft. While the taste of this double chocolate bonanza is rife with notes of bittersweet cocoa, the cashews are perhaps more prevalent than I would like them to be. They become more of a feature than a foundation upon which the chocolate chips and cocoa are layered and amplified.

The slightly grainy texture and overt presence of cashews led me to rank this dough where I did. Despite that, it is tasty and could almost be enjoyed frozen as an alternative to ice cream. If I had to give it a grade, it would earn a B+.

The Pumpkin Spice Doughy does not appear to be a limited-edition flavor, even though it screams fall in every bite. I am a bit of a pumpkin spice snob, preferring foods and beverages that aren't precious in their use of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Fortunately, this cookie dough delivers. Its aroma is abundant in these warm, festive spices, with cloves perhaps dominating a little.

The texture is interesting because this flavor contains crunchy chocolate chips, which caught me off guard but was a delightful twist. The surrounding dough was creamy, if not a touch toothsome, due to the bits of cashews. This wasn't distracting, just notable.

Its flavor is well balanced, with notes of pumpkin spice, maple syrup, and vanilla extract mingling beautifully with the sea salt. Cashews were ideally used here, being a base upon which all the other ingredients can shine. This cookie dough was not overly sweet and had a lovely complexity that landed it second. It earns a solid A grade.

Coming in first is the Peanut Butter Doughy variety. It is hard to argue with good peanut butter cookies or dough. It is a classic for a reason, and this one does not disappoint. Peanuts dominate throughout the tasting experience of this dough, from aroma to taste. Though the flavor of this dough is more reminiscent of chunky natural peanut butter, its texture is anything but. It is far softer, and you don't have to mess with stirring the oil back into the peanut butter. Any graininess in the dough stems from the cashews, not bits of peanuts.

The subtle sweetness of maple is there but not overly prominent. Vanilla provides a fruitiness, while the sea salt gives this a savory profile ideal for a peanut butter cookie dough. I loved this dough. The only thing that could improve upon it is combining it with the Brownie Batter dough for a peanut butter cup vibe that would knock your socks off. Otherwise, this is my clear winner, and it gets an enthusiastic A grade from me.