Edible cookie dough is a food trend taking the Internet by storm, and for good reason. There's nothing quite as satisfying as digging into some dough with a spoon, without the risk of contracting salmonella. Although there are so many recipes to try out, I've found it difficult finding edible cookie dough that is gluten-free. That is, until I came across Sweet Megan.
Sweet Megan is an allergen-friendly edible cookie dough company with a beautiful mission, story, and team that works tirelessly to provide allergen-friendly treats. I was lucky enough to learn more about their mission and try out some of their most popular products.
The Story Behind the Name
Sweet Megan was founded by Pattie Lerner, a nurse who started baking because she couldn't find clean, healthy, and/or gluten-free cookie dough on the market for her daughter, who was just diagnosed with Celiac disease. At around the same time that she started scouring the market, Nestle had a recall on their cookie dough for E. coli. So, Pattie took it upon herself to make healthier cookie dough.
Since establishing her company in 2011, Pattie has set out to give back to and support two foundations near and dear to her heart: the Dream Foundation, that helped her niece Megan's final wish to meet Ellen Degeneres come true, and the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, who works around the clock to find a cure for Rett Syndrome (a condition Pattie's niece Logan was diagnosed with in 2016). Named after Megan and driven by unconditional love, Sweet Megan exists to offer safe and delicious treats for everyone.
Why Sweet Megan is the Better Choice
As previously mentioned, Sweet Megan was a project started by Pattie to provide allergen-friendly dough for her daughter and niece. So, when the company first launched, all products were certified organic, soy-free, and gluten-free. However, due to popular demand, the company went top eight allergen free in 2015, meaning that there is no milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, or wheat in the goodies, in addition to being free from preservatives, artificial flavoring, dyes, gums, or added starch. Using and sourcing ingredients that maintain the integrity of the company's values, Sweet Megan is safe for virtually anyone to consume (vegans and kosher friends, rejoice!).
The Edible Cookie Dough
What's unique about Sweet Megan, besides the fact that everyone can try out their cookie dough, is that you can eat it raw, but also bake it. That's right. While most edible cookie doughs melt in the oven if you tried baking them, these doughs are good both raw and baked, and here's what I thought about each of them:
There's nothing quite as comforting as a chocolate chip cookie. It's a classic American recipe that satisfies any sweet tooth, and Sweet Megan has perfected its chocolate chip recipe. The consistency is as gooey as normal cookie dough and has the perfect chocolate chip to dough ratio. It's a great midday pick-me-up or late-night snack.
Sugar cookies are Pattie's personal favorite, and I can see why. Though some people think sugar cookies are only good during the Christmas season, Sweet Megan's sugar cookie dough will surely change their mind. It's a fairly simple batter, but the ingredients are high quality, so the hints of vanilla and brown sugar really shine through.
All of Sweet Megan's cookie dough flavors are great, but the one that I couldn't get enough of was the brownie flavor. Brownies are one of my favorite desserts, and having them in an edible dough form is yet another way for me to enjoy them. As my friend Alex said upon inhaling spoonfuls of Sweet Megan, "It's like a chocolate fudge cake in a jar." You have to try it to see for yourself.
Other Goodies
Sweet Megan doesn't just have edible cookie dough. The company offers other baked goods like cupcakes, muffins, and even gluten-free pizza crust if you need something savory to cut through all the sugary delights. Some of their most popular products include:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches
Ice cream sandwiches are one of the best summer desserts, but since I'm lactose intolerant, I can't indulge as much as I'd like. That's where Sweet Megan comes in to save the day. Biting into this sandwich — which were made out of crispy-on-the-outside yet chewy-on-the-inside cookies and a sweet vanilla cream filling — I didn't even miss the ice cream. And that's coming from an ice cream freak! If you don't finish them in one sitting (which I highly doubt due to how addictive they are), you can freeze them to extend their shelf life, and they're still good, even when the cookies are cold.
The sugar cookie dough sandwich might even be better when it's cooked and chilled, rather than eaten as raw dough, and I thoroughly enjoyed the edible cookie dough. When it gets a little harder, it gives a satisfying crunch, sort of like a shortbread cookie.
Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches
The Brownie Cookie Dough sandwich was fluffier than the other two, but just as tasty. It had the texture of a whoopie pie, and it was the best whoopie pie I had. The combination of the dark chocolate with the sweet cream filling was such a delightful treat that I was left wanting more.
My personal favorite, these Spoonfuls are essentially pre-portioned cookie dough/brownie dough generously dipped in velvety chocolate. Because everything is better dipped in chocolate.
Break and Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Tray
I saved the newest and most exciting for last. The break and bake cookie dough might sound normal—I mean, on the surface, it looks like any other bakeable cookie dough you can buy from the store—but these are revolutionary. On the packaging, there's a suggestion to bake half of the cookies and save the rest for dipping, and that's what my friends and I did. And it was amazing. The cookies, straight out of the oven, dipped in the soft and creamy unbaked dough makes for a great combination for sharing with your friends. Or you can just finish it off yourself. I won't judge.
Sweet Megan will be moving forward and taking the food industry by storm to honor Pattie's late granddaughter Noa Gray Kalish, who passed away on July 8, 2017 at just 22 days old. Noa was diagnosed with a rare unsurvivable genetic condition called Nemaline Myopathy.
The Sweet Megan journey has not always been smooth or painless but it has always been and will continue to be full of love, integrity, dedication, and a fierce passion to doing what's right.
#SpoonTip: Use the promo code "Spoon20" to treat yourself.