Admit it. You’ve done it before. That moment when the cookie dough is ready to go in the oven… and your finger takes a completely different direction. That guilty little pleasure, secretly shared in kitchens for generations, now has a name, a history, and even its own dedicated shops. Welcome to the world of cookie dough, the biscuit dough that has conquered the entire planet, one regressive bite at a time.
The Delicious History of the Edible Biscuit Dough and Our Favourite Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe
From the Dutch “Koekje” to the American Cookie : A Story of Pure Indulgence
It all starts long before chocolate chips and bowls of raw dough. The earliest ancestors of the biscuit date back to the 7th century in Persia, where bakers would cook a small amount of dough in the oven to test its temperature. This simple test cake would travel through centuries and continents to become one of the most beloved treats in the world.
As trade routes expanded, biscuits made their way across Europe. In the Netherlands, bakers created the “koekje”, literally meaning “little cake”, made from leftover dough. Practical, delicious, and easy to carry : the success was immediate. Dutch immigrants brought their koekje with them to North America in the 17th century, and that is where the real magic was about to happen.
1938 : The Day Everything Changed
The story of the cookie as we know and love it today begins in a Massachusetts inn. In 1938, Ruth Graves Wakefield, passionate chef and owner of the Toll House Inn, decided to experiment by incorporating pieces of Nestlé chocolate into her biscuit dough. The result ? The chocolate held its shape, developed an irresistible creamy texture, and the “Toll House cookie” was officially born.
The success was immediate and explosive. Nestlé bought the recipe, created the first chocolate chips to make preparation easier, and spread the cookie across the entire country. American soldiers requested them in care packages during World War II. The cookie became a cultural symbol. And inevitably, the urge to sneak a bite of the raw dough before baking became just as universal.
1984 : Ben & Jerry’s Makes the Guilty Pleasure Official
For decades, tasting raw cookie dough remained a quiet kitchen secret, a furtive gesture between the mixing bowl and the oven. Then an anonymous customer changed everything. At Ben & Jerry’s first ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont, a bulletin board invited customers to suggest new flavours. One idea stood out above the rest : what if you put chunks of cookie dough into vanilla ice cream ?
In 1984, Ben & Jerry’s created the world’s first batch of cookie dough ice cream. It was a revolution. What had once been a guilty pleasure became an assumed, celebrated, and commercialized dessert. Cookie dough stepped out of the shadows of family kitchens and into global popular culture. To this day, it remains the brand’s most popular flavour of all time.
From Family Kitchens to a Worldwide Phenomenon
Through the 2000s and 2010s, the trend exploded alongside social media. Shops entirely dedicated to cookie dough opened their doors in New York, London, and Paris. Dozens of flavours were created : caramel, peanut butter, vanilla, matcha, mixed berries… Cookie dough became a standalone dessert in its own right, just as legitimate as a brownie or a cheesecake.
At Yummy Doh, we wanted to make this experience accessible to every Canadian. Our bake-at-home cookie dough is available at all Costco locations across Canada, so perfect homemade cookies are always within reach. And if you are in Ontario, find our small ready-to-eat edible dough containers at your nearest 7-Eleven and Farm Boy locations, for the purest and most regressive cookie dough experience there is.
Recipe : Yummy Doh Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
Now that you know the whole story, it would be a shame to stop here. Here is our favourite recipe, ridiculously simple to make and spectacular to serve. Perfect for a birthday, a family afternoon, or simply because you deserve something extraordinary today.
What you need for 6 sandwiches :
1 container of Yummy Doh cookie dough in your favourite flavour 500 ml of ice cream in your preferred flavour (vanilla, chocolate, caramel, cookie dough… why not !) Toppings of your choice : chocolate chips, crushed nuts, rainbow sprinkles, mini marshmallows
The steps :
Preheat your oven to 325°F. Shape your Yummy Doh dough into balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them well apart. Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies and your oven. The key : pull them out when the edges are golden but the centre still looks slightly underdone. Do not worry, that is exactly what you want.
Let your cookies rest on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes without touching them. This is the hardest step, but it is essential : the cookies will continue to set slightly and develop that perfect texture, crispy on the outside and soft and gooey at the heart.
While your cookies cool completely, take your ice cream out of the freezer and let it soften for 5 minutes at room temperature so it is easy to work with.
Flip half of your cookies upside down. Place a generous scoop of ice cream on each one, then press a second cookie on top to form your sandwich.
Roll the edges of each sandwich in your topping of choice : chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, crushed nuts… let your creativity run wild, and let the kids join in too.
Place your sandwiches on a tray and put them back in the freezer for 30 minutes before serving so they firm up nicely.
Take them out, enjoy, and repeat.
Yummy Doh pro tip : bake a big batch of cookies in advance, assemble your sandwiches, and store them individually wrapped in the freezer. You will always have a dream dessert ready in seconds, perfect for those evenings when the craving for something sweet hits out of nowhere.
The Guilty Pleasure is Officially Gone
From ancient Persia to the family kitchens of Massachusetts, through the ice cream shops of Burlington and the frozen sandwiches of your family Sundays, cookie dough has come a very long way. And the best news of all ? With Yummy Doh, this regressive pleasure is now 100% unapologetic, 100% delicious, and available across Canada.
Because some childhood pleasures deserve to never end.
Find your favourite Yummy Doh cookie dough at all Costco locations across Canada and start melting that ice cream. The cookies are not going to wait. And if you are in Ontario, stop by your nearest 7-Eleven or Farm Boy to grab our small ready-to-eat edible dough containers, for those days when even turning on the oven feels like too much.