Pecan Deluxe invests in cookie dough snacking as trend spreads throughout Europe

25 Oct 2019 --- Consumers are increasingly seeking to consume raw cookie dough as a trendy food in itself, as highlighted by UK-based Pecan Deluxe Candy (Europe) Ltd. The ingredients specialist has now tripled its cookie dough production capacity in Europe as part of a multi-million-pound investment program. The company notes that the versatility of cookie dough has led it to gather momentum in an increasing number of other indulgent food items, and predicts that it will also continue to gain popularity within the ice cream sector. This comes as consumers want products with an increasingly premium and luxurious feel.

“Cookie dough is a completely different entity to baked cookies. It is a soft, indulgent experience that is often spoonable, as opposed to the drier and chewier cookie. Cookies have been around for ages, but cookie dough is still seen as ‘the new kid on the block’ – it’s edgier and is seen as a talking point,” Jenny Baillie, Business Development Manager at Pecan Deluxe, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Cookie dough is a soft, indulgent experience, as opposed to the drier and chewier cookie.Although it has been commonly eaten as part of ice cream for the last few decades, independent retail outlets have sparked a wider trend for eating scoops of the dough as a standalone dessert, as seen with shops such as “DŌ” and “Cookie Dough Café.” The power of social media has also been key, with Baillie noting that this helps drive innovation with retailers and dessert brands. 

The company is capitalizing on this trend with its range of cookie doughs in flavors, including chocolate chip, plain and double chocolate. While the dough includes a raising agent and can be baked like a regular cookie, it is also safe to eat raw. 

“This is due to a production difference as you need a scrupulously clean manufacturing environment and the ability to freeze the product extremely quickly. This keeps microorganism levels very low,” explains Baillie. 

The chunks of dough can be blended into milkshakes and sprinkled on desserts, among many other imaginative applications. The company says that the size of the dough pieces makes them easy to handle and process, such as when baking into skillet cookie and hot cookie dough desserts.

Additionally, the dough represents an advantage to the foodservice sector as it does not need to be defrosted in advance. Instead, frozen chunks can be scooped directly into a dish and baked. 

A taste of nostalgia
Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was said to have originated in 1984 at the first Ben & Jerry’s “scoop shop” in Burlington, Vermont, from an anonymous suggestion on their flavor suggestion board, explains Baillie. Since the global distribution of Ben and Jerry’s, cookie dough in ice cream has been introduced to new consumers all over the world.

Within Europe, Lidl’s 2011 introduction of its own-label version of cookie dough ice cream increased awareness of it as an ingredient across the continent. “Many other own-label retailers followed, and since then, cookie dough as an ingredient in ice cream has become one of the top five flavor variants globally,” Baillie adds. 

Munchies is also tapping into the cookie dough trend.According to Innova Market Insights, there has been an average annual growth of 25 percent in the use of cookie dough in new non-bakery products (CAGR, Global, 2014-2018). Some notable examples include Nestlé’s chocolate Munchies brand, which introduced a cookie dough flavor last summer. US-based healthy snacking innovators BeReal Doughs recently launched snack-sized containers of its cookie dough, which can also be baked. The taste is also popular in the sports nutrition sector, with Blue Dinosaur, Science in Sport and Quest all releasing protein bars with cookie dough flavoring. 

The popularity of the dough comes from its raw nature, says Graham Kingston, Pecan Deluxe EMEA Managing Director. “You can taste the real butter, and the texture of sugar granules in the mouth makes for happy reminiscing over days licking the remnants from the mixing bowl when making cookies at home. Nostalgia is one thing, but the product from a textural perspective in ice cream means it’s an ingredient that consumers have fun digging in for.”

Baillie adds that other batters, such as birthday cake (with multi-colored sprinkles), ginger cake and cinnamon are also seeing popularity boosts. 

Kingston predicts that cookie dough will rise above its current place of fifth bestselling ice cream variant and line extensions will be introduced, such as brownie batter, which Pecan Deluxe is already manufacturing across all three of its facilities in the US, UK and Thailand. The franchising of cookie dough foodservice outlets will work its way east from the US, while new applications within soft serve ice cream in major quick-service restaurant chains and new and unique cookie dough variants will be introduced. 

By Katherine Durrell