April Baking Month: Slender Seven Cookie Dough Review

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If there's anything more amazing than homemade baked goods, it's eating cookie or brownie dough raw. While this is generally not advised due to the risk of salmonella from raw eggs, one of the joys of allergen-friendly baking is that eggless recipes and products leave the field wide open to consume all the raw dough your stomach desires.

Of course, that means that the ending amount of cookies you have is deeply diminished, as less batter actually makes it in to the oven. I guess it's a small price to pay for the indulgence of raw dough.

Enter Slender Seven, a local D.C. company producing raw cookie dough that's meant to be eaten that way. Not only that, this dough is designed to be better for you, using only seven simple ingredients. Beans, almonds, coconut oil, and Himalayan sea salt are just four of the seven, but don't let their health halo fool you- this cookie dough is just as indulgent as the junk-filled dough on store shelves.

What's really cool about Slender Seven is that their two raw gluten-free, vegan cookie doughs are free from gluten, dairy, egg, soy and peanut (though almonds are present). In addition, the dough is GMO-free and engineered to have a well-rounded line up of fiber, protein, antioxidants, and healthy fats. Small batch crafted in DC's Union Kitchen, a culinary incubator and commercial kitchen that gives local food businesses space to manufacture their products, Slender Seven is steadily increasing their reach across the region and expanding the reach of their dough.

Starting first with the chocolate chip cookie dough, this dough is made with chickpeas as its base. I loved the classic combination of nutty, vanilla dough with chocolate chips mixed in. I was floored by how well the chickpeas worked as the dough, and definitely had a hard time not consuming the entire container in one sitting. To add a contrasting saltiness to the sweetness, I used pretzels as a dipping mechanism, which worked wonderfully. 

For chocolate lovers, the choco-fudge is definitely going to be up your alley. Black beans here are the base, and I was completely amazed once again how the worked incognito as a base without their bean-y flavor coming through. Cocoa powder here provides the wonderful chocolatey flavor, and mixed in chocolate chips. Of the two, this one was definitely the richer dough, as each spoonful was a decadent, indulgent bite.

If I had to choose, the choco-chick dough was my favorite, though both were out-of-this-world amazing. I ended up eating up the dough before attempting to bake some up in the oven, so I will be updating this review in the future to report about how the cookie dough performs as, well, cookie dough. What's truly amazing about this dough is that it is locally made and constructed with care to make sure that us gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan folks can enjoy the simple pleasure of raw cookie dough that is both safe and delicious.

While the cookie dough itself is not cheap, I definitely will be buying it again as a special treat, especially as finals week draws ever closer this time of year.

For more information about Slender Seven, ingredients, or where to locate this dough, click here to visit their website. Locally, I picked up the tubs I sampled at Whole Foods Market in Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Whole Foods at George Washington University.

Baltimore/DC readers take note: Slender Seven will be appearing at EmporiYum 2016 coming to Baltimore's Inner Harbor on April 16-17th. Click here to learn more. I will definitely be attending, and look forward to checking out all the foodie finds! 

Disclaimer: This review is current to the original publication date. Updates will be noted. Ingredients and manufacturing processes can change without notice. Each product should be reviewed for individual nutritional needs. Feel free to to contact me with any questions or comments. I purchased this product independently and the review is a reflection of my personal opinion.