Markeshia Ricks Photo
Dubuque, who fell in love with edible cookie dough in Texas.
Dan Dubuque is used to the curious look of disbelief on people’s faces when they walk into his new State Street shop and learn that unlike at their mom’s kitchen table, they can eat the cookie dough.
That’s the whole point of Doughlicious New Haven, a new edible cookie dough shop at 966 State St.
Cookie monster, the patron saint at Doughlicious New Haven.
Dubuque, a 33-year-old Waterbury native, opened the shop in January after seeing similar businesses in New York City and getting to try one for himself on a visit to Grapevine, Texas. The name of that shop was Doughlicious; it offered scoops of various flavors of cookie dough, served up in much the same way one gets gelato or ice cream.
“I have a bit of a sweet tooth,” he said. Trying the dough, he said, “blew my mind.”
It also got his wheels turning. Dubuque said a traditional 9‑to‑5 was never in the cards for him. He inherited a family cleaning business that’s still operating and doing jobs in Cheshire, Meriden, and Hamden. But he was looking for another opportunity to start a business.
A couple of customers come in for scoops.
Dubuque said he thought the concept of Doughlicious was pretty novel and a lot of fun. So he approached the Texas owner about licensing the name and the recipes. The rest is cookie dough history.
He said he chose to open the store here because of the Elm City’s big-city feel with its college kids and tourists.
“There’s nothing like it around,” he said.
Dubuque said he chose the Upper State Street area because the location — near restaurants, a new apartment building and a neighborhood with young families — had a storefront that was the right size and the right price. He’d looked at locations Downtown and on Whalley Avenue; those were too expensive or too big.
His State Street location, where he works with five employees, has the feel of an ice cream shop. Instead of ice cream (though he’s got a little of that too), he’s mostly scooping up the edible dough in classic flavors like chocolate chip (most customers’ favorite) ands strawberry shortcake with real strawberries. The shop usually has 12 doughs on deck, with one dedicated to a vegan flavor and another that is gluten-free. In addition to a scoop of dough, you can have it served up in a milkshake or in an ice cream sandwich, or in a truffle.
Dubuque said his hours of operation are a little all over the place because he’s trying to adjust for the season. He started out opening by noon each day in January; that didn’t work well for attracting foot traffic. Right now, Doughlicious New Haven is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 – 10 p.m. On Friday, it’s open 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday it’s noon to midnight, and Sunday it’s noon to 7 p.m.
Dubuque shows off a strawberry shortcake truffle.
Most people want to know how one can eat raw cookie dough and not get sick. If you type “raw cookie dough” into a search engine, nearly every result will tell you not to eat it. But Dubuque said the reason you can eat Doughlicious’ cookie dough is because it is made with heat-treated flour and pasteurized eggs.
If you can’t manage to eat a whole scoop of cookie dough, no matter how appetizing it sounds, Dubuque said you can always take it home and bake it the same way you would traditional cookies.
“People definitely do that,” he said.
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