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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Dessert Dreams

Grown-ups who once risked food poisoning – or at least a scolding – to sneak a taste of raw cookie dough can now indulge freely at Cookie Dough Dreams. The dessert parlor has turned a taboo treat into a thriving business at 124 E. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank. Prices start at $5.50 for a small cup of safe-to-eat raw cookie dough in a variety of flavors, including vegan and sugar-free options. Customers can add extras such as chocolate chips, oats, pastries and even gummy bears. “There needed to be a place where you could go without feeling guilty about eating raw cookie dough,” founder Cara Friedman said. The shop is a dream come true for Friedman, too. A cookie dough fiend herself, she conceived of the idea while catering desserts for the entertainment industry. Her sister Danielle encouraged her to run with it. “It’s been really interesting to see someone have a thought of something and then to watch it come to life,” Friedman said. “It’s very cool.” Selection of doughs using Friedman family-tested recipes. The shop is a true family-run business; the sisters’ parents are around to help out when lines get too long, and Danielle Friedman’s daughter occasionally works the cash register. The family served as taste-testers, too, when Cara Friedman was whipping up batches of prospective products. “She got those recipes to where it’s the best cookie dough I’ve ever tasted,” Danielle Friedman said. “It’s amazing.” Cara Friedman spent more than a year coming up with her initial selection of flavors, which now rotate as the family comes up with new ideas. The most popular is the original chocolate chip, followed closely by vegan dough. The sugar-free variety is a hit as well – customers especially love the texture. The products have accrued such a following that Friedman plans to take them wholesale. But while the dough is indeed divine, the real delights are in the shop’s details. From benches that look like ice cream sandwiches to balloon-shaped lamps and puffy white clouds hanging from the ceiling, the interior was designed to feel like a dream, Danielle Friedman explained. Though having a photo-worthy look was important, inspiring a sense of awe in the youngest guests was a top priority, too. “We wanted teenagers to have a good time Instagramming stuff, but we also wanted it to be really cool for little children,” she said. “I can’t imagine what this place must look like in the eyes of little kids. There are new things to find each time you come in.” The Friedmans paid homage to their own childhood with a mural in the kitchen, visible through little round windows on the wall that separates it from the rest of the shop. It depicts the sisters’ childhood pets at work making cookie dough alongside a couple of friends from the woods. “It’s so nice to look back there and see all my dogs,” Cara Friedman said. “That’s probably my favorite piece in the whole store.” Witnessing the joy in the faces of those who come into the store has been the most rewarding part of the business so far, Friedman said. It’s not just little kids who get excited – adults, too, react emotionally to finally having the chance to fearlessly scoop up a bowl of dough. “Everybody dreams of eating raw cookie dough,” Cara Friedman said. “Now you can make your dreams come true and get whatever cookie dough you want.”

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