Understanding the cookie dough phenomenon (and a giveaway!)

I'm as guilty as the next person for licking the spoon after making cookie dough or cake mixture but I have never quite caught on with the cookie dough phenomenon.  I'd rather have crunchy pieces of cookie in my ice-cream rather than lumps of cookie dough that is so popular.  
I have been surprised to learn (mostly via Pinterest) that cookie dough is used in a lot of ways that I hadn't even dreamt of.  Cookie dough as a dip, for instance, - isn't it all just a bit too much?






When I was offered the chance to review The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook I was intrigued by the blurb in the email that said: 
"You may think that cookie dough is merely something that should be baked, or that frat girls in the US eat at parties – but there is more to it than that – a lot more!". 
Perhaps I was missing something?  I decided to accept the chance to review the book so that I could take a closer look at what the attraction is.






The book is beautiful - the photography is very well done and the book is hard backed and ring-bound so it's really easy to use in the kitchen plus the pages are sturdy enough to endure a wipe with a wet cloth, should you be a messy baker (not me, obviously *cough*).


Lindsay Landis opens the book with an introduction comparing cookie dough to forbidden fruit and explaining that her inspiration came from the fact that by the time her cookies reached the oven, she'd already had her fix from eating the dough and therefore she decided to create a recipe for raw cookie dough.  
To my surprise - the raw dough used in the recipes does not contain any egg.  I think this might have been one of the things that was putting me off.
  




After a bit of technical advice the book then goes straight into recipes with chapters on Candy, Cookies and Brownies, Cakes, Custards and Pies, Frozen Treats, Indulgent Breakfasts and Fun Snacks and Party Fare.

We jumped straight in with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies which are peanut butter cookies, baked, and topped with a ball of raw chocolate cookie dough and drizzled with chocolate.  
The recipe worked beautifully without needing modification, the cookies were delicious and the raw dough was akin to icing.  






There are a few other recipes in the book that entice me - the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bread Pudding looks interesting, Invisible Cookie Dough Ice Pops (which actually don't have cookie dough in them) and Gingerbread Cookie Dough Peppermint Bark looks pretty.






Overall, this book didn't really win me over to the idea of using raw cookie dough but I have more understanding of it now that I know it's egg-less.   However, it is beautiful and the recipes are reliable.  It would make a great gift and I think would appeal to the younger baker or those with a very sweet tooth - I used to be a sugar fiend as a child but that is fading as I get older and so things like chocolate brownies topped with an equal amount of cookie dough and then a chocolate glaze, for instance,  seem a bit sickly for my tastes.


What do you think?  Is it all too much for you?  Are you the sort of person that is tempted by the dough more than the baked cookie?


I have an extra copy of The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook to giveaway to one of you!  To enter: simply leave a comment on this post before midnight (BST) on Sunday 5th August 2012 for a chance to win.  The winner will be picked at random and announced on the following Monday. This giveaway is restricted to readers in the UK and Ireland, only (apologies to those it may exclude).
Good luck!


Edited to add: Thanks to everyone who entered - the winner is Sara Tudor, congratulations!  You should have an email from me by the end of today.