That sweet treat you snuck while mom wasn’t looking has landed its first storefront in Louisville. NoBaked Cookie Dough opened March 10 on Blankenbaker Parkway in Middletown. The interior looks a little like a Froyo place. But there are some trendy twists: An outline of the downtown Louisville skyline morphs into a silhouette of a Derby horse across one of the store’s white walls. A neon sign with the words “don’t mind if I dough” glows with the temptation to take a perfect Instagram photo. Then there’s the headlining act — the cookie dough bar itself. Flavors range from classic chocolate chip to brownie batter to confetti sugar cookie, one of the shop’s many vegan options.
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| NoBaked Cookie Dough Founder Megan Beaven // Facebook |
Customers can glamorize their orders with toppings like sprinkles, peanut butter cups, caramel, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. The handmade dairy-, egg- and preservative-free waffle cones come from a Brooklyn business called The Konery; options include original, bright pink French vanilla and chocolate. “You can pretty much make any cookie dough you can think of,” says founder and Louisville native Megan Beaven. “It’s a really creative process and can give everyone a little of what they like.”
Remembering mom’s warnings about raw cookie dough? Not to worry — Beaven says two things makes her recipe safe to eat. First: there are no eggs. Second: NoBaked Cookie Dough uses heat-treated flour to kill off any bacteria, like E. coli, that raw flour can contain.
So what led Beaven to open this sugary sanctuary? After graduating with a degree in music business from Belmont University in Nashville, she realized that music wasn’t the path for her. “I didn’t like where I saw myself going,” she says. “I felt like I had no control of where my career was headed.” So she started her company as an online vendor, and hosted no-bake cookie dough pop-ups in Louisville and Nashville. Her success snowballed into her first storefront in downtown Nashville. She says the Louisville store brings the business to a different type of market. “In this location, we see a lot of families and high school students. We wanted more of a suburban feel.”
Beaven is in the process of franchising the company. Her best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Don’t sweat the haters. “There’s always going to be someone who tells you not to do it and gives you a list of reasons why,” she says. “But the people who start their own businesses are the ones who change the world.”
