At Mixing Bowl Cookie Dough, owners Michelle James and Ben Briggs aren’t too concerned with tradition. This dessert shop doesn’t fit into a typical confectionary mold. Rather than simply serving ice cream on a cone, they both chose to sweeten things up with edible and crave-worthy cookie dough that induces childhood nostalgia.
In September 2018 James decided to take a huge leap and change her career by opening Mixing Bowl Cookie Dough. James had been an elementary school teacher for 11 years with a secret love for cookie dough that began at age 13. She grew up eating that delicious combination of sugar, flour and vanilla extract and it was in Illinois where she found a shop similar to her own. She was able to make friends with the owner and was able to dive deep into what it takes to create that creamy recipe. Fast forward to her life in Colorado, she noticed a lack in appreciation for her lifelong go-to sweet treat. She wanted to shed a light on this conventional dessert by creating a unique niche in the ice cream shop community.
Mixing Bowl is located in Aurora on South Parker Road. James chose this location because of its open space concept. The outside has rounded brick with large real estate for the Mixing Bowl Cookie Dough logo. On the inside, the shop is bright and fun with purple and blue walls juxtaposed by the crisp white countertops and pine planks used on an accent wall.
If the aesthetically pleasing space isn’t enough to usher a crowd in, the smell of sweet cream and cookie dough batter radiating through the doors will do the trick. As for the delicious sweets behind the counter, the options are both traditional and 100% safe to eat. The cookie dough is made with heat-treated flour and lacks the use of raw eggs. “There is no need to bake, just grab a spoon and dig in.”
The batter comes in eight different flavors from fudge brownie and cake batter to chocolate chip and M&M. The availability of thick and edible mixtures have become trendy in the last few years but at Mixing Bowl, the option to combine cookie dough and ice cream makes this place unique. Each flavor can be ordered in either a cup, waffle cone or waffle cone bowl. Sizes include mini, small, medium and large ranging from $3.59 to $6.99.
James prides herself on the set of established flavors, “why reinvent the wheel?” The cake batter flavor is perfectly creamy with remnants of Funfetti cake every kid had for their birthday growing up. Pops of bright blue, green and hot pink peek through with every spoonful. The chocolate chip cookie dough puts the Pillsbury doughboy to shame. Hard milk chocolate chips provide a crunch to the creaminess of the brown sugar mixture surrounding the bowl.
Not only does the tasty cookie concoction send taste buds on a trip down memory lane but the creativity added to the menu’s specialty sweets catapults this dessert shop into the modern age. Any scoop of ice cream or batter can be sandwiched between two soft cookies. Any dough flavor can be served up like a sundae with the works — fluffy whip cream and sprinkles. And any cookie dough flavor can be eaten in pop form — just like a cake pop but instead of the dry cake center, it’s velvety cookie dough.
Many customers stop by with curiosity and end up sticking around for the family-friendly atmosphere. With pop music blaring through the shop, there is also a game station equipped with Connect Four and Mancala as well as corn hole set up outside.
Mixing Bowl Cookie Dough offers the pure enjoyment of eating raw cookie dough without having to lick in between the whisks.
—
Mixing Bowl Cookie Dough is located at 5580 South Parker Rd. Mixing Bowl is open from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.