Cookie Dough in a Jar, Now a Thing in D.C.

IMG_0780-4 For people who like to eat raw cookie dough but can't be bothered to mix their own flour, butter, and sugar, the indulgence is now available in jars for delivery. The Cookie Jar DC, which launched in February out of Union Kitchen, sells flavors like chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate, and oatmeal raisin through delivery, online, for pick-up, and at a handful of retail stores. Prices range from $5 for a 4 oz. jar to $8 for 8 oz. Owner and founder Lindsay Larner previously worked in fundraising and donor communications for Jewish youth organization BBYO and now is marketing manager for shared workspace startup Cove. Larner got interested in launching the business after getting an MBA from Indiana University. She first started experimenting with cookie mixes, but when she visited Union Kitchen, she saw a bunch of people making ready-to-eat foods. "I thought that looked way more fun than cookie mixes that someone had to go home and then add ingredients and bake," she says. Larner's cookie dough is egg-free, so you can ignore the warnings of salmonella your parents gave you as a child. "As soon as I thought of it, it was this instant joy almost, this freedom of being able to do something that you were never supposed to do as a kid," Larner says. The cookie dough is not meant to be baked. Yes, technically, you can bake it, but because it doesn't have eggs, "I might not serve it at a dinner party," says Larner. Outstream-- The Cookie Jar DC joins a number of other similar dessert-in-jar businesses. Locally, CakeLove now sells cake and cookie dough in plastic jars, and fellow Union Market producer Slender Seven sells cookie dough made out of chickpeas and black beans. Meanwhile, an Illinois-based company called The Cookie Dough Cafe was featured on Shark Tank. The Cookie Jar DC seems to be unique in that you can get it delivered (on-demand or pre-scheduled) through partnerships Larner has with DoorDash, GrubHub, and Favor. Delivery is only available Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Jars of cookie dough are also available at Glen's Garden Market, Union Kitchen Grocery, and Greenbelt Theater as well as for pickup at the 14W Apartments and at Union Kitchen during select dates and times. Larner also does catering that includes chocolate-covered cookie dough balls. Photo courtesy The Cookie Jar DC