MIRANDA STAMBLER | THE SPECTRUM
The cookie dough milkshake is an iffy choice, depending on the cookie dough and ice cream combination.
Over the past year, many dessert places have had their grand openings in downtown Fargo. In May, among those was Scoop N Dough. This restaurant serves ice cream, cookie dough, popcorn, candy and so much more.
They offer more than just a scoop of cookie dough. The sugary stuff can be mixed with ice cream to make a cookie dough milkshake, turned into a sundae, eaten in a cup or a cone and just topped with some of the extra candy and nut toppings they have available.
When walking into the alley downtown, you would never think to find a cutesy dessert shop. Once you walk into the shop, you are hit with wafts of vanilla and cupcakes. They even have garage doors that open for when it is nice out so people can enjoy their desserts outside. One downfall is the seating, and because it is so small, there is a one-sided booth where you must sit and stare at the workers while you eat your dessert.
However, the workers there are always friendly and eager to share their favorite combinations, which is helpful if you’re stuck between a few of the many options. They also offer a tip option when checking out as well instead of the regular tip jar, so you are able to make the workers’ day brighter.
When eating cookie dough, it can be overbearing at times, which is why going more than two scoops may be too much. Even with two scoops and after finishing half of one, you will probably be taking it home with a lid to save for later. And that’s the best part. You get your money’s worth by having extra for later. It isn’t like ice cream at Dairy Queen when you freeze it again and it just isn’t the same. With Scoop N Dough, the cookie dough can be eaten days after and still taste just as delicious.
There are many different dough flavors to tickle your taste buds. My two favorites are traditional and peanut butter cup. Although through many trips, I’ve heard that “loaded M&M” and “Milk ‘n’ Cookies” are quite good as well. You can never go wrong with traditional though. These flavors will have your taste buds working overtime while also giving you your childhood dream of wanting to eat raw cookie dough, but this time your parents can’t yell at you because there is no risk of salmonella.
The most interesting item on the menu is the cookie dough milkshake. For this treat, you choose your cookie dough and the ice cream you want to be mixed with it. They add a little bit of milk and serve it to you accompanied with a thick straw, whipped cream and a cherry on top if you so choose.
I chose traditional cookie dough with chocolate ice cream. It was good, but something also tasted weird about it. Like something didn’t mix well, but it was still good enough to drink/eat. It could have been the type of milk they used or just the fact that the cookie dough and ice cream of my choice did not mix well together. I still finished it, so it wasn’t bad.
That’s the iffy part about getting a milkshake. You could choose the wrong combination and the money is wasted. But either way, you’ll finish it because it is still cookie dough and ice cream and there’s no awful way to mess that up.
With a cookie dough milkshake, you sometimes get stuck with a giant clump at the bottom that you have to pick at with a spoon because it won’t fit through your already giant straw.
Although the milkshake is an iffy option, I highly recommend Scoop N Dough. It has so much to offer with its many snack treats. Many do not talk about their ice cream, but it’s actually just as good as any other place, and you get to combine it with cookie dough too, which sounds like a win-win to me.
The best option to get your money’s worth is getting two scoops of cookie dough in a cup so you can save it for later and you do not have to fear the misguided mixture of ice cream and dough. If you want ice cream as well, get it on top and make a sundae out of it. If you end up not liking the combination, you can push it to the side and eat each separately.