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Sometimes, the cookie dough is the best part. This easy, edible cookie dough recipe comes together in minutes and is completely safe to eat raw!
If I had to choose between eating cookies or eating cookie dough for the rest of my life, cookie dough would win, hands down. But then there’s that pesky little issue of food safety, and kids who want to join in on the cookie dough eating fun, and suddenly a bowl of cookie dough gets a lot less appealing, right?
Enter this easy, edible cookie dough that comes together in minutes. And, it’s completely safe to tuck into it with a spoon–no regrets or worries after!
Usually, edible cookie dough to be a little lackluster in the flavor department. But after reading this article by Stella Parks on baking soda and its effect on flavor in cookies, I tried adding a bit to my edible cookie dough. Not much, but enough to round out the flavor and make this taste like the real deal. That little bit of soda really makes a lot of difference! It’s also completely safe to consume without cooking, so don’t worry about it changing the safeness of the edible cookie dough.
Is it safe to eat edible cookie dough? How is edible cookie dough different?
Cookie dough made to bake into cookies is technically unsafe, due to ingredients that can contain bacteria that are harmful to humans. Raw eggs are commonly associated with salmonella, and flour can have E. coli, both of which can cause serious food poisoning.
However, edible cookie dough is completely safe to eat! Because it isn’t baked, edible cookie doesn’t rely on eggs for texture and moisture. In this recipe, the eggs are replaced with milk. And heat-treating the flour (I’ve included detailed instructions on that below) destroys any bad bacteria that may be present. That means that this cookie dough is not only easy to make, it’s also completely safe to eat as much as you want!
Ingredients for Edible Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature–Most recipes call for unsalted, but I find that the cookie flavor has a lot more depth if you use salted butter.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp. white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda– if you don’t have an 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon, just fill 1/4 teaspoon half way.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour {see recipe notes for heat treating raw flour}
- 1 1/2-2 tablespoons milk–I almost always have whole milk on hand, but you can use whatever kind you like
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips, chunks, or chopped chocolate–I chopped up a chocolate bar when I took these photos, but you can definitely use whatever chocolate you prefer or have on hand.
How to Make Easy Edible Cookie Dough
Place the soft butter in a bowl, then beat in the brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract until it’s creamy and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes with an electric hand mixer, but will take a bit longer if you do it by hand with a wooden spoon.
Stir the flour into the creamed butter and sugar. The mixture will be fairly dry and clumpy.
Add the milk, starting with 1 tablespoon. If you feel like the cookie dough is too dry, add more milk a teaspoon at a time until it’s a cookie dough consistency.
Once the cookie dough is completely mixed, stir in the chocolate chips or chunks. Mix them by hand, as you can ruin a hand mixer motor with large chunks of chocolate.
Chill the cookie dough until serving, then eat it by the spoonful!
How to Cook Flour to Make it Safe to Eat
Raw flour can contain E. Coli, a bacteria that causes serious food poisoning. While it is rare, if you’re making a bowl of cookie dough to eat it’s a good idea to cook the flour first.
To heat treat the all-purpose flour spread it out on a cookie sheet with edges. Bake in an oven preheated to 350° for 5-7 minutes, or until the temperature registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. You may need to scrape the flour into a pile with a spatula to get an accurate temperature reading.
Allow the flour to cool, then it’s ready to add to your cookie dough! You can make several cups at a time and store it in an airtight bag or container for future batches of edible cookie dough.
Can I Bake This Dough to Make Cookies?
No, this cookie dough won’t bake into good cookies. While baking soda is a rising agent, there’s not enough to make the cookies rise and have a good texture. Eggs also play a key part in the texture and rise of baked cookies. If baked, this dough will just give you flat, crispy, sad cookies.
However, if you’re craving an amazing chocolate chip cookie, you can find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe here.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy:
Easy Edible Cookie Dough
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- Author: Rebecca Neidhart
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: About 2 cups of cookie dough 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp. white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup all-purpose flour {see recipe notes for heat treating raw flour}
- 1 1/2–2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips, chunks, or chopped chocolate
Instructions
Place the soft butter in a bowl, then beat in the brown sugar, white sugar, salt, and baking soda until it’s creamy and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes with a hand mixer, but will take a bit long if you do it by hand with a wooden spoon.
Stir the flour into the creamed butter and sugar. The mixture will be fairly dry and clumpy.
Add the vanilla extract and milk, starting with 1 tablespoon. If you feel like the cookie dough is too dry, add more milk a teaspoon at a time until it’s a cookie dough consistency.
Once the cookie dough is completely mixed, stir in the chocolate chips or chunks. Mix them by hand, as you can ruin a hand mixer motor with large chunks of chocolate.
Chill the cookie dough until serving, then eat it by the spoonful!
How to Cook Flour to Make it Safe to Eat
To heat treat the all-purpose flour spread it out on a cookie sheet with edges. Bake in an oven preheated to 350° for 5-7 minutes, or until the temperature registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. You may need to scrape the flour into a pile with a spatula to get an accurate temperature reading.
Allow the flour to cool, then it’s ready to add to your cookie dough! You can make several cups at a time and store it in an airtight bag or container for future batches of edible cookie dough.
Notes
- Raw flour can contain E. Coli, a bacteria that causes serious food poisoning. While it is rare, if you’re making a bowl of cookie dough to eat it’s a good idea to cook the flour first.
- This cookie dough won’t bake into good cookies. They will be flat and crispy cookies because there’s not enough rising agent or eggs in this recipe to give your cookies a good texture.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Mixing
