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Sweet Treat: Cookie Dough That is Safe to Eat

Say yes to the cookie dough with this recipe

By Publisher Kimberly French, Macaroni Kid Portland February 23, 2023

Remember when we were kids and no one thought twice about eating raw cookie dough before baking it into cookies? Licking the mixer beaters clean was my favorite part of baking! 

Naturally, as with many yummy habits, we eventually learned that it’s not so good for us and could actually make us sick. That means our poor children have been denied this ultimate pleasure of cookie dough you can eat straight from the beaters.

Nowadays the closest thing to that memory is probably the little chunks of processed, safe-to-eat cookie dough in cookie dough ice cream. I mean, that's nice. But it's certainly not the cookie dough you can eat that I remember from my childhood.

I set out to solve this childhood travesty and came up with this recipe for edible cookie dough. Go ahead: Lick the beaters. Get every last bit out of that mixing bowl. Sneak a bite with a spoon. Just eat it ... raw!

Share with your kids? Well, that's up to you.

Edible cookie dough ingredients:

  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cup packed, light brown sugar
  • 4 oz. Neufchatel, room temperature
  • ¼ cup whole milk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tsp. salt 
  • 1 ½ cups mix-ins (We used a combo of chocolate chips, M&Ms, Oreos and a splash of rainbow sprinkles)


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the flour out on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. This will kill any bacteria. (Turn off the oven after this step is complete. You won't need it again.)

2. Beat the butter, light brown sugar, and Neufchatel until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Then beat in the milk and vanilla.

3. Turning the mixer to low, slowly add in the flour until all is combined. The mixture will stiffen. Add in the salt to finish the base dough.

4. Stir in your mix-ins by hand. Get creative with the mix-in choices!

5. You can eat this right away, though my family prefers it chilled in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Feeling extra scrumpdillyicious?

Create an “ice cream sundae” with toppings like whipped cream, hot fudge, and more sprinkles.

Who needs cookies when you have cookie dough you can eat?