This eggless, Edible Cookie Dough is totally safe to eat straight out of the bowl without (much) guilt! Admit it, we all love cookie dough as much or more than actual cookies!

Of course, most of the time we actual bake our cookies rather than just eating the dough. Some of our favorites are Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Snickerdoodle Cookies, and Peanut Butter M&M Cookies!

A glass bowl with a white spatula mixing mini chocolate chips into cookie dough.

I have a confession. I made this edible cookie dough one weekend while my husband was out of town with the girls. I fully intended to have some leftover when they got back from their fishing trip. But that definitely didn't happen.

I will say that I didn't eat ALL of it by myself though. I used half of the batch to make chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that was still around for everybody to enjoy when they got back from their camping trip on Sunday afternoon.

A spoonful of eggless chocolate chip cookie dough.

There are two REAL reasons for making edible cookie dough. The first is the obvious one: so you can literally sit down and eat it by the spoonful without worrying about getting sick. This is especially important for pregnant women, who should not be denied cookie dough for any reason! Nobody wants to be responsible for getting somebody else sick or giving them food poisoning after all!

The second one though is that you can make all-sorts of other delicious things with it!

Roll it into tiny ¼ to ½ teaspoon balls and toss it into your favorite vanilla or chocolate ice cream base!
Press 1 teaspoon balls right down into the center of freshly baked cupcakes then cover them with frosting for a cookie dough filled cupcake!
Dip them in melted chocolate for easy cookie dough truffles!
Make cookie dough stuffed pretzels!
Turn it into cookie dough fudge!

A mound of edible chocolate chip cookie dough next to a spoonful of dough.

We all know that regular cookie dough is a no-no. It's supposed to be off-limits because of bacteria risks from raw eggs and untreated flour. Scary words like e coli start and salmonella start showing up, making us second guess that spoonful of dough we all love to snitch before baking.

Edible cookie dough doesn't have any eggs and we are going to toast the flour before using it so kill any harmful bacteria. So yup! Edible cookie dough IS safe to eat!

I will say that I pooh-poohed edible cookie dough for a long time. In all my life, I have never gotten sick from eating cookie dough, nor has anyone I know. BUT I still feel irresponsible telling others that it's totally okay to do so.

But now, look at me adulting and eating "safe" cookie dough that I totally made on a whim because my family was out of town and I caved to a craving. Except that the very act of eating a bowl of cookie dough doesn't sound like very responsible adult behavior to begin with. But who cares when this cookie dough is sanctioned by the classification of being safe!

Edible chocolate chip cookie dough in a cup next to a spoonful of dough.

Heat-treated flour
Salted butter
Brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Heavy cream
Vanilla extract
Salt
Mini semisweet chocolate chips

Start by heat-treating the flour so it's safe for raw consumption. You can either zap it in the microwave for 60 seconds or spread the flour on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes at 350°F. Let it cool a bit before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine the salted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix well using an electric mixer for 2 minutes until light and creamy, then add the cream, vanilla, and salt and mix again.

butter and sugars beaten together in a bowl next to an electric mixer

Add the cooled flour, mixing just until combined. Switch to a spatula and stir the mini chocolate chips in by hand. Enjoy right away! No need to wait!

an electric mixer to the side of a bowl of cookie dough ingredients

Mini chocolate chips in a bowl of cookie dough batter

Switch up the mix-ins: Instead of mini chocolate chips, try mixing in crushed Oreos, sprinkles, chopped walnuts or pecans, white chocolate chips, raisins, toffee bits, Andes creme de menthe bits, mini M&M's, crushed pretzels, chopped candy bars or Reese's peanut butter cups, sweetened coconut or your other favorite mix-ins. About ½ cup of any mix-in should be about right.
Edible oatmeal cookie dough base: Substitute ¼ cup of the flour with ½ cup of old-fashioned oats.
Edible peanut butter cookie dough base:
Edible chocolate cookie dough base: Substitute ⅓ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder for ⅓ cup of the flour.
Edible sugar cookie dough base: Use ⅔ cup of granulated sugar instead of a combination of brown and granulated sugar. Add ¼ teaspoon almond extract.

A blue plate with small balls of chocolate chip cookie dough on it.

This can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 3-4 months. Just thaw well and let it come up to room temperature before eating.

Scaling the recipe down for one

This recipe as written makes enough cookie dough to satisfy about 6 people's cookie dough cravings. And it keeps well in the fridge or freezer, so most of the time I make the full amount. But if you just want a treat for one, here's how to scale it down. I figured I would do the calculations for you and save you the trouble. Rather than getting out your mixer, you can just mash the butter into the sugar with a fork.

¼ cup flour (microwaved for 60 seconds to kill bacteria)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
2-3 teaspoons cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2-3 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips

A glass full of eggless chocolate chip cookie dough with a spoon in it.

Did you make this recipe?

Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.

Ingredients

▢ 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
▢ ½ cup salted butter softened
▢ ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
▢ 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
▢ 2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
▢ ½-1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (depending on how many you like)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the flour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then bake for 8 minutes so it is safe for raw consumption. Let cool completely. You could also microwave it for 60 seconds instead.
In a large bowl bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream, vanilla, and salt, and beat again.
Add the flour, mixing just until combined.
Stir in the mini chocolate chips by hand, then enjoy right away or store in the fridge. The butter in the dough will reharden as the cookie dough chills, so you will need to let it come back up to room temperature to soften up if it has been refrigerated for long.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @HouseOfNashEats or tag #houseofnasheats!

Recipe adapted from Ben & Jerry's.

Reader questions and reviews

Lynne says:

March 20, 2023 at 3:55 pm

Oh my goodness! This recipe was amazing! I had to stop myself from eating it all before I could put it in the cookie dough ice cream recipe! Thank you so much!