How to make edible cookie dough without chocolate chips

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My Edible Cookie Dough recipe uses a quick & simple extra step so you can get your cookie dough fix without the harmful bacteria! I’ll be walking you through how to heat-treat flour (it’s easy) and will also include suggestions for some of my favorite add-ins. Recipe includes a how-to video!

A Sweet Treat That’s Safe to Eat

My edible cookie dough recipe will curb all of your cookie dough cravings and spare you from the bacteria that’s in the raw stuff. We’ll be using heat treated flour and leaving out the eggs for a safe snack that tastes and feels JUST like the real thing!

I know, you’ve probably had your fair share of “unsafe” cookie dough and may be wondering, “Why the separate recipe?”. I’ve been there too–I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten more chocolate chip cookies raw than baked in my lifetime–but we all know we’re not supposed to do it.

What many people don’t know, however, is that raw eggs are not the only threat in raw cookie dough. Raw flour can contain bacteria like E.coli, which is not something to mess around with! Heat treating the flour beforehand kills off any bacteria without hurting any of the flavor, and it only takes a few minutes to do.

Let’s get to it!

What You Need

Today’s cast of characters should be pretty similar to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, with the obvious exception of eggs. Here are a few of them:

• Butter. Using unsalted butter allows us to control the salt level in our edible cookie dough. If all you have on hand is salted, check out my post on salted vs. unsalted butter for substitution instructions.
• Sugar. Most of the sugar in this recipe is brown sugar. You can use light, dark, or a combination of the two (or make your own brown sugar!)!
• Heat treated flour. Heat treating takes just a few minutes and saves you any concerns about contracting foodborne illness from your cookie dough! I’ll show you how to do it below.
• Milk. You may or may not need to add milk. I’ve made this recipe dozens of times and have never needed to add milk, and if you measure your flour properly, you likely won’t need it either. If your cookie dough turns out dry or crumbly though, you will just need to add milk to bring it back together.

SAM’S TIP: During the heat treating process, I found that some of the flour has the tendency to clump or bake together. To keep these clumps out of your cookie dough, run the flour through a sifter before stirring it into your edible cookie dough.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Heat Treat Flour

According to Cooking Light, toasting flour in a 350F oven for just 5 minutes kills off any harmful bacteria (such as E. coli, which is our main concern here).

1. Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (this will make transferring the flour so easy).
2. Measure out your flour and evenly spread it over the parchment paper.
3. Bake in your preheated oven for 5-7 minutes.
4. To ensure that the flour is really safe, I recommend checking it with an instant read thermometer to verify that the temperature is at least 160F. Allow flour to cool before proceeding with recipe.

How to Make Edible Cookie Dough

1. Heat treat your flour, let it cool, then sift it.
2. Beat together the butter, sugars, vanilla extract, and salt in a separate bowl until creamy and very well-combined.
3. Gradually add in the flour until it’s well incorporated.
4. Stir in your chocolate chips or add-ins.

SAM’S TIP: Very important! Make sure you let your flour cool (it doesn’t take long!) before adding it to your other ingredients. Flour that is too hot can leave you with a melted mess.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my cookie dough crumbly?

Typically this is a result of accidentally over-measuring flour. To fix this, simply add milk (any kind will work) until your dough begins to come together again, and check out my post on how to measure your flour properly, it contains a few helpful hints .

Why is my cookie dough gritty?

Edible cookie dough should have a bit of grit-like texture to it, because the real thing does! When cookie dough is raw/un-baked, the sugars in the dough have not yet melted. Anyone who has ever swiped a fingerful of cookie dough from their mixing bowl knows there’s a texture to it that comes from the sugar. Once the dough is baked, the sugars melt, and that texture goes away.

 If the grit bothers you, my cookie dough bites and my cookie dough frosting tend to be less gritty and more smooth (thanks to a secret ingredient!), so feel free to try those to get a smoother cookie dough fix!

Can I add sprinkles, crushed Oreos, etc.?

Yes! Once you’ve made your cookie dough, you can dress it up with all kinds of add-ins. I’ve tried peanut butter chocolate chip , funfetti, and cookies & cream variations. A white chocolate chip, cranberry, and macadamia nut version would be delicious. Get creative with it!

I’d love to hear about the flavor combinations you come up with, so drop me a note in the comments below 😊

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

• ▢ 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (215g)
• ▢ 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature! (226g)
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups brown sugar, tightly packed (250g)
• ▢ ¼ cup sugar (50g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1-2 Tablespoons milk optional¹
• ▢ ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips I recommend using a mix of mini and regular sized (85g)

Optional Mix-Ins

• ▢ creamy peanut butter
• ▢ colored sprinkles
• ▢ broken Oreo pieces

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  Baking pan

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• Preheat your oven to 350F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread flour in an even layer over the parchment paper.

• Bake on 350F (175C) oven for 5-7 minutes²

• Allow flour to cool, then run it through a sifter to break up any clumps that may have formed while baking.  Set aside.

• In a large bowl (preferably a stand mixer), combine softened butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Use an electric mixer to cream together until very creamy and very well-combined, 1-3 minutes.

• Gradually add cooled, sifted flour, stirring until completely combined. If dough is too stiff after thoroughly stirring, add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

• Stir in chocolate chips (and any additional add-ins you might like!)

• Best enjoyed immediately after preparing, but you may store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Cookie dough will firm up some in the refrigerator, so for best enjoyment let it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before enjoying leftovers. 

¹I’ve never needed to use milk, but if your cookie dough is too stiff/crumbly add milk as needed, one Tablespoon at a time, to reach desired consistency.

²To ensure your flour is safe, I highly recommend using an instant read thermometer to check that temperature has reached 160F (72C) immediately after removing from oven. Make sure your thermometer is inserted in the flour and isn’t touching/reading the temperature of the pan

Serving: 1serving (does not include optional add-ins) | Calories: 526kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 161mg | Potassium: 146mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 709IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

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