Can I Eat Raw Cookie Dough?

Have you ever eaten raw cookie dough? Is it safe to eat raw cookie dough? Find out why – or why not – and get some yummy cookie recipes to try.

Can I Eat Raw Cookie Dough?

{Referral links are used in this post. I am a veterinarian, but I am not a doctor for people. This article should not be considered medical advice.}

Raw cookie dough is one of the simpler pleasures in life. Who doesn’t remember stealing a few licks off the beater when you were a kid? (I’ll totally admit it – it’s still one of my favorite things to do!)

You’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t eat raw cookie dough, because of the eggs. It’s true, raw eggs can carry Salmonella. (Learn more about Salmonella food poisoning here.) That’s why you should cook eggs until the yolks are firm (160 degrees F, 71 degrees C). But in the spring of 2016 the United States Food and Drug Administration started to advise that you shouldn’t eat raw cookie dough for another reason – the flour.

It is not very common, but flour can be contaminated by the bacteria E. coli. E. coli can cause very serious food poisoning. (Learn more about E. coli food poisoning here.) Flour comes from wheat, and wheat is grown in a field. Like any food that is grown outside, it could be contaminated with E. coli. Again, it is not common. But it can happen.

And because of this risk, the FDA recommends that you do not eat homemade raw cookie dough.

This isn’t just for cookie dough. It’s for anything that has raw flour as one of the ingredients. That includes bread dough (wash your hands after kneading), homemade cake batter, or even homemade play clay. Really, anything with flour in it, before you cook it.

What Are My Options?

You could give up eating raw cookie dough. Practice good hand washing after you handle raw flour, and skip eating anything that was made with flour but not cooked. (This is my official recommendation. Because it’s the FDA’s recommendation.)

You could say “heck with the risk!” and eat all the raw cookie dough you want. (For the record – I am not recommending this. I am a veterinarian, but I’m not a doctor for people. If you’re curious, I don’t recommend feeding raw cookie dough to your pets, either. For a few reasons.)

You can use pasteurized eggs (or pasteurized liquid egg products) to make homemade cookie dough.

You can also use heat-treated flour to make homemade cookie dough. Pasteurized eggs and heat-treated flour have been treated to kill any bacteria that might be present.

You can eat commercially prepared raw cookie dough. Check the packaging – it should say something like pasteurized or heat treated.

You could bake lots and lots of cookies. Check out the recipes below!

Enjoy!

3 Ways to Take the Fear Out of Your Kitchen

• Different Types of Flour
• What’s the Difference Between Baking Soda & Baking Powder?
• Do You Need to Refrigerate Butter?

5 Recipes to Try

• Toffee-Chip Freezer Cookies
• Gingersnap Cookies
• Butterball Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
• No-Bake Cookies

And if you want even more desserts, be sure to check out my Dessert Board on Pinterest!

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