Do you remember being in middle school and begging your mom to let you eat raw cookie dough? If you want to make this dream become a reality as an adult, a New York City-based company named Do (get it?) has created edible raw cookie dough. You heard me: Cookie dough that you can devour without even thinking about making cookies —or about the dangers of eating raw cookie dough. Not only that, but it's packed in a pint container, meaning you can eat it by the spoonful in bed while watching Netflix, as you would ice cream. Yes, this is real, and no, this is not a drill.
In order to make this cookie dough safe to eat, Do uses an egg substitute, rather than real eggs. If you were unaware, raw egg is what makes cookie dough unsafe to eat raw; uncooked eggs are one of the worst offenders for food poisoning, with their consumption leading to four out of five cases of salmonella in the U.S. But hey, not only does Do allow you to eat raw cookie dough without risk of salmonella, but even better, you can take your pick of your favorite flavors, too: Do has created 20 unique flavors like Peanut Butter, Oatmeal M&M, and Cake Batter. If you're vegan or gluten free (or both), you can still get in on the cookie dough fun, since they make three flavors that are completely animal product and grain free.
If you're wondering who came up with this brilliant idea, and why it wasn't you, all the answers are to be found on Do's "About" page: Kristen from St. Louis always enjoyed baking with her mom growing up and took this passion to the next level when she moved to NYC. After buying a tub of raw cookie dough to eat during a girls' weekend, she knew she had to make a safe version of this childhood treat for herself.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that this could be the single greatest food invention in the history of the universe. Unfortunately,we all might not be able to enjoy a raw cookie dough treat though, as just one pint costs a whopping $17, not including shipping. But, there are other cookie dough products that are made to be eaten raw and recipes you can use to make safe-to-eat raw cookie dough. Here's a roundup of four of these DIY edible cookie dough options. Just please don't eat actual, meant-to-be-baked cookie dough raw; as VICE's Munchies blog recently noted, doing so can be deadly.
But hey, that's what these safe-to-eat alternatives are for, right?
1. Unbakeables
This product allows you to purchase bite-size edible raw cookie dough balls that are egg free. Similarly to Do's origin story, Unbakeables' founders created the company because they wanted to be able to enjoy this childhood favorite in a safe way as adults. You can buy packages of three or ten bites, and if you purchase a sample pack, you'll get four additional raw cookie dough bites for free. And did I mention that they're adorably cute?
2. Edoughble
Edoughble also makes small batches of edible raw cookie dough that comes in 10 fun flavors like Nutty Monkey and Birthday Bash. You can also feel good when purchasing from this company, as Edoughble donates a portion of it's proceeds to the Food Recovery Network, which is working to reduce food waste. So do it for a good cause if you can't justify buying raw cookie dough just for the sake of deliciousness.
3. Willow Bird Baking's Edible Cookie Dough Recipe
WIllow Bird Baking's recipe for edible dough makes mixing up this treat from your own kitchen easier than ever. All you need is butter, sugar, flour, salt, water, and vanilla, which most of us already have sitting in our pantries. With a prep time of only 10 minutes, you just may want to try whipping this up yourself tonight.
4. The Cookie Dough Cafe
The Cookie Dough Cafe also makes edible raw cookie dough, which you can buy by the pint or by the cup. Their product comes in five flavors and can be purchased from their website or in grocery stores around the country. Fun fact: This company was also featured on the popular startup TV show Shark Tank!
Images: The Cookie Dough Cafe, Edoughble, Unbakeables, CookiedoNYC/Instagram; Willow Bird Baking
