Edible Sugar Cookie Dough
This edible sugar cookie dough is made with heat-treated flour and egg-free, making it perfectly safe to eat! Why bake sugar cookies when you can enjoy this cookie dough by the spoonful?
I have to admit — I’ve licked the spatula after making a batch of my favorite sugar cookies. Many times.
However, there’s a good reason why we’re told not to eat cookie dough. Between the raw eggs and raw flour, cookie dough is filled with harmful bacteria that could potentially make us sick.
My solution? Edible cookie dough!
This edible sugar cookie dough tastes just like sugar cookie dough, but it’s safe to eat because there’s no eggs in it and the flour is heat-treated. And just like regular cookie dough, this edible version can be frozen and enjoyed whenever a cookie dough craving strikes!
Recipe Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: In order to make it taste like actual cookie dough, there’s flour in this recipe. Just make sure to measure your flour correctly by spooning it into your measuring cup and leveling it off with the back of a knife. If you scoop the flour from the container you may end up with too much and a crumbly dough.
- Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter in order to control the amount of salt. If you only have salted butter on hand, just omit the ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Sugar: Just like regular sugar cookies, this recipe only uses granulated sugar to add sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract: Two teaspoons infuse the cookie dough with vanilla flavor.
- Almond Extract: This is optional, but I highly recommend adding it! While I’m not a huge fan of almond extract, I found that just a little bit really gives this cookie dough that classic “sugar cookie” flavor.
- Milk: Just a tablespoon helps moisten the cookie dough. I used whole milk, but 2%, skim, or even almond milk will work.
- Sprinkles: Long sprinkles (jimmies) or round flat sprinkles (quins) both work great! I don’t recommend using small round sprinkles (nonpareils) because they tend to bleed their color.
How To Make Edible Sugar Cookie Dough
- Heat treat the flour: Make sure to do this step first, so that the flour has time to cool. You can either microwave the flour for 30 seconds or bake it for a few minutes until it registers 160ºF.
- Beat together the butter and sugar: You want them to both be thoroughly combined, this will take a minute or two.
- Add the extracts and salt: Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt to the butter mixture, and mix until well combined.
- Sift in the flour: The cookie dough will be crumbly after the flour has been added to it. This is normal!
- Add the milk: Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed; at this point the cookie dough should no longer be crumbly. If your dough is still a little crumbly, add a little extra milk until it comes together.
- Mix in the sprinkles: You can either use your mixer or a rubber spatula to gently fold in the sprinkles.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, I don’t recommend baking this cookie dough because it doesn’t contain any eggs or baking soda/baking powder.
If you would rather make cookies, I suggest making a batch of my soft sugar cookies or cut-out sugar cookies instead.
Yes, as long as it’s a gluten-free all-purpose flour that substitutes 1:1 for regular flour.
Yes! Do not skip this step! Raw flour must be heat treated to kill any potentially harmful bacteria it contains.
Of course! I added sprinkles, but you’re welcome to add chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit, chopped up candy bars — whatever you normally add to your sugar cookies will work here!
It can be refrigerated for up to five days or frozen for up to three months. Be sure to store it in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe yields about 1 ½ cups of cookie dough. If you prefer a smaller batch, you can halve the recipe.
- I prefer to only use ⅛ teaspoon of almond extract in this cookie dough. If you really love almond extract though, feel free to add more. Just keep in mind that it’s very potent, so a little goes a long way.
- Don’t skip sifting the flour! Heat-treated flour tends to become lumpy. Sifting it will prevent any lumps of flour from ending up in your cookie dough.
- If the dough is too crumbly with just 1 tablespoon of milk, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
- You can use any color of sprinkles you like in this recipe to suit the season or holiday. Try using green and red sprinkles for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s Day, etc.
Edible Sugar Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (160 grams)
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (115 grams; 1 stick)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (135 grams)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract optional
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon milk (15 ml)
- ¼ cup sprinkles (45 grams)
Instructions
- To heat-treat the flour: Place the flour in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Test the temperature of the flour with an instant read thermometer, it needs to register at least 160°F. If not, microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it’s at the correct temperature. Alternatively you may bake the flour at 350°F for 5 to 7 minutes or until the flour reaches 160°F. Set aside to cool completely.
- To make the cookie dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar together until well combined (about one minute).
- Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt and mix until fully combined.
- Sift in the flour and continue mixing, the mixture may be a little crumbly at this point. Mix in the milk until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix in the sprinkles using your mixer or gently fold them in with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
- Serve and enjoy or cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Can you add this dough to ice cream?
Yes, that would be fine! You could roll it into small balls of cookie dough and fold it into the ice cream. Or you could press it onto a lined baking sheet, freeze it, and chop it into smaller pieces, then fold it in (similar to what I did with my cookie dough ice cream recipe).
Can you make cut out cookies with the dough? Seems like a nice buttery shortbread?
You may be able to make shortbread cookies with it, but I haven’t personally tested it. I do have a shortbread cookie recipe though.