As you’re whipping up the dough for your favorite desserts, you may be tempted to lick the spoon before your treats hit the oven. Is eating raw cookie dough really that bad? Can you get food poisoning from a little raw dough?
We checked in with expert Tara Rybicki, MS, RDN, CDCES Community Health Coordinator to get the scoop.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: raw dough can leave you feeling crumby. While it is tempting to lick the batter when making cookies, there is a chance of getting salmonella food poisoning and not just from uncooked eggs.
“The uncooked flour may also contain bacteria that can cause food poisoning,” says Rybicki.
Food poisoning can be dangerous for everyone and can cause symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and a headache.
If cookie dough is the sweet treat of your dreams, there are things you can do to kill off unwanted bacteria. Choose an eggless recipe and before adding flour to your dough, spread it on a baking sheet, and heat it in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Try our Cookie Dough Bites recipe, made with nourishing chickpeas, below.
Mindfully Eat Your Favorite Treats
There is also another factor when enjoying your favorite cookie dough: mindfulness
“It’s easy to lose mindfulness when we start to eat the food we are preparing before it’s fully ready,” Rybicki explains. “While it’s tempting to eat cookie dough while you’re baking, you aren’t sitting down and fully enjoying the food you’re consuming.”
More mindful eating means focusing your awareness on the food you are eating. The experience of truly enjoying a treat helps keep you connected to your body and tuned into hunger and fullness cues.
Mindfulness also involves reflecting on gratitude – for the ways that food nourishes your body and for all the steps taken for food to get to our tables. This process can help you slow down and choose nourishing foods more often.
Cookie Dough Bites
For the filling:
1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup almond flour, 2 Tbsp almond butter
1 Tbsp coconut sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips
For the coating:
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tsp coconut oil
coarse sea salt
Place all filling ingredients, except the chocolate chips into a food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Roll into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for 1 hour. Make the coating by melting chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave for 20 seconds at a time until smooth.
Roll each ball in chocolate mixture until fully coated. Place on a parchment-lined plate and sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt. Refrigerate until ready to eat. ENJOY!
