How to Make Healthy Edible Cookie Dough for Gifting

I had a cookie dough tradition with one of my close friends in high school. A couple days a week after school, we’d hop into my black 1985 Crown Victoria and drive the 20 minutes to the closest grocery store (#rurallife).

We’d make a beeline to the refrigerated section and grab a roll of chocolate chip cookie dough from the case. After pooling our change to pay for it, we’d then head back to the Crown Vic. We’d drive all around the county roads listening to the Dixie Chicks (#rurallife), talking about boys, and eating the cookie dough with the spoons we kept in the glove box for this exact purpose. Cookie dough was a way of life for us.

A little bit older (okay a lot) and a little bit wiser (yeah a lot of that, too), I now don’t eat raw cookie dough by the roll from the store. I know now that raw cookie dough has ingredients that could spark nasty foodborne illnesses when eaten unbaked—like salmonella and e. coli.

I also realized that cookie dough from the store includes ingredients that I try to avoid in my own diet, like vegetable shortening, soy, and gluten. So what’s a cookie dough loving girl to do? Make a healthier, safer version of edible cookie dough right at home! And I did. My healthy edible chocolate chip cookie dough is vegan, gluten-free, paleo, grain-free, eggless, and WHOA, SO DELICIOUS!

I’ve been testing healthy edible chocolate chip cookie dough recipes in my house for months now. I was trying to land on the perfect combination of sweetly satisfying and nourishing (both for the body and soul), and I finally nailed it!

My edible cookie dough is made with all whole food ingredients that you probably already have on hand. And it makes a wonderful edible gift. This cookie dough would make perfect teacher gifts, family friend gifts, or stocking stuffers. We’ll show you exactly how to package it up for gift giving in a sec!

Is edible cookie dough safe to eat?

The whole purpose of this recipe is to get a safe-to-eat version of cookie dough—so yes, this recipe is completely safe to eat! With no raw eggs and no raw flour (which has its own contamination issues), this cookie dough is safe to eat.

But does edible cookie dough taste the same without the eggs?

I was worried about this because I assumed a lot of the cookie dough flavor came from the eggs, but I found that I didn’t think the eggless cookie dough was missing anything! It was sweet, rich, and chocolatey—just like the real thing.

Do you have to bake the flour to make edible chocolate chip cookie dough safe?

If you are following a standard edible cookie dough recipe that includes all-purpose wheat flour, then yes, you must roast or bake the flour before eating to kill any possible food-borne illnesses. Since we don’t use wheat flour here, you can skip that step. Everything is safe to eat in the raw.

What happens if you try to bake cookies with this edible cookie dough?

You’ll have warm edible cookie dough. Ha! There are no binding agents (eggs) or leavening agents (baking soda/powder) here, so they won’t turn into cookies in the oven. If you want legit Chocolate Chip Cookies, try out either my Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies or my Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies. Both are winners, just don’t eat the dough!

How do you store edible cookie dough? And how long does it last?

You can store this cookie dough in an airtight container. It will last at room temperature for up to a week, in the fridge for up to a month, and in the freezer for six months or more.

Wait, edible cookie dough doesn’t need to be refrigerated?

Nope. Because this stuff is eggless and packed full of maple syrup or honey (sugar is a natural preservative), it can easily be at room temperature for up to a week. I do recommend moving it to the fridge or freezer for long term storage.

How do you package edible cookie dough for gifts?

Because you don’t need to keep this edible cookie dough chilled, it makes for a great holiday gift! I recommend getting a cute glass jar that your giftee can reuse, packaging it with a small spoon, and then adding a nice label. Here are the supplies we used to package them up for these pictures:

• Glass Jars with Red Lids—These adorable glass jars are 6 ounces (you’ll get about 2 of them filled per one batch of this recipe), and they are the perfect size to reuse as drinking glasses, yogurt cups, or any kind of food storage.
• Christmas Coffee Spoons—These holiday-themed steel spoons tie perfectly to the side of the glass jars, and they are just the cutest!
• Printable Edible Cookie Dough Gift Tags—I created some simple gift tags that you can print, hole punch, and tie to your cookie dough jars. I printed mine on kraft paper cardstock, but you can use whatever type of paper you like. I tied my cards on using baker’s twine.

My protips for making AMAZING healthy edible cookie dough:

• You can use either butter or softened coconut oil in this recipe. Both are delicious, but butter results in a more authentic chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. And the coconut oil makes it taste, well, coconutty! If you’re looking for a paleo, vegan, or dairy-free version, though, coconut oil is your winner!
• Mini chocolate chips are your best choice here—that way the chocolate is distributed much more evenly. For a dairy-free and vegan dough, I recommend Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips. For truly strict paleo edible cookie dough, you’ll need to track down a paleo chocolate bar sweetened with coconut sugar and cut it into small chunks.
• This recipe multiplies with ease, so if you have a lot of gifts to make, whip out a big bowl and double, triple, or quadruple!
• Stay away from the coconut flour! There is a reason coconut flour isn’t in this recipe—I tested it and it results in a gritty, grainy cookie dough. You might be tempted to swap out either the almond flour or tapioca for coconut flour, but promise me you won’t.