Cooking Lesson #76— Raw Cookie Dough That's Safe to Eat Or Add to Ice Cream

Eating Raw Cookie Dough is Dangerous!

How you doin’? Some bakers just can’t resist the urge to stick their finger in a bowl of raw cookie dough just to do a “quality” check—I sometimes do it myself even though I know the risks.
 
Even more concerning is giving in to the kiddies who want to lick the bowl and/or beaters. DON’T DO IT! Every time you do that, you're risking your health (or theirs) due to food-borne illness caused by harmful bacteria contained in raw, unbaked cookie dough. WARNING: There may be bacteria lurking in that batch of raw cookie dough. Learn the simple tricks that make raw, edible cookie dough safe to eat — and it's not just leaving out the eggs.
 
We used to think that the bacteria may be originating from raw eggs, so we created eggless (sometimes tasteless) cookie doughs. Yuck! We thought the way to make edible cookie dough safe to eat was to simply leave out the eggs. Some raw eggs can contain salmonella. But raw eggs alone are not the only problem. We’ve also discovered that E. coli can be viable in baking flour. Unbaked flour itself can contain E. coli contamination and can be just as damaging to your health as raw eggs. So, in short, it’s not advisable to eat raw cookie dough or other foods that use unbaked flour or raw eggs.
 
“But I want to make my favorite cookie dough ice cream! What can I do?” Don’t play Russian Cookie Dough Roulette! Here are some safety tips so you can have your raw cookie dough and eat it, too!

                                                            How To Pasteurize Flour
Kill the bacteria in the raw flour by heating it to at least 165⁰ F to pasteurize the flour. You can quickly and easily pasteurize raw flour using one of these simple methods:
 
Directions

• Microwave the flour for 1 minute and 30 seconds, stirring it every 15 seconds, or
• Bake the flour spread out on a baking sheet and toast in a preheated oven at 350⁰F for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Regardless of the method, use an instant-read thermometer to ensure that the flour reaches 165°F throughout.

 
Pasteurize the raw flour in your microwave or oven, let it cool, then use it in edible cookie dough recipes and no-bake cookie recipes so you can indulge in one of life's guilty pleasures—licking the bowl—with a lot less fear.

                                              How To Pasteurize Eggs
Directions:

• Bring the eggs (in their shells) to room temperature (20 to 30 minutes before pasteurizing).
• Place the eggs in a saucepan filled with cold water and fitted with a digital thermometer.  
• Turn on the heat and bring the water up to 140°F.
• Keep the water temperature at 140°F for 3 minutes (and no more than 142°F), reducing the heat on the burner if necessary.

• Remove the eggs from hot water and rinse immediately and thoroughly with cold water.
• Store the pasteurized eggs in the refrigerator until needed or use right away.
• Now you can sneak that taste of raw cookie dough before it’s folded into your homemade ice cream

 
                       How To Make Edible Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Prep time:  15 minutes
Yield:  Approximately 2 cups
 
Ingredients
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 pasteurized egg (see procedure above)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour, pasteurized (see procedure above)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
 
Directions

1. First, make sure you have enough pasteurized flour to complete this recipe. Do not skip this step— untreated flour can contain contaminants and is not safe to eat. Follow the directions above.
2. In a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg, cream, vanilla and salt. Mix to combine.
4. Add the pasteurized flour and mix to incorporate.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop, serve and enjoy!
7. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze the dough for up to 6 months.

ChefSecret:  If you are planning on adding the dough to ice cream, portion out the dough into dime-size nuggets and then freeze when your ice cream comes out of the ice cream maker. Adding unfrozen particulate to ice cream will make it icy and not quite as desirable.

Special Note: If you are looking for a Keto-friendly version of Edible Cookie Dough, drop me a note and I will send it out to you--ed@perspectives-la.com.
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are also being posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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                                                                             ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, Inc. 2020

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