Licking the beaters is one of the best parts of baking cookies. In fact, eating the cookie dough is almost better than eating the cookies themselves, but it’s not without risk. Raw dough can make you really sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that you can contract E. coli or salmonella from eating raw flour and uncooked eggs.
But the lure of cookie dough is strong, so many companies have started making edible cookie dough in a carton, or in a bag of bite-sized chunks.
Back in March, Pillsbury acknowledged the trend when the company announced it was in the process of transitioning all of their pre-made cookie doughs — the ones you get in the refrigerated section at the grocery store — to a recipe that’s safe to eat raw.
Now, Pillsbury’s pumpkin cookie dough with cream cheese-flavored chips is hitting store shelves, and the recipe bears their “safe to eat raw” seal of approval. You can bake it like usual or just eat it straight out of the package, up to you!
Pillsbury’s pumpkin cookie dough is the perfect autumn treat, and those pumpkin spice flavors do lend themselves to that warm, fresh-from-the-oven yumminess. One package makes 12 big cookies … if you don’t eat too much of the dough as you are baking. They’re at Walmart for $2.50, or check your local grocery store for this limited-edition treat.
If you have another flavor of Pillsbury dough in the refrigerator and you aren’t sure whether it’s OK to eat it raw, look for the “Safe to Eat Raw” seal. According to Pillsbury’s website, they plan to have transitioned all of their doughs to the safe-to-eat-raw recipe by the end of this summer, but best to look for the seal as you’re shopping. You can also check their list of safe doughs if you’re getting groceries delivered.
So, how do they do it? “We use heat-treated flour and pasteurized eggs so you can now safely enjoy our cookie dough baked or raw,” Pillsbury says.
Other seasonal flavors are out now, too. Their salted caramel apple cookie dough is another fall flavor that’s safe to eat raw.
With the smell of these little apple pie-inspired cookies baking in your oven, you won’t be so sad to say goodbye to summer and welcome the fall. Or crumble the dough (it’s safe to eat raw!) over a bowl of vanilla ice cream for the easiest apple pie a la mode ever.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
