These Cookie Dough Bites are easy to make and completely safe to eat! My recipe uses a sneaky secret ingredient for creamy cookie dough that tastes and feels just like the real thing. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Edible & Adorable Cookie Dough Balls
If you’ve been known to sneak a spoonful (or more!) of dough or two when making chocolate chip cookies, this recipe is for you. These cookie dough bites taste just like the real thing, but they are safe to eat, thanks to heat treated flour and no eggs. You’ll love how creamy and authentic they taste–plus they’re super easy to make too!
The creaminess in this recipe comes from an unexpected but game changing ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. While it isn’t a classic cookie ingredient, it is my secret ingredient for these bites.
I modeled this recipe after my edible cookie dough, and one of the biggest complaints I’ve received about that recipe is that people don’t seem to like the subtle grit from the sugar. While this texture is actually typical of real cookie dough (the sugars don’t have the opportunity to melt without baking), I still heard the complaints.
It would be almost impossible to entirely eliminate this texture, but we can minimize it a bit by substituting some of the sugar for sweetened condensed milk. The end result is super satisfying and authentic–you won’t be able to stop eating them!
What You Need
This recipe uses just nine ingredients, most of which you’ll already have on hand. Here are the most important ones:
- Flour. We’ll start by adding 2 cups of flour and add the additional ¼ cup as needed. Before we add the flour though, we’ll be baking it to make sure it’s safe to eat. I explain this in more detail below!
- Sweetened condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk has no grit (like sugar) but still adds sweetness. It also helps make the bites creamier, subtly fudgy (think my cookie dough fudge!), and absolutely perfect. We’re only using ¼ cup today, but if you’re looking to use up your whole can of condensed milk, you can use the rest to make my chocolate chip cookie brittle or thin & crispy chocolate chip cookies.
- Sugar. I like to use a blend of granulated, light, and dark brown sugar for a deeper flavor.
- Chocolate chips. You may use mini or regular-sized semisweet chocolate chips. Sprinkles would also be a great addition!
SAM’S TIP: Use an electric mixer or stand mixer for this recipe. You need to beat the dough on high speed for several minutes to help dissolve the sugar and encourage a creamier texture, and you simply can’t do this by hand.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Why Heat Treat Flour?
You probably already know that you shouldn’t eat raw eggs, so naturally we’re leaving those out of this recipe. What many people don’t know is that consuming raw flour has been linked to E. coli.
Making cookie dough without flour would be a bit tough, so rather than trying to leave it out, we’re simply going to cook the flour by itself to heat treat it and eliminate any chance of E. coli.
I use this technique in several of my other cookie dough recipes, like my cookie dough frosting. We’ll simply scatter our flour over a lined baking sheet, bake it for a few minutes, and let it cool. That’s it!
SAM’S TIP: Let your flour cool COMPLETELY before you add it to your dough! If your flour is too hot, it will melt your sugars and butter and make a huge mess. Have patience (I know how hard that is when cookie dough is involved!)!
How to Make Cookie Dough Bites
- Heat treat your flour – Bake your flour on a lined cooke sheet for 7 minutes at 350F, then let it cool completely.
- Cream the butter and sugars – Beat the butter and sugars until well combined, then mix on high speed for one minute.
- Add the flavoring – Stir in the condensed milk, vanilla, and salt, then beat on medium high for another few minutes.
- Stir in the flour – Gradually add 2 cups of the flour into the bowl. Add the remaining flour 1 tablespoon at a time as needed until the dough is manageable.
- Add the chips and roll! Stir in the mini chocolate chips, then roll the dough into balls.
SAM’S TIP: If the dough still seems too sticky to roll after adding all of the flour, let it sit for 10-15 minutes or pop it in the fridge for a bit to let the butter re-solidify.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store your bites in an airtight container where they will keep for several days at room temperature or for a week in the refrigerator. You can also freeze your cookie dough balls for several months.
You could, but I’d recommend using my cookie dough pops recipe instead, since it was designed to be stable enough to be served on a stick and dipped in chocolate.
Yes! Since we aren’t using any eggs and since we’re heat treating our flour, these this recipe is generally safe to eat.
Want to take your cookie dough balls to the next level? Drizzle them with melted chocolate after rolling–yum!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Cookie Dough Bites
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (280g)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (226g)
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar firmly packed (133g)
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar firmly packed (65g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk (60ml)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips (170g)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
To Heat Treat Flour
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and pour flour evenly over the parchment. Once oven has preheated, transfer flour to center rack and bake for 7 minutes (flour temperature should exceed 165F to eliminate risk of E.coli).
- Remove flour from oven and allow to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, cream together butter and sugars using an electric mixer or stand mixer. Beat until creamy and well-combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high speed for one minute.
- Add condensed milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir until combined, scrape the sides of the bowl again, and gradually increase speed to medium-high and beat another 1-3 minutes.
- Once flour has cooled, measure out ¼ cup (30g) and set aside. Gradually stir remaining 2 cups (250g) into butter/sugar mixture until combined. If texture isn't firm enough to roll, add remaining flour from the reserved ¼ cup, 1 Tablespoon at a time, but only as much as is needed. Discard any extra/unneeded flour.
- Stir in mini chocolate chips.
- Scoop cookie dough by 2-teaspoon-sized scoops and roll between your palms to form a smooth ball. If the dough is too greasy you can add additional flour, or I recommend waiting 10 minutes or even refrigerating the dough for 10 minutes. Since the butter is warm from being beaten so much the dough will seem softer than it really is, allowing it to sit for 10 minutes or so usually helps to firm up the dough and make it easy to roll.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for several months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Amy
Do you think I could make these as cookie dough “cake” pops? Put the dough on a stick and dip in chocolate? I usually make a regular cake pop with a cookie dough ball in the center, but am wondering if I could just make the whole thing cookie dough.
Sam
Yes, absolutely! Enjoy 🙂
Elissa Stone
Just decadent! Thanks for a fun, easy and DELICIOUS recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Elissa! 🙂
ANNA
Hi,
why not pulverize as most as possible the sugar in a mixer or food processor before adding? And there goes the problem with the sugar crystals…. Or some could melt it in a pot before adding. Or melt it even more until it become caramel, so you have caramel cookie dough …
Sam
Hi Anna! I suppose you could definitely experiment with it, but personally I feel it’s no longer cookie dough without some of the grit 🙂
shanna
Can I leave the edible cookie dough out of the fridge (if I don’t add milk) ?
Sam
Hi Shanna! They will keep for several days at room temperature in an air tight container as the recipe is written. 🙂
Anna
😭😭 I have been DYING to make these but EVERY person in my family hates cookie dough! Even my two year old sister. I don’t understand them 😂 I know if I end up making this I’d be the only one eating it so I’m going to half the recipe.
Sam
😂 That is a good way to exercise self control! I’m impressed. I usually just resign myself to eating all of them. 🤣
Nessa
Thank you, Sam ! Thank you ! You don´t know how your recipe did something magical. My daughter baked them this afternoon with her daddy and they were both so excited ! Your recipe joined them together because we had been having some tough family problems and these days have been hard. I could hear their laughter while they made these from the bathroom ! Thanks for joining my husband and my daughter with your baking ! You don´t know how happy I was watching them ! And at the end, they turned out great ! We did them with white chocolate and they were still delicious ! Thanks for all your recipes ! We love them all ! I am eager to have them for breakfast tomorrow! Yum !
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that baking could them closer together and brighten their day, Nessa. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope everyone enjoys them. 🙂
Isabella
Mine came out really soft and they got destroyed when I took them out of the oven. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I don’t know why. I mean I added half a cup of butter, not one just to make it less greasy. Also, I put 1 spoonful of condensed milk ? Was that bad ? 😭😭😭 Please tell me what I did wrong and how can I do it better without making it greasy because I don’t want to get fat.
Sam
Hi Isabella, I’m not sure what you mean. You are supposed to cook the flour but not the cookie dough bites once you have combined everything. I would re-read the recipe and follow the instructions (it may be helpful to watch the video as well) and I think you will have better luck next time 🙂
Isabella
Yes ! I am such a dummy lol. I wasn´t supposed to bake the cookie bites right ?That´s why it got destroyed and the measures weren´t the ones you had put. Ohhhhhhhh. I think I need some glasses lol. Well, I tried them again , following each word you said and they came out delicious and safe to eat, and creamy,,and just splendid ! Thanks so much for your recipe and your help ! They were delishhhhhhhh
Sam
🤣It happens, but I am glad you were able to enjoy them. 🙂
Judy mcfadden
these were totesss my goatzzzz
Sugar Spun Run
I am glad that you enjoyed them, Judy! 🙂
Carol
Do you think these could be made ahead and frozen for later use?
Sugar Spun Run
That should be fine, Carol! 🙂
Alan
This is a fun recipe, thank you for sharing. I ended up using all the flour. Thank you for the videos, they’re very helpful.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cookie dough bites, Alan, and that you found the video helpful. Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Tiffany
I’m so excited to try these! As for your complaints about the grit of the other cookie dough, that’s one of the best parts:) Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that you love them, Tiffany! Keep me posted on how they turn out! 🙂
BRIGITTE Couture
Oh my! I’m so happy we’re down to one buckeye ball so I get to make those now 😋!
Sugar Spun Run
HOORAY! The perfect excuse to make these cookie dough bites for sure, Brigitte! I hope that you love them just as much as the buckeyes! 🙂
Tracy Gabriele
Can I make these a day ahead and store in the fridge? I want to make them for my in-laws’ 50th anniversary.
Sam
Hi Tracy, yes they can be made a day in advance. Enjoy!