Here’s a Recipe for (Healthier) Cookie Dough That You Can Eat Raw

Philly nutritionists Liz Smith and Melissa Bailey are here to help your cookie dough cravings.


Photographs courtesy Liz Smith and Melissa Bailey.

There was a time when a slumber party wasn’t a slumber party if there wasn’t a roll of cookie dough involved. Some people may find raw cookie dough disgusting — and, well, if you think too much about all the chemicals and preservatives in it (what is soy lecithin, anyways?), not to mention the salmonella risk, it is kind of gross. That said, it can still be delicious — and totally addicting.

That’s why Philly nutritionists Melissa Bailey and Liz Smith — who are both registered dietitians with Penn Medicine — decided to make their own (healthier!) version.

“We both have a major sweet tooth — we could eat cookies and donuts daily, though we know that’s not optimal,” says Bailey. “While we love the real deal, sometimes we crave a healthier alternative. Cookie dough is delicious, but just a few spoonfuls adds up to several hundred calories.”

The pair was inspired to use chickpeas, rather than wheat flour, as their base after discovering P.S. Snacks – a vegan, gluten-free, plant-based cookie dough company that’s sold locally at Mom’s Organic Market, Snap Kitchen, and Whole Foods. After playing around with their own P.S. Snacks-inspired recipe, Bailey and Smith came up with the following ratios — and they’re pretty happy with the results.

Ingredients
2 cans chickpeas (or white beans)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions
Blend the first four ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Adjust maple syrup as needed to your taste preference. Scoop mix into a bowl and stir in chocolate chips. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to five days or freeze in small portions. 

Whereas traditional refrigerated cookie dough may be packed with calories and sugar, Bailey and Smith’s chickpea version comes at a more-reasonable 50 calories in a single tablespoon serving. Plus, there’s no need to worry about getting sick from eating raw eggs.

“This cookie dough swap has a similar texture to the real thing,” says Bailey. “On those nights you want to sit and eat cookie dough by the spoonful, this is the recipe for you!”

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