How To Upgrade Edible Cookie Dough Into A Valentine's Day Treat

If you find your raw cookie dough as appealing as a tray of freshly baked cookies, you aren't alone. When Glamour posed the question, "Be honest, do you eat cookie dough?," a resounding 74% voted in the affirmative. And a Reddit poll showed that 78% of respondents had tried raw cookie dough. Clearly, the lure of unbaked vanilla and chocolate chips is too much for most to resist. In recognition of this temptation, Pillsbury made the 2020 announcement that its "Ready to Bake Cookie Dough products are now safe to eat raw." Yes, sneaking a bite of chocolate chip dough no longer equates to a Salmonella-riddled game of Russian Roulette. 

This leads to a very important question: Why would anyone choose to eat raw cookie dough in the first place, knowing that it could make them sick and all? Dough Dreamery explains that it's primarily because you have positive childhood associations with cookie dough like baking cookies with your grandma or licking the bowl after your mom put the cookie dough in the oven to bake. Eating cookie dough takes you back in time and revisit those happy moments.

The good news, you can now take your penchant for uncooked dough up a notch. As it turns out, raw cookie dough need not be served in a sticky glob. Thanks to a Valentine's Day-inspired TikTok hack, your next batch of safe-to-eat dough can actually be a really pretty treat — one that you can even make for your special someone come Valentine's Day!

When TikTok user Serena Castiglione posted a video of her edible cookie dough pops, fans of this heart-filled occasion were over the moon. Castiglione was very careful to mention that you must use edible cookie dough, as raw flour and eggs pose a health risk. She's got that right. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, raw flour can contain E. coli and other germs that are typically destroyed by cooking, while raw eggs can be a breeding ground for Salmonella. 

If you have edible cookie dough, though, you can proceed to whip up a batch of Castiglione's pops. Simply use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to create a perfect heart and pop a stick into the bottom. Cover the heart with melted chocolate — she used Merckens wafers — and, then, decorate. Simply drizzle chocolate on top and add some heart-shaped sprinkles. Keep them chilled until you're ready to devour them. Of course, you can customize them as you wish. They don't need to be hearts, for one thing. Your choice of chocolate could be white, dark chocolate, or even vibrant pink, perhaps? And no one says that you have to opt for chocolate chip dough either. Maybe a sugar cookie or peanut butter dough is more to your liking. Whatever way you decide to go with your edible cookie dough pops, there's no denying that they'll still taste incredibly delicious.