Eggs are actually a relatively low risk factor for salmonella. The bigger concern is flour; e.coli and salmonella are only able to exist on the surface of things, but flour is all surface area. It’s really good at harboring microbes, because anything on the surface of the grain gets mixed into the flour when it is milled. Raw flour will make you sick more often than raw eggs will.
You can make safe cookie dough by toasting your flour first. Just spread it on a cookie sheet, and pop it in the oven to bake for a few minutes. It’ll add a sort of nutty toasted flavor to the cookie dough, and it makes the flour safe.
Eggs got a bad reputation because the most likely time for people to consume raw eggs is when they’re also consuming raw flour. There is still some risk with the eggs, but it’s nowhere near as bad as people have come to believe.
And lastly, if you’re planning on eating it raw, you don’t even need the eggs. The egg only serves to hold the cookie together and keep the dough from melting into a batter in the oven (because the butter in the dough goes liquid when it gets hot, while egg proteins bind together). If you’re not baking it, that’s not an issue. Just toast your flour, skip the eggs, and your dough is 100% safe.
Eggs are actually a relatively low risk factor for salmonella. The bigger concern is flour; e.coli and salmonella are only able to exist on the surface of things, but flour is all surface area. It’s really good at harboring microbes, because anything on the surface of the grain gets mixed into the flour when it is milled. Raw flour will make you sick more often than raw eggs will.
You can make safe cookie dough by toasting your flour first. Just spread it on a cookie sheet, and pop it in the oven to bake for a few minutes. It’ll add a sort of nutty toasted flavor to the cookie dough, and it makes the flour safe.
Eggs got a bad reputation because the most likely time for people to consume raw eggs is when they’re also consuming raw flour. There is still some risk with the eggs, but it’s nowhere near as bad as people have come to believe.
And lastly, if you’re planning on eating it raw, you don’t even need the eggs. The egg only serves to hold the cookie together and keep the dough from melting into a batter in the oven (because the butter in the dough goes liquid when it gets hot, while egg proteins bind together). If you’re not baking it, that’s not an issue. Just toast your flour, skip the eggs, and your dough is 100% safe.