no pathogens here

What a shame that something as delightful as cookie dough would be contaminated by something as nasty as E. coli.


What great fortune that I can make my own cookie dough, and that I can eat it willy-nilly.

Rather than eating cookie dough straight out of the mixing bowl like a heathen (ah, who am I kidding, I do it all the time), I decided to take a more sophisticated route. I saw some oatmeal cookie balls on Deborah's wonderful blog Taste and Tell and thought they'd be the perfect quick-fix.

Indeed, these are great little bites. I followed Deborah's recipe pretty closely, and my only advice is this: Chill the dough very briefly before rolling it into balls--it makes the process much less messy.


One more bit of advice: Always make (and eat, neanderthal-style) your own cookie dough.

E. coli-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Balls
(personalized from this recipe)

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (clearly, all oatmeal raisin cookie replicas should contain cinnamon)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup golden raisins, chopped
1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa. With clean hands, mix in the water, vanilla, butter, and peanut butter to form a dough. Add in the raisins.
Chill the dough briefly, then roll it into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in powdered sugar until thickly coated. Pop into the fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving.