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If you are a fanatic for cookies, you no doubt have wanted to eat an entire bowl of raw batter at one time or another. It may have been when you were a kid, or it may have been last week. Everyone loves the flavor of raw cookie dough. But no one wants to risk getting sick by eating raw eggs.

There are recipes that allow you to make batches of cookie dough without any eggs. And they don’t require any odd or hard to find egg substitute products. After all, if Ben and Jerry could make a cookie dough ice cream with real cookie batter in it, it must be possible for home bakers to make as well.

And speaking of ice cream, raw cookie dough without egg products is ideal for mixing into batches of home made ice cream. If you have an ice cream machine, break it out and start using it again. You can use an eggless recipe for cookie dough in any ice cream recipe in your home ice cream machine.

Here’s a recipe for eggless cookie dough from Food.com. It uses no egg substitute and still turns out rich and chunky. The recipe calls for use in ice cream, but cookie dough lovers know that it’s really for spoon eating right away. Either way, give this recipe a try.

Eggless Cookie Dough for Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter (very soft but not melted)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk or 2 tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (or use M&M's mini candies)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl mix together both sugars and butter until smooth.
2. Stir in vanilla and milk.
3. Mix in the flour until well blended.
4. Add in chocolate chips.
5. Shape into a log and freeze for about 1-2 hours or until firm.
6. Cut or break into small chunks.
7. Mix into softened ice cream.
8. Return the ice cream to freezer. When ready, eat.

You’ll find that most edible cookie dough recipes are an offshoot of this type of recipe. Most will use flour, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, and milk. You get to decide what you’d like to add as far as chips. Go with chocolate chips, mini morsels, mint chocolate chips, gourmet nuts, chopped almonds, dried cranberries, dried cherries, peanut butter chips, or coconut. As long as you’re adding an ingredient that you can eat raw, there’s no danger or harm from bacteria.

Without the threat of salmonella that is sometimes found in raw eggs, you can go ahead and let the kids lick the bowl on this one. You’ll find you can’t stop eating it either. If you don’t plan on finishing the whole batch at one sitting, scoop the mixture with a small ice cream scoop onto a tray. Freeze the whole tray and then take the individual balls off when frozen and store in freezer tight bags. You can then defrost for a little treat.

Kids and adults alike love raw cookie dough. Now it’s perfectly safe to eat since you’re not using any type of egg product. And the results are simply scrumptious. Try it today.

More Yummy Recipes:

• White Chocolate: Cookies, Cakes, And More Desserts
• Cake Mix Cookie Recipes
• Cookie Gift Bouquets - Make Your Own
• S'Mores Cookie Bars Recipe

If you love ice cream sandwiches, you will be amazed at how easy they are to make from scratch at home. You don’t have to settle for tiny, factory-made cookie sandwiches from the grocery store freezer anymore. Although the ones you can buy at the store are still delicious, they are by no means in the same league as homemade cookies and ice cream made from your very own kitchen. These are tasty and sweet and soft and yummy.

Try this recipe for the cookie and the ice cream. The recipes here are for chocolate chip cookies, but you can use any recipe for ice cream sandwiches, from chocolate wafer cookies to shortbread cookies. As for the ice cream, you can make your own in any flavor your heart desires. Pair the gourmet cookies with the ice cream and you can have unlimited combinations. Ice cream makers today are worth the purchase price. You will find that all you have to do is turn it on after freezing the bowl. They’re not at all like the ice cream makers of yesteryear that required salt and lots of churning. These are modern and so easy to use that you’ll make ice cream all the time—even on weekdays!

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Ice Cream Sandwiches

Courtesy of Cooks.com

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (not quite full)

1/2 c. chopped nuts

1 c. + 2 tbsp. flour

Cream together first 3 ingredients until soft. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. In another bowl sift flour, salt and soda. Slowly add mixture to batter until well blended. Stir in walnuts and chips. Use soup spoon to drop dough about 6 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each with back of spoon to make 3-inch cookies or any size you want them to be. Bake at 350 degrees 12 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool. Fill with ice cream. Freeze all on cookie sheet. Take out and wrap individually in aluminum foil. Return to freezer. Makes about 24 to 28 cookies which will be 12 to 14 sandwiches.

Easy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ready In: 2 Hours 45 Minutes

Servings: 8

"This is a GREAT mint chocolate chip ice cream that I discovered by accident. The 2% milk makes the ice cream taste 'lighter' I think."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups 2% milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

3 drops green food coloring (optional)

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.            In a large bowl, stir together the milk, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the green food coloring.

2.            Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After about 10 minutes into the freezing, add the chocolate chips. After the ice cream has thickened, about 30 minutes later, spoon into a container, and freeze for 2 hours.

More Ice Cream Desserts:

Easy Ice Cream Cookie Cake

St. Patty's Day Mint Chip Freeze Recipe

Ice Cream Floats

Fresh-Bake Any Day of the Week

Sometimes you want homemade sugar cookies but don’t really have a lot of time. You could go out and buy the pre-packaged sugar cookie dough rolls, and they’re fine. But if you really want to make sugar cookie dough yourself, just plan ahead a little.

A good sugar cookie dough will need to be refrigerated before you can use it. If you’re not planning for this, it can throw you for a loop. That’s why sugar cookies are often called refrigerator cookies. You make the dough and then roll it into logs and refrigerate it before you bake it. It’s not as hard or time-consuming as it sounds, but you do need to allow for at least a few hours of cooling in the fridge for the dough to set up properly.

Here is a recipe from Cooks.com that is easy to make and allows you to go do other things while you’re chilling the dough.

REFRIGERATOR COOKIE ROLLOUT DOUGH

1 1/2 c. sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 c. butter, softened

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

Cream sugar and butter. Mix in egg and flavorings. Stir dry ingredients together. Chill 2 - 3 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use half of the dough at a time. Roll out dough to 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Bake 7 - 8 minutes until golden brown.

ICING:

1 c. confectioners’ sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, salt, vanilla, and enough water for desired consistency.

Of course, you won’t want to ice the cookies until they are cooled. And you’ll want to form the dough into logs after you mix it. Place in plastic storage bags or roll in plastic wrap so the dough doesn’t pick up the scent or flavors of anything in your fridge. Never stick the whole bowl into the refrigerator uncovered. You need to divide the dough in half and take only half out of the refrigerator at a time. The other half should remain there chilling so it doesn’t start to get warm on the counter.

Roll out the first half of the dough on a floured countertop.  This way the dough won’t stick to it. But don’t go crazy with the flour. Adding too much additional flour can make your dough tough and your cookies won’t taste right.

Cut out shapes from dough that is a good thickness. Too thin and they will burn. Too thick and they’ll be raw big cookies. You can guess-timate how thick to roll out the dough. If you can see the countertop under the dough it’s too thin and if the cookie cutter barely makes it through and won’t hold the design it’s too thick.

Use only dry cookie cutters. Wet ones will stick and ruin your dough. You can dip them in flour if they start to stick a little under normal conditions. Just tap off any extra flour before you press the cutters down into your cookies.

Stay nearby while your cookies are baking. They can burn quickly if you get distracted by a phone call or get caught up writing emails.

Follow these steps and you’ll have the best refrigerator sugar cookies ever.

Related Articles:

• Berry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
• Cake Mix Cookie Recipe ? Double Chocolate Cookies
• Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies
• Honey Cookies

Diabetes is a serious disease that requires those who have it to keep their blood sugar in check. But studies have shown that small quantities of sugar are ok in moderation for diabetics. So why not make a batch of diabetic cookies with a special recipe that uses a sugar substitute or is diabetic-friendly in its ingredients? These recipes come from the web site www.diabetic-recipes.com. There you will find a whole host of recipes designed with the diabetic in mind, and work great as diabetic gifts. There are also tips and ideas for diabetics, including diabetic kids. It’s worth checking out!

Diabetic Pumpkin Cookie Bars

Courtesy of www.diabetic-recipes.com

Ingredients:

• Baking spray with flour
• 1/4 Cup (120 ml) liquid egg substitute
• 2 Large egg whites
• 3/4 Cup (143 g) one-to-one sugar substitute
• 1/3  Cup (65 g) plus 1 tablespoon (8 g) nonfat dry milk
• 1/4 C up (60 ml) canola oil
• 1  16-ounce can (480 g) unsweetened pumpkin
• 1/4  Cup (36g) currants
• 2  C ups (280 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2  T easpoons (10 ml) pumpkin pie spice
• 2  Teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon salt (0.6 ml) (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C), Gas Mark 4. Coat a 13 x 9 inch (32.5 X 22.5 cm) baking pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine egg substitute, egg whites, sugar substitute. dry skim milk, canola oil, and pumpkin. Mix for about 2 minutes. Stir in currants.

Sift dry ingredients over the mixture and fold in. Place the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes until the batter springs back when touched in the center. Cool in the pan and cut into 36 bars.

Per 1-bar serving:  56 calories (23% calories from fat), 2 g protein, 2 g total fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 39 mg sodium

Diabetic exchanges:  1/2 carbohydrate (bread/starch)

Diabetic Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies

• 1/2 Cup (120 g) margarine, softened
• 2 Tablespoons (24 g) sugar
• 2 Teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
• 6  Tablespoons (90 ml) liquid egg substitute
• 1 1/2 Cups (210 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking powder
• 1/4 Cup (60 ml) skim milk, warmed to room temperature
• 1 Teaspoon (5 ml) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon (0.6 ml) chocolate extract
• Refrigerated butter-flavored cooking spray

Cream margarine, sugar, vanilla, and egg substitute. Beat well. Add flour, baking powder, and 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of the milk. Stir to thoroughly mix. Divide dough into 2 parts.

Add cocoa and chocolate extract to one part, stirring until well blended. Chill both halves for at least 1 hour.

Working on a floured surface, roll out each part to a rectangle about 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide. Place chocolate part on top of white part, pressing together tightly with a rolling pin.

Brush the chocolate dough with remaining tablespoon (15 ml) milk. Roll up like a jelly roll to make a log about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C), Gas Mark 5. Slice cookies 1/8 inch (.5 cm) thick. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Per 3-cookie serving:   85 calories (53% calories from fat), 2 g protein, 5 g total fat, 8 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, trace cholesterol, 73 mg sodium

Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (bread/starch), 1 fat

More Diabetic Friendly Articles:

• Diabetic Carrot Bars
• Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies (Diabetic)
• Diabetic Ginger Cookies

For the next birthday party you throw, surprise the guest of honor with a birthday cookie cake. A giant cookie decorated for a birthday is the perfect alternative to the plain old sheet cake. You can create a mega cookie cake with little time and money. You don’t even really have to possess any cooking skills. If you can place a cake in the oven, or make cookies, you can make a cookie cake.

The idea of the giant cookie is nothing more than a bunch of small cookies put together. So start with a cookie mix from the store. You can buy cookie mixes in bags in the baking aisle. They’ll usually require you to add eggs and oil or butter. Everything else is usually already in there.

Decide if you want a sugar cookie cake, a chocolate chip cookie cake, or some other flavor. You can do a peanut butter cookie cake that has a chocolate frosting on it for a real delight. Shop the baking aisle and see which flavor you think will work best for your party.

While you’re at the store, pick up a pizza pan. They usually come in 14” or 16” sizes. You can find a cheap aluminum pan that you can throw out or invest in a more sturdy version if you plan on baking many cookie cakes or a few pizzas now and then.

Mix the cookie batter according to the recipe. Be sure that if the mix calls for softened butter that you do not rush the process and melt the butter in the microwave. You may be tempted, but the result will be a thinner, crisper cookie that doesn’t taste as good and may burn faster.

Grease the pizza pan and spread the cookie batter onto it. Spread it evenly so that no one spot is raised above the others. This will help the cookie bake evenly. That’s all you have to do. Now just pop it into the oven at the temperature the cookie mix recommends. It’s usually around 375 degrees or so. You’ll bake until the cookie is brown but not hard.

Here’s the part where many a cookie cake has gone awry. Never walk away into a separate part of the house while you are baking a cookie cake. You may get distracted by another task and find that your cookie is burnt beyond repair. Stay in the kitchen and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the minimum amount of time is reached, check the cookie. If it is nicely golden and not raw in the center, pull it out even if the whole 25 minutes hasn’t elapsed. You want it to come out of the oven while it is still semi soft. If you wait to pull it out when it’s already crisp, the cookie will be overdone. Heat will still continue to bake the cookie on the pan after it comes out of the oven, so you have to allow for that.

Next, cool the cookie. When it is completely cool, you can add your frosting decorations. Use icing from the store that comes in a tube so you can write on the cake. You can also pipe frosting around the edges.

If you think cookie cakes are fun, you'll have to check out cookie bouquets as well!

Cookies on a stick are fun to bake and really make a great impact for very little effort. For your next party or to give to someone you want to thank or who isn’t feeling well, bake up a batch of eye catching flower pop cookies.

Sugar cookie pops are nothing more than cookies on a stick. They are then arranged into a cookie bouquet and placed inside a vase or flower pot.

You can make your own sugar cookie dough, or you can buy store bought dough and roll it out. You’re going to need cookie cutters that are in the shape of flowers. Or, you can use round cutters and decorate your cookie pops to look like flowers. The important part is that you get the proper sticks. You’ll need lollipop sticks from a craft store. Buy the long kind so you can make long-stemmed cookies. You can always cut the sticks down to make shorter flowers. And you need to place the sticks inside the cookies before you bake them so that they stay firm.

Another thing you will need is a clean flower pot. Terra cotta pots look most authentic. You’ll be securing all your cookie pops to the pot, so you’ll need either floral foam or Styrofoam to stick the lollipops into. Tape down the floral foam or Styrofoam so it doesn’t tip out of the pot. Use green tissue paper to pad the top of the pot and cover the foam.

Here is a great recipe from the Jelly Belly jelly bean company. Their version of the flower pop uses jelly beans in a clever way. Visit their site at www.jellybelly.com to see the finished photo.

Here’s how they did it.

Jelly Belly Flower Cookie Pops

Courtesy of Jelly Belly

These colorful cookies are fun and easy to make, and are topped with some of your favorite Jelly Belly Confections like Mint Cremes and Swedish fish, and of course lots of Jelly Belly jelly beans!

Ingredients:

• 1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

• 1 tablespoon egg white powder

• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

• Assorted Jelly Belly jelly beans

• Mint Cremes by Jelly Belly

• Green Swedish Fish

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Knead the sugar cookie dough with the flour on a work surface until smooth. Divide the dough in half.

2. Roll out half on a lightly floured surface to a scant 1/4 inch thickness. Use 2 to 3 inch flower shaped cookie cutters and cut out as many shapes as possible. Transfer the shapes to the prepared pans on either long edge. Insert a lollipop stick into the dough about half way into the cut out.

3. Bake until cookies are golden about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough and lollipop sticks.

4. Combine the powdered sugar and egg white powder in a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon water and mix well. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until mixture is thick. Spoon the mixture into a re-sealable bag.

5. Snip a very small corner from the bag, about 1/8 inch. Pipe dots of frosting on cookies and attach the Jelly Belly beans. Pipe dots of frosting on cookies and attach the Mint Cremes or cut some of the Jelly Belly beans in half crosswise and add, cut side down. Continue with the remaining Jelly Belly beans and cookies. Let cookies dry at least 2 hours.

6. Place a piece of Styrofoam into a clean planter or serving bowl. Fill planter with green Jelly Belly beans. Insert the cookie pops into the planter, pushing the sticks into the Styrofoam to secure at different heights. Add a few green Swedish Fish as the leaves.

More Cookie Bouquet Fun:

• All About Cookie Bouquets
• 5 Different Ways to Decorate Cut Out Cookies
• Cookie Gift Bouquets - Make Your Own
• How to Make a Cookie Bouquet

If you’re in love with the scent of freshly baked cookies and want to spread that love around, why not make some cookie scented candles? They are perfect for those times when you want your home to smell like a bakery and they also make thoughtful and delightful Christmas gifts.

You’ll need some supplies from a good hobby or craft store. Take a walk down their candle making aisle. You’ll find everything you need right there. You’ll want to either pick up a candle-making kit plus a vial of cookie scented candle fragrance oil or you can buy each item individually. Here’s what you need:

Paraffin wax—this will come in block form. You can cut off sections of the block at home, or melt the whole thing to make a big batch.

Wicks—choose the smallest wick diameter for small candles like tea lights and votives and a bigger wick for large cathedral type candles.

Cookie scented candle fragrance oil—this is the essential item that will make your cookie scented candles outrageously and wonderfully scented. You can pick up scents from sugar cookie to chocolate chip. Many companies make more than one cookie scented oil, so see what your craft store has to order. You can also order it online by typing “cookie scented candle fragrance oil” into a search engine like Google.

A metal melting vessel—your craft store will have a metal pitcher designed especially for candle wax melting. It will be right near the other candle supplies.

Molds or jars—the molds you use will determine how your finished candles look. Several different molds are available at crafts stores. You might want to make small tea lights or taper candles. You can also make thick, chunky candles, but know that you will need more wax the bigger the candle. A good idea is to use empty and clean baby food jars. The old glass kind work best. They are the perfect size for displaying and giving as candle favors.

A wooden spoon, pencils and scissors.

Get out all your supplies. Tie a length of wick to the pencil and lay it across the jar or mold you are using. This will prevent the wick from falling down into the melted wax. Melt the wax on a stove, watching and stirring carefully as it melts. Don’t walk away or you could have a fire on your hands. Melted wax is extremely hot, so use pot holders when transferring it to the molds. When the wax has melted, add the cookie oil. Stir to mix. Now is also the time to add in any color you may want in the form of candle wax tint. Food coloring doesn’t work well, so go for the real thing. Pour the molten wax into the molds. Allow to sit overnight in a place where there is no activity. You don’t want the candles being bumped or overturned. The next day, pop your candles out of their molds. If you are using glass jars, just leave them as they are. Remove the pencils and trim the wicks down to a safe size for the candle using scissors.

That’s it! You’ve just made cookie scented candles to keep or to give. Don’t reuse any spoons or supplies that have had wax on them for food service.

More DIY & Craft Ideas:

• Handmade Baby Gift Ideas
• Valentine Craft Ideas with Kids

Who can resist the allure of Oreo cookies? It’s on everyone’s favorite list. So why not try a cookie recipe that is easy to make, includes the beloved Oreo, and only uses three ingredients?

This recipe for Oreo Truffles is so easy. And it’s fun for kids to help with since there are few ingredients, not a lot of complicated steps, and kids can get their hands dirty. What could be more fun?

Start off with these three ingredients:

1. Oreos
2. Cream Cheese
3. Chocolate Chips

Getting Started

Now here’s where you can get a little creative. Use one package of plain Oreos, mint, double stuff, peanut butter, or even golden Oreos. It’s up to you. You might make a batch using each of the flavors and decide which you like best.

The cream cheese should be the best you can find and regular, not fat-free or reduced calorie. The reduced versions just don’t cut it in this recipe and won’t hold together as well.

As for the chocolate chips, here’s where your love of chocolate comes into play. If you are a die-hard chocoholic, go for dark chocolate chips. If you want a tasty, middle of the road treat, go for semi-sweet. And if you’re a rebel, go with white chocolate or mint chocolate chips. Use the best you can find and don’t skimp by using stale or cheap chips.

You’ll only need about half an hour to make these tasty Oreo Truffles.

First, crush two Oreos in a food processor. You’ll need these later. If you don’t have a food processor you can still make this recipe. Just put the Oreos in a plastic bag, seal it, and give it a few good whacks with a rolling pin. Kids love helping with this.

Next, take the rest of the package of Oreos and dump them into a bowl. Nothing fancy here.

Add in the cream cheese. You want to make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature and not cold from the refrigerator. Don’t use the microwave to soften it as you may end up melting it and ruining the consistency.

Mix it up really well. Have the kids take a turn with a wooden spoon. There’s no wrong way to mix these.

Start melting the chips. Use a microwave and keep checking to make sure they’re not scorching. Stir until fully melted and smooth.

Take an ice cream scoop and dole out balls of the cookie mixture. Dip the balls into the melted chocolate. Immediately place them on a baking sheet that is covered in a Silpat sheet or wax paper. Repeat for the rest of the cookie mixture.

Sprinkle on the cookie crumbs that you reserved earlier. That’s it! You’re supposed to refrigerate them for an hour or so, but if your kids can’t resist, go ahead and let them dive in. Any leftovers, if there are any, can be stored in the fridge in a plastic container with a cover.

Enjoy!

This recipe is so easy you can pull it out on weeknights or before a party and make a batch to share. It is fun and doesn’t require much equipment and you won’t have to dirty your whole kitchen in the process. A good, rich, chocolate treat for everyone! They're like chocolate covered Oreos, but better!!

More Oreo Goodness:

• All About Oreos
• Oreo Sand and Dirt Cups
• How to Make Chocolate Covered Oreo cookies
• Five Fun Ways to Eat an Oreo Cookie