When I was a kid, Pillsbury pre-cut cookie dough was my absolute favorite. Not only did they always make incredible sugar cookies, but the raw cookie dough was delicious.
Technically, you’re not supposed to eat raw cookie dough, but it’s worth the risk in my mind.
And while I will still channel my inner child from time to time and snack on some Pillsbury , I wanted to create my own with a healthy spin.
I know it’s going to be tough to believe, but this edible sugar cookie dough tastes just like the Pillsbury version.
I’ve made protein chocolate chip cookie dough in the past, but it’s a recipe that is meant to be eaten out of a bowl. For this recipe, I wanted to create a firm, yet still soft, edible sugar cookie dough.
This cookie dough reminds me of those Pillsbury holiday sugar cookies so much, minus the cute design. They’re soft & buttery, and they have a slight grittiness from the sugar that you typically find in regular cookie dough.
But, unlike the Pillsbury version, this sugar cookie dough is secretly healthy!
Sure, my homemade version might not be quite as pretty. But with only 70 calories and 5g of protein, this is the perfect treat to satisfy your sweet tooth and remain perfectly on track toward your goals.
Give this recipe a try, and if you’re feeling daring, give it the “child test” by seeing if a child can tell that this isn’t regular sugar cookie dough. My bet is that they’ll never able to tell the difference!
How to make edible sugar cookie dough
The base of this is a combination of protein powder, granulated sugar substitute (or regular white sugar if you prefer), and oat flour.
I love using oat flour in my recipes, because unlike all-purpose flour, the raw flour is safe to consume! Plus, since so many people out there are gluten-free, it’s a nice bonus.
That being said, you can certainly use all-purpose or whole-wheat flour in this recipe, but you’ll want to microwave or bake the flour to turn it into heat-treated flour to kill off any harmful bacteria.
Even though this is an eggless cookie dough without any raw eggs, many people don’t realize that uncooked flour is actually what runs the risk of containing e. coli, which is why heat treated flour is necessary for most cookie dough recipes. But since we’re using oat flour, we can avoid that all together!
As far as the protein powder goes, I used vanilla PEScience protein, which is a blend of whey & casein protein. I haven’t tested this specific recipe with any other type of protein powder, so I highly recommend you use the same. You can use my code “matt” to save 10% on any PEScience order.
I like to add rainbow sprinkles to my cookie dough, but you can keep these sugar cookies plain, or add any favorite mix-ins you have in mind.
To transform the dry ingredients into actual cookie dough, we’re going to add some milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients in our mixing bowl.
In many recipes on this site I use Country Crock buttery spread, which is essentially margarine because it’s half the calories of regular butter.
For this specific recipe, you must use actual full-fat unsalted butter.
Butter becomes solid when cold, so once we chill the sugar cookie dough, it will firm up to become the consistency we’re looking for.
Everything should mix very easily with just a spatula or spoon, but you can certainly use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer if you prefer.
If you prefer edible cookie dough that you can eat with a spoon, you can stop here, but we need to turn this into cut-out cookie dough slices!
Take the raw cookie dough, add it to some plastic wrap, and roll it into a tube.
The edges won’t be perfectly smooth, but that’s completely fine.
Refrigerate the sugar cookie dough for at least 2 hours to completely firm up. In my experience, letting it sit in the fridge overnight is the easiest solution!
Once the dough has completely chilled, it should be very firm. Take a knife and carefully slice the sugar cookie dough into 12 pieces. You can cut more or less depending on how large you’d like each slice.
Now you’re ready to enjoy some decadent, buttery, sweet sugar cookie dough.
Keep any leftovers stored in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy to make sure it stays completely firm. If left out at room temperature, the butter will soften and the cookie dough will become very sticky.
This homemade edible cookie dough will stay fresh for about 1 week, but between us, I’ve let it sit for almost 2 weeks in the fridge without any issues.
Can you bake this sugar cookie dough into sugar cookies?
I figured at least one person out there will be curious if they can bake this recipe into a batch of cookies.
The short answer is yes, you can, but the cookies aren’t great. They come out pretty dry, and that is certainly not what we want.
BUT, I did use almost the same exact ingredients to create soft, buttery Snowball Cookies, so check out that recipe if you want a really simple & delicious cookie.
Otherwise, I have a Low-Calorie Sugar Cookie Recipe on my blog that is actually one of my favorite cookies of all time.
If you’re looking for a delicious baked sugar cookie recipe, then this is the one you need.
More recipes to satisfy your cookie dough craving
I love a quick treat, which is why no-bake easy desserts are some of my favorites (especially cookie dough). If you want to make some other cookie dough or no-bake cookie recipes, here are some recipes of mine that you should check out:
- High-Protein Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- No-Bake Sugar Cookie Bars
- High-Protein Edible Brownie Batter
- Stuffed No-Bake Cookie Dough Balls
- Homemade Protein Bars (No-Bake)
- Healthy No-Bake Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Healthier Sugar Cookie Dough (Pillsbury Copycat)
As a kid, one of my favorite treats was making pre-cut Pillsbury cookies and snacking on the raw sugar cookie dough. We're making our own version that tastes JUST like those cookies, but much healthier with fewer calories and more protein.
Ingredients
- 62g (2 Scoops) PEScience Vanilla Protein Powder (or comparable vanilla whey/casein blend protein)
- 60g Oat Flour
- 35g Granulated Sugar Substitute (or regular sugar)
- 4 Tbsp (56g) Butter (use REAL butter, not light butter)
- 1/4 Cup Milk of Choice
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Salt
- Optional: Sprinkles
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the protein powder, oat flour, sugar substitute, and pinch of salt. If you want to add sprinkles, you can mix those in as well.
- Add the vanilla extract and milk, then mix everything up until you have a crumbly mixture.
- Melt your butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then add the melted butter to the bowl and mix up until cookie dough forms.
- Scoop the cookie dough out and place it in the middle of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Roll the cookie dough into a tube, then add to the refrigerator overnight. At the very least, this dough should be refrigerated for 2-3 hours for the best flavor, so overnight works best.
- Once chilled, slice the cookie dough roll into 12 pieces, and enjoy! Keep leftovers stored in the fridge to keep the cookie dough firm.
Notes
Note: Real butter is necessary for the proper texture. If you use a light butter, it will not firm up as well and will not resemble real cookie dough.
I have only tested this recipe with PEScience protein, which is a whey & casein blend. I don't believe whey protein will work here as the dough will become too sticky. (You can save 10% on any PEScience with the code "Matt")
You can make this recipe vegan! Swap out the protein for your favorite plant-based vanilla protein powder, then double the amount of sugar in this recipe to help balance out the plant-based flavor. You'll likely need extra milk at the end since vegan protein is very absorbent, so add a little bit at a time until it comes together.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1 PieceAmount Per Serving Calories 70Total Fat 4gCarbohydrates 4gProtein 5g
