cookie dough

Sometimes, you just need some cookie dough. FitSugar reader AllieNic knows how to satisfy those cravings. First, make a healthier cookie dough using almond meal and honey, then drop these balls into melted chocolate to make grain-free cookie dough truffles, which she posted in our Healthy Recipe group.

It’s been about four million years since I made anything containing chocolate.

This doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating chocolate — I have — I just haven’t made my own sweet treats.

Find out how she makes these cookie dough truffles after the break.

We're very happy to introduce our first ever guest blogger, Kelsey Nixon. You may remember Kelsey from the Next Food Network Star or Kelsey & Spike Cook. Here, she finds the solution to one reader's quest for a great versatile cookie dough recipe.
Having a go-to basic butter cookie dough for the holidays can be a huge time saver when your baking is in full swing (along with everything else!). This butter cookie dough recipe can be transformed into a variety of sweet treats for special occasions, gifts, and holiday traditions. With a few tweaks to the basic recipe, you will have an assortment of cookies that taste nothing like one another. It’s also easy to improvise your own creations. Adding a little bit of this or eliminating a little bit of that works perfectly with this recipe.

For more tips and to get my butter cookie dough recipe plus variations, read more

One of the food industry's more massive headlines occurred at the end of June, when a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria was discovered in a batch of Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough. Two months later, Nestle is returning its dough batter to shelves — albeit with an important warning.

At least 66 people in 28 states reported getting sick from the product. Nearly all of the victims were female, under the age of 19, and reported eating raw dough before experiencing symptoms. In response, Nestlé voluntarily recalled 3.6 million packages of its cookie dough, and shuttered the portion of its Danville, VA, plant as federal investigators tried to determine the source of contamination. After completely disassembling the equipment in the plant for inspection and sanitizing, the company is shipping out fresh refrigerated cookie dough packs. To help shoppers identify it as new and improved, the package now contains a blue, star-shaped seal that says "New Batch" — along with the warning "Do not consume raw cookie dough" on both the front and back.

Are you excited to hear that Toll House cookies are back — or are you afraid to eat them? What do you think of the new warning labeling? Does the recall situation make you reconsider the idea of eating raw cookie dough straight out of the package?

Source: Flickr User √oхέƒx™

Yesterday, Dunkin' Donuts temporarily pulled its Dunkaccino and hot chocolate drinks off store menus after discovering that one of its suppliers' facilities may have been contaminated with salmonella. The doughnut chain's supplier, Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, voluntarily recalled several of its products, although no illnesses have been traced back to the contamination. Dunkin' Donuts is confident the drinks will be back in stores soon, but yesterday's recall is simply one more to add to a rapidly growing list of food contamination concerns. At the end of last month, Nestlé pulled 30,000 cases of Toll House refrigerated cookie dough after dozens of illnesses were traced to the product, which contained harmful traces of E. coli bacteria. Then over 380,000 pounds of beef were recalled across the country because the meat was also tainted with toxic E. coli. More than 12 people have been hospitalized as a result.

Food contamination appears to be a concern for Americans now more than ever. In March, following recalls of spinach, jalapeños, milk, and peanut butter, President Obama addressed food-safety issues and reassured Americans that he would aid the FDA in strengthening the country's food-safety system. Yet the situation only seems to be getting worse. Are you as frustrated with the FDA's lack of diligence as I am?

Think twice before letting your kids eat raw prepackaged cookie dough or taking a nibble yourself. This morning, Nestle Toll House initiated a voluntary recall of all its refrigerated cookie products. The company was informed by the Food and Drug Administration that E. coli illnesses have been reported by people who ate the uncooked prepackaged products.

Consumers can return the goods to their local grocery store for a full refund or call 1-800-559-5025.