6 Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brands Ranked

We've all done it. Whether it's straight from the mixing bowl or scraped off a store-bought roll, the urge to sneak a few bites of raw cookie dough is undeniable. Of course, the potential dangers of eating raw flour or eggs are generally enough to prevent those few bites from turning into a full-on snack. Thankfully, if you're a fan of raw cookie dough, there are now plenty of ways to safely enjoy the sweet treat. We've even got a recipe for homemade edible sugar cookie dough that you can dress up with any additional ingredients.

Store-bought edible cookie doughs, though, are inarguably more convenient. Thankfully, they're popping up all over the food market, with a shockingly wide range of ingredients. I snagged six varieties and ended up with a few traditional doughs, as well as variations made with oats and even cashews. For the sake of consistency, I stuck to chocolate chip cookie doughs, but there are plenty of other flavors out there. In the end, the winner was obvious, but the diversity proved that there really is an edible cookie dough for everyone.

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The idea for this review originated with Doich sending me samples of three of their edible cookie dough flavors. To round out the field for comparison's sake, I purchased five additional brands from Walmart and Target. 

I photographed all of the doughs before diving in for a taste test. My evaluations were based on the taste, texture, value, and (of course) the quantity of chocolate chips in each brand's version. (Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer or distributor.)

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A 6-ounce, 8-serving jar of Doich sells for $7.99. That's a lot for a small amount of dough, though the brand does offer deals when you buy in quantities of four, six, or eight. In comparison, the second-most-expensive option on the list is 6 ounces for $2.50 less.

Price aside, Doich is unique in that it's gluten-free and plant-based. That means the main ingredient isn't flour, but gluten-free quick oats, followed by a proprietary gluten-free flour blend that includes rice flour and multiple types of starch. The list continues from there to include pea protein, flaxseed meal, chia seeds, and more. None of the ingredients is anything to complain about, but it's a lot for something as seemingly simple as cookie dough. The complex ingredients list screams, "This is the healthy option!" and so does the taste. 

If you don't love oatmeal cookie dough, unfortunately, Doich is not for you. The edible cookie dough is on the drier side of the ones I tried, so you'll need a sturdy spoon to scoop it out of the jar. The chocolate chips are hidden by everything else, which makes this taste more like an oatmeal cookie dough than a chocolate chip one. I tried two other Doich flavors, What The Fudge!? and Basic B#tch, and found the Basic flavor to be easily the best. There are better gluten- and dairy-free options out there, though. And one is the next dough on this list.

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I love nuts in a cookie, not just for the flavor but also for the texture — so when I tell you that this cookie dough is absolutely packed with cashews, you're probably imagining a wonderfully crunchy experience, right? Think again because those cashews aren't whole or broken up into chunks. They're used in place of flour (one of the amazing ways you never thought to use nuts) to create the dough in Doughy's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Where Doich packed in over a dozen ingredients, Doughy keeps it remarkably simple with just six: cashews, organic maple syrup, organic chocolate chips, vanilla, sea salt, and baking soda. The result is a very smooth, moist dough with a strong flavor that might be hard to pin down unless you know off the bat that you're eating cashews.

Generally speaking, anything labeled as vegan, dairy-free, or gluten-free is going to be different from conventional options, and Doughy's cookie dough is no exception. It doesn't have the gritty, sugary texture of most classic doughs, but it's also not thick or chunky with oats like the one from Doich. The chocolate chips are solid and plentiful, providing the right amount of flavor and texture. The real key to this dough is whether or not you like cashews: If you do, this is great; if you don't, well, you're probably going to hate it. But for $5.49 for a 6-ounce container, it's a decent value, and worth trying.

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While the first two doughs on this list come packed in jars and require a spoon to dig into, the rest are sold in bite-sized pieces (though the size of those bites will vary). Marketside, a Walmart brand, offers a just-under-6-ounce container that can be found in the open cooler section near the bakery at most stores. It retails for $2.62.

Unlike many bite-sized doughs (though these are really more like multi-bite-sized), Marketside's version looks like a cookie dough that you could actually bake, because you can. In fact, Doich, Doughy, and Marketside can all be baked, as can the next entry on the list. (I'll give a quick rundown of the baked doughs at the end of this piece.) For added ease if baking, this dough is shaped into scallop-like pucks, with about 8 pieces per container.

One taste and there's no question: This is a classic cookie dough. The gritty feel of sugar between your teeth and an almost paste-like consistency make it more than believable that these egg-free pieces are standard cookie dough. The chocolate chips are few and far between, though, leaving you with more than the occasional chocolate-free bite. With no brown sugar, the sweetness is rather flat, which makes this dough a bit less interesting than those ranked higher. It's a solid, true-blue cookie dough, but it's lacking the personality required to be a standout.

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In 2020, when the world was just settling into the highly unsettling reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pillsbury delivered the kind of safety and security that people so desperately craved. No, the Dough Boy did not develop a vaccine, but the brand did deliver a cookie dough that is safe to eat raw. When it launched, we were all finally given permission to continue doing what we had been doing for years: eating raw cookie dough straight from the Pillsbury tube.

In just about every way, this is the standard for raw cookie dough. With chocolate chips absolutely everywhere, it's impossible to take a bite that isn't crunchy and chocolate-packed. The dough has the classically gritty texture of sugar, but is visually darker than the Marketside dough thanks to a touch of molasses. 

While I opted for a tube, you can also snag this ready-to-bake dough in pre-portioned cubes. But honestly, it's hard to beat the experience of digging a spoon into the log of dough and just enjoying it, or even taking a bite like it's a giant carrot if you're having a rough day. Pillsbury is, in my book, the original edible store-bought cookie dough, and it's the best one that you can also bake. Plus, a large roll is $5.49, making it the best deal on this list.

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I really love ice cream, but I'm as guilty as anyone of occasionally enjoying the toppings more than the ice cream itself. Ben and Jerry's apparently felt the same, so the company released a line of snackable cookie dough bites headlined by the chocolate chip chunks from its signature Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. Available in the freezer section, an 8-ounce bag of Snackable Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bites retails for $5.19.

Edible cookie dough is, obviously, pretty variable. We've had scoopable jars; larger, preformed bites; and the Pillsbury tube. But the Ben and Jerry's version is made unique by the fact that it's exactly what you'd find in a pint of its ice cream. The pieces are, on average, a bit larger than a peanut M&M, but the size does vary. Each contains a smattering of mini chocolate chips, which makes tossing a few into your mouth at once a fun textural experience.

The major standout here is the brown sugar. It's the second ingredient, and — in both the color and flavor — it really shines. Putting these cookie dough bites in a bag is nothing short of a devious trick on the part of the brand to ensure that you mindlessly chow down on the entire thing without thinking. No, that's definitely not personal experience talking ...

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There are a ton of similarities between the edible cookie doughs from Target's Favorite Day brand, and Ben and Jerry's. Both come in 8-ounce bags of bite-sized pieces, and both cost $5.19. While brown sugar is the second ingredient in the Ben and Jerry's bites, it's the third in these, just behind flour and white sugar. Favorite Day's Cookie Dough Snacks are more uniform in size and on the smaller side — but, once again, the chocolate chip dispersion is on point, and the familiar grit of sugar is present.

So, what makes them stand above the others? The answer is the vanilla extract. In addition to the deeper notes of brown sugar, each bite has a whisper of vanilla that pairs perfectly with the chocolate. Packing this much flavor into such a small bite is an impressive feat. Plus, these snacks are shelf-stable (though I did toss mine in the freezer and can confirm that they're just as good when enjoyed cold). You can't bake them, but that's alright. You're here for edible cookie dough after all, and Favorite Day delivers the best version I've tried.

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Edible cookie dough encompasses quite a range of options and flavors. While I prefer the snackable bites, it's hard to turn down a spoonful of Pillsbury straight from the roll. Of course, you can also find plenty of awesome recipes to make your own edible cookie dough, and even tips for making Ben & Jerry's cookie dough yourself.

As a final bow on this review, I did bake the four doughs that came with cooking instructions. The edible cookie doughs from Doich, Doughy, Pillsbury, and Marketside are all safe to eat raw, but they also contain the ingredients necessary to form a proper cookie. 

The results were, honestly, a bit disappointing. Pillsbury was, unsurprisingly, the clear winner. The Marketside cookies are great if you like a super flat, very crunchy cookie. There just wasn't any rise to the dough at all. Both Doich and Doughy were really just warm versions of the dough. Doughy may have tasted even more nutty when baked, while Doich did improve a bit, if only because a fully baked oatmeal cookie is better than the dough.