Cookies and biscuits are small baked sweets made from flour, sugar, butter and often egg. Baked, they are perfectly safe in pregnancy; the caution is only for raw dough, and the sugar is what keeps them in the treat column.
Why it's good in pregnancy
A cookie offers comfort and a quick lift rather than nutrients, which is not nothing in a tiring pregnancy, and plain biscuits are a time-honoured remedy for morning nausea. Oat or wholegrain versions add a little fibre.
Key nutrients
B VitaminsFortified flour gives cookies a trace of thiamine and folic acid.
IronFlour fortification adds a small amount of iron to each biscuit.
Serving ideas
Two oat biscuits with a glass of milk
A plain biscuit before getting up on nauseous mornings
Homemade oat and raisin cookies with less sugar
One cookie alongside fruit and yogurt
Digestive biscuit with a slice of cheddar
Safety
Baked cookies are safe; leave raw cookie dough alone, as it has raw egg and raw flour.
The one thing to avoid is raw cookie dough, whether from the bowl or from a tub, because it contains raw egg and uncooked flour that can carry salmonella and E. coli; cookie-dough ice cream from the shop is made with heat-treated dough and is fine. Baked cookies need no other precautions. Shop cookies are often larger than they look and a single big one can hold 15 to 20 g of sugar, so two or three small biscuits is a reasonable portion. Keep a packet of plain biscuits by the bed if you wake up queasy.
Common questions
Can I eat cookies while pregnant?Yes, baked cookies and biscuits are safe; just skip the raw dough.
Is raw cookie dough dangerous in pregnancy?Raw dough has uncooked egg and flour, both of which can carry bacteria; shop-bought cookie-dough ice cream uses treated dough and is fine.
Do biscuits help with morning sickness?Many people find a plain dry biscuit before getting out of bed takes the edge off nausea, as an empty stomach often makes it worse.
Did you know?
Flour, not just egg, is why raw dough is a risk; uncooked flour has been linked to E. coli outbreaks.
A single large bakery cookie can carry more sugar than a chocolate bar.
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