These cookies are a great way to surprise your friends, and get rid of any extra Halloween candy you have around the house. They are the perfect mashup of cookies and chocolate bars. I’ve been making them for about 25 years now, but only for “special” occasions. I hadn’t made them in a few years, but once I mentioned them my daughter wanted to try them. She loves to bake, and it’s a fun activity we can share together, so we had to try making a batch together.

Don’t forget to let people know they contain peanuts!

(Please forgive the image orientation and order. For some reason they auto-rotate and re-order.)

Ingredients:
1/2 C (1 stick) Butter (softened)
1/2 C Reduced-Fat Peanut Butter
3/4 C Granulated Sugar
3/4 C Brown Sugar

2 Eggs
1 Tbl Vanilla
Dash of Salt

2 1/4 C Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 Bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

24 Bite-Sized Candy Bars (Snickers is Preffered)

Supplies

Stand Mixer
Measuring Spoons
Measuring Cups
Rubber Scraper/Spatula
Spatula to transfer cookies
2 Baking Sheets
2 Silpats or Parchment Paper
Cooling Rack
Oven

Step 1: Shuck the Chocolate & Cream the Sugar

The first order of business is to shuck the chocolate. You will need 24 bite-sized candies. Snickers works the best, but Milky Way (Midnight), Three Musketeers, Rolos, Peanut Butter Cups, etc work. Snickers just retain their shape best and have a proper chocolate/peanut butter/nougat ratio.

Next, turn the oven to about 350f. I go just under 350f because my oven runs a little warm and the lower the temp the better chance your candy will maintain its integrity. That said, I wouldn’t go as low as 325f.

I pretend these are better for you by using low-fat peanut butter.

Next, cream the sugar. To do this, add the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar to a large bowl and beat. I like to pretend these cookies are *slightly* better for you because I use reduced-fat peanut butter (Who am I kidding? These are cookies with a candy bar inside. It’s like ordering a Diet Coke with your Big Mac and large fries). If you don’t have that, peanut butter works just fine. If you don’t like peanut butter, you can use two sticks of butter.

With all the fat in the bowl, beat until you get everything one solid mix. This gets air into the sugar and fat.

Step 2: Add Eggs, Vanilla & Salt

Next, beat in the eggs, vanilla, and salt. I add the salt here so it gets easily dispersed. Beat until it is nice and smooth.

Step 3: Add Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Then Chocolate Chips.

Now, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. I use a rubber spatula/scraper here to fold the wet and dry ingredients to start. If you turn your mixer on right away, flour will fly and you’ll have more to clean up.

Once the flour is slightly binding, you can turn the mixer on. Beat until you have a nice consistent dough.

Now add the chocolate chips. Some say you should fold them in, but I use the beater. It doesn’t take long, and the chips won’t pulverize.

Step 4: Form the Cookies

Now it gets messy. Scoop a soup spoon full of cookie dough, transfer it to your hand, tuck in one of the candies, then roll it around between your hands. Be sure to cover the entire candy. If you need to, spackle a little more dough on and roll some more. If you don’t, the candy will melt too fast and spill out around the cookie. Sometimes this is fun, but it often burns.

These are big cookie balls, but if you space them right, you can get a dozen per cookie sheet.

This should make two dozen cookies. If there is any extra dough, just make a bonus cookie!

Step 5: Bake, Cool, Eat

Bake your cookies for 7 minutes, then rotate the cookies on the top rack to the bottom and the bottom to the top. Bake another 4-6 minutes, for a total of 11-13 minutes. I err on the side of “under-done.” This prevents burning, as well as keeps the candy somewhat intact.

Once they are starting to turn golden, pull them from the oven and let cool for about 4 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. If you try to move them to the rack too soon, the middle will fall out.

I like to cool the cookies for at least 10 minutes before “testing.” When they are complete cool, store in an air-tight container. Hint: if you put a piece of bread in there, it keeps them from getting hard!

These cookies are dangerous to have around. But don’t worry, they won’t last long. Remember, each cookie is a cookie AND bite-sized chocolate candy.