From ThoughtNova
Ask most people, and they will tell you that the world wouldn’t be the same without chocolate cookies. That’s two delightful pleasures wrapped into one.
So, if they have become your favorite snack, we totally understand. If you prefer the chocolate and cream cheese combo that tastes so heavenly, today, we’ll tell you how they are made.
You will need chocolate cookie dough, corn syrup, shortening, cream cheese, and confectioners’ sugar.
Of course, you will also need a dash of salt. Salt makes everything taste better, particularly if it’s meant to be sweet.
Don’t let that combination of ingredients discourage you – making this special snack is actually a walk in the park. The whole process boils down to flatten the dough, adding a scoop of cream cheese filling, and wrapping the dough around it.
You should also roll the balls of stuffed cookies in granulated sugar to give them that amazing sparkle and the incredible crunch that makes this snack so irresistible.
Keeping the cookie in the freezer for a short while also helps it retain its shape as you bake it. Trust me, by the time you complete this easy process, you will have an amazingly tantalizing cookie that will make the effort totally worth it.
Let’s get started. Note that this recipe helps you prepare 36 cookies, and the whole process takes about 32 minutes, including 20 minutes of prepping.
Ingredients (For The Cookies)
– 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
– 3/4 cup of Dutch process cocoa powder
– 1 teaspoon of baking soda
– 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
– 2/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
– 1 large egg
– 1 yolk
– 1/3 cup of light corn syrup
– 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter
– 6 tablespoons of melted vegetable shortening
– 3/4 cup of light brown sugar
– 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, with additional sugar for rolling
Ingredients (For The Filling)
– 8 ounces of softened cream cheese
– 1/3 cup of confectioners’ sugar
– 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Procedure
1. Get a small bowl and whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. If you are using chips, this is also the perfect time to stir them in.
2. Get another bowl and whisk the egg, yolk, vanilla, and corn syrup.
3. Put the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and set it on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes. The mixture should be smooth and light in color when you are done.
4. Set the stand mixer to medium speed and add the egg-yolk mixture. Beat until the mixture is completely combined.
5. Lower the speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients.
6. After there are some streaks of flour left, stop the mixer. From that point, keep mixing with your hand using a flexible spatula.
7. Take a cookie scoop (2 tablespoon) or a measuring spoon and scoop 36 balls of dough. Put them on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.
8. After that, flatten the dough into thick disks using a measuring cup or your hand. In case the dough is too sticky, wet your hand first.
9. Put the discs in the fridge for about 1 hour.
10. In a small bowl, whisk the soft cream cheese, salt, and confectioners’ sugar to make the filling.
11. Put the mixture in the fridge.
12. Take the cookie discs from the fridge and press them to about 2 ½ inches in width and place 2 teaspoons of filling in the middle of each disc.
13. Using your hands, stretch the cookie dough over the filling and roll the resulting ball in your hands until the filling is completely inside the cookie dough.
14. In a small bowl, put some granulated sugar and roll each cookie dough in it before putting it back on the baking sheets. Put the cookie dough back in the freezer for an hour (this is to ensure they don’t spread in the oven).
15. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
16. Put the cookies in the oven and let them bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Be sure to rotate the baking sheets halfway through the process.
17. Once done, the cookies should look dry and a bit crinkly on top.
18. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool a bit. Enjoy!
Some Additional Tips
To bring your cream cheese to room temperature, you can chop it up and put it in the microwave for half a minute until it is soft.
If you would rather not wait for the cookie discs to chill, you can wait to assemble the cookies after half an hour. Be warned, though: this option could get a little messy and sticky.
Make sure you are very precise with the dough and filling to avoid having the filling ooze out of the cookies as you bake them.
You might notice that some cheese filling will get on the outside of your dough ball as you roll it in your hands. That is nothing to worry about, as the cream cheese will disappear as you roll.
Adjustments To The Recipe
If you are not crazy about chocolate chips, you can leave them out of this process.
Also, if you want, you can put a chocolate chip inside the filling. It will melt and create that lovely “molten chocolate” experience.
In place of a stand mixer, you can use your hands. Obviously, you should still whisk the butter, shortening, and sugars until you get a light-colored mixture.
By the way, the stand mixer can also be used to mix the cream cheese filling.
It’s an easy process, right?