Stuffed Cookies

Before Clara was born, I did a lot of baking.  I knew that I wouldn't have any time to bake after she arrived and I was craving some treats.  Here is one of the goodies I baked...and a quick picture of my 3 favorite ladies.

My husband is always teasing me about how when I like certain things, like say pretzels and chocolate and caramel, I find ways to bake them all together.  I happen to think it's a brilliant idea that results in a power-packed bite of pure goodness.  My latest creation is the Stuffed Cookie.  I made a batch of cookies using my favorite cookie recipe and then divided the batter in half.  I stuffed half of the batter with Mini Rolos, pretzels, PB chips and chocolate chips (my attempt to re-create the Take 5 candy bar) and the other half of the batter I stuffed with Bunch-a-Crunch and pretzels.

Pretzel Crunch Cookies 

Take 5 Cookies

I surprised at how much I loved the Bunch-a-Crunch and pretzel cookies!  My "Take 5 Cookies" didn't turn out quite as I expected - the caramel in the Mini Rolos caused the cookies to spread and they probably needed to be baked longer - but they were still good.  I've learned a big lesson as well: I don't like peanut butter chips.  I thought I did, but this is the second time I've used them with cookies and I just don't like them.  I will probably try to perfect my "Take 5 Cookies" again.  I'll keep you posted.

Ingredients:
1 stick softened butter 
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar 
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp brown sugar 
1 egg 
½ tsp vanilla 
1 ¼ cups flour 
½ tsp baking soda 
½ tsp salt
Cookie "stuffings" (I used Bunch-a-Crunch and broken pretzels for half of the batch and quartered Mini Rolos, broken pretzels, Reeces PB chips and milk chocolate chips for the other half batch.)
Sea Salt

Instructions:
1.  Adjust oven rack to the middle position.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3.  In a large bowl, beat together butter, white sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until creamy.
4.  In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl and mix thoroughly. 
5.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet and mix. 
6.  Add your cookie "stuffings" of choice, stir until just combined.
7.  Drop by the spoonful onto the cookie sheet.  If you used Rolos, the caramel will make the cookies spread so leave some room between cookies.
8.  Sprinkle sea salt on the cookies.
9.  Bake for 7–9 minutes, or until golden brown, but still soft. 
10.  Let cool on baking sheet before transferring to cookie rack.

Yield: 18-20 cookies