WWE: Snickerdoodle Surprises

So one on one time has resulted in a lot of baking for Jonah and I.  Turns out he loves it.  That’s no big surprise.  The shocker is so do I.  We’re having a lot of fun in the midst of a little extra messiness, a few extra spills, and a little longer to get it done.  I’d say it’s worth it, most of the time. 

But, all those yummy treats cannot, must not, be consumed by Just the Six of Us.  Cuz uh, that would not be such a good thing in the end.  So we happily shared- with the kids’ school teachers, some of their friends, and their swim teachers.  Not being eaten by just us and also getting to brighten up someone else’s day?  Win-win.

I knew these snickerdoodles were in my future the minute I saw them.  Soft and chewy, slightly crisp on the outside, with a surprise chocolatey center.  What’s not to love?  Also surprisingly easy to make, which makes it all the better in my book.  The original recipe called for a little more cinnamon than I wanted to use and also only used Rolo chocolates.  I happened to not have quite enough, but did have some extra mini Reese’s peanut butter cups and a few pieces of almond toffee chocolate laying around (what can I say except that chocolate fuels me most days. :P) so I made a few experimental cookies.  I also only used barely a few grains of salt on the tops of each unbaked cookie as I like just a hint of saltiness in the sweet rather than a salt blast.  A little goes a long way here.  All in all, I loved the Reese’s ones the best.  Mmmm.

So here’s the original recipe.

And here’s the slightly adapted one:

Snickerdoodle Surprises
makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat baking mat. For the cinnamon-sugar mixture, combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter at medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into mixing bowl. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the egg/sugar mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Working a spoonful of dough at a time, flatten dough into a circle, place a single piece of chocolate in the center, and form dough into a ball around the chocolate. Roll dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle a few grains of pink salt on top.

Bake for 7-8 minutes. The cookies should look raw between the cracks and seem underdone.  Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!