Cookies 'N Cream Blossoms
I don’t know who doesn’t love a Peanut Butter Blossom cookie during the Holidays. They’re everywhere and everyone has a different recipe of sorts to make what seems to be the definitive Christmas cookie. These Blossoms are a tad different, replacing the peanut butter with cream cheese and are filled with Oreo cookie pieces and topped with a Hershey’s Hug. If you’re a Cookies ‘N Cream lover, you’re going to want to make these!
Some tips and tricks to baking these correctly:
Just like with traditional Blossoms, if you’re cookies come out a little too dry it could be that the cream cheese or milk was not measured correctly. Make sure you are using exactly one half of an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and one tablespoon of milk. It’s important to also make sure the flour is measured properly. If you’re in a hurry or pulling some midnight baking off like I sometimes do and realize the dough is just too dry for whatever reason, try adding another tablespoon of milk to see if this improves the texture. Your cookie dough should be very, very soft which is why chilling it in the refrigerator is needed. If you bake your cookies and find that the dough is spreading, it is likely that there may have been too much cream cheese or milk added. It is also possible that your butter or cream cheese may have been at room temperature for too long as well.
The chocolate! The Hershey’s Hugs can and will melt if they are in the oven too long. Keep an eye on them while they bake for those last two minutes. I like to let my Blossoms cool completely and then sit on a cooling rack for a few hours so they candy can firm back up again entirely.
If you’re a little heavy-handed like myself, or you just love Oreos (who doesn’t!?), then it can be easy to put in a whole bunch. It’s important to measure the cookie pieces correctly because they can easily overcrowd the dough and your cookies won’t have that nice puff to them that a good Blossom does. I also like to use the Oreo Thins-they break up easily and mix well into any cookie dough.
If you don’t have parchment paper, using a baking or cooking spray or greasing the baking sheets with some butter works well.
Let’s get baking!
Cookies ‘N Cream Blossoms
INGREDIENTS
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces (1/2 block) of cream cheese
½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
1 10.6-ounce package Hershey’s Hugs candy
¾ cup crushed Oreo cookies
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and set aside. Using an electric handheld mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese and sugars. Add egg, vanilla extract, and milk and mix until fully incorporated. Slowly add flour mixture until just combined. Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl and stir in crushed Oreo cookies. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour (it will be very soft).
Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll cookie dough into 1-inch sized balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until cookies puff up and are slightly brown along the edges. Remove from oven and gently place a Hershey’s Hug in the center of each cookie. Return cookies to oven and bake for 2 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool completely.
Check out some of my other favorite Holiday baking recipes here:
A Collection of My Favorite
Holiday Bakes
