Santa's Surprise Cookies

A few years ago, we went to a little holiday gathering with friends. Our friend, Sarah, put out a cookie platter with an assortment of cookies. Well, one bite into one of these babies and I was completely sold. Because the "surprise"? It's a Snickers miniature.

Um, yeah. It doesn't get much better than that.

Of course, I got the recipe from Sarah that very same night, and I've been making them for my family's Christmas Eve party every year since. Everyone loves these. They have quickly become a family favorite, and I'm quite certain that if I were to show up at a Christmas Eve party without them, I would be shunned.

This year, I decided to add the Peanut Butter Cup Cookies to my platter as well. I know that my family members will love them, too. Here's my platter, all set to go to my cousin's for the party:

And another, smaller platter to take to my in-laws':

These are a bit time consuming, but not awful. The dough is easy to throw together, but it needs to be refrigerated for a few hours so that it can stiffen up a bit before working with it. When first made, it is quite sticky. Also--opening all of those Snickers miniatures takes a while, too. Especially when you have to keep sampling them (a difficult job, but somebody's gotta do it).

In the end, the time spent making these is worth it.

Santa's Surprise Cookies
(Source: Unknown)

Ingredients:
- 2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 bags Snickers miniatures
- chocolate candy melts, for drizzling
- powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Using a mixer, combine the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix until combined.

2. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Gradually add dry ingredients to the mixture.

3. Cover and chill dough for at least 2-3 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Unwrap all Snickers.

5. Remove dough from refrigerator. Using a tablespoon, measure out a round tablespoon of dough. Put piece of dough on your work surface and flatten with the palm of your hand. Place a Snickers miniature in the center of each piece of dough. Wrap edges of dough around the Snickers, then roll dough between your hands to form a ball. (See picture below.)

6. Place on greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. (Baking time and temperature may need to be adjusted if using bigger pieces of dough. For me, the perfect amount of baking time was about 15 minutes.)

7. Let cookies cool on wax paper or wire racks.

8. Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate. Once chocolate dries, sprinkle powdered sugar over cookies.