The Great Cookie (or Treat!) Countdown Week 5: Chocolate Rolo Cookies

Hi, and welcome to my recipe-testing series for the upcoming holiday season. Growing up, my siblings and I were the ones that made all the holiday cookies -- and we made a LOT. With lots of company throughout the holidays, we always had treats on hand to share. I was pretty good at making cookies, but we made the same 5 or 6 kinds of cookies the whole time we were growing up. Tried and true, tasty recipes for sure, but there are so many fun recipes out there! So, I'm trying out some new recipes, and having a great time!

This week, I wanted to try these Chocolate Rolo Cookies, from Spryte's Place. How can you go wrong with chocolate and that extra special caramel surprise inside! I have seen other recipes where these cookies were just rolled in sugar instead of nuts... I might make these a couple different ways, but for this trial, I skipped the nuts and stayed true to just chocolate and caramel.  Before I go any further, here's a peek at the finished product.

Amazing, right? That caramel oozing out says it all. They are as good as they look! Here's how I made them (with the help of one of my teenagers!)

Start with one cup butter, one cup packed brown sugar, and one cup of white sugar:

Beat the butter and sugars until creamy, then scrap down the bowl:

Next, add two eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla, and beat well.

In a small bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups of flour (we used unbleached all purpose flour), 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (we used Trader Joe's brand), and one teaspoon baking soda. I used a whisk to mix these together.

Now you're ready to add the dry ingredients to your mixing bowl. We added ours in four additions, making sure to scrape the bowl down occasionally.

Mix until all your dry ingredients are incorporated, but try not to overmix! When complete, we put this dough in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, to give it time to rest and make it easier to roll.

Now you're ready to make the cookies. We unrolled all the rolos first (you'll need about one bag, or 48). Even refrigerated, this dough is very, very sticky when handled! A light spray from your oil mister (we used a mild flavored oil -- safflower) or other nonstick spray will help keep the dough from accumulating on your fingers. Using a rounded tablespoon of dough, we rolled the dough briefly into a ball, then pushed the rolos into this ball. We then brought the dough up over the top of the rolo and quickly rolled the cookie into a ball. We set up a small bowl with some white sugar to roll the cookie tops, then placed them about two inches apart on our cookie sheets.

As you can see, my son and I disagreed how large the cookies should be! Guess which one was his! :)

Into the oven they went for eight to 10 minutes at 375 degrees F. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. The waiting was the hardest part for my boys!

Now, the moment of truth! Amazingly delicious, we all agreed! I hope you try these!

Here's a copy of the recipe, thank you Spryte's Place!

Rolo Cookies


Ingredients

• 2 1/2 C flour
• 3/4 C unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 C white sugar
• 1 C brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 C butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 48 Rolo candies
• Sugar for rolling
• cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place flour, cocoa & baking soda in a small bowl. Mix to combine.
3. In a large bowl beat white sugar, brown sugar & butter until light & fluffy.
4. Add vanilla and eggs to mixing bowl and beat well.
5. Add dry ingredients in fourths, blending well with each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
6. Place about 1/2 cup of white sugar in a small shallow bowl, and unwrap rolo candies, if needed.
7. Spray hands with cookie spray - remember, this is a sticky dough! Gently wrap one rounded tablespoon of cookie dough completely around a Rolo candy.
8. Gently roll half of cookie in sugar. Place on silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet with sugar side up, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.
9. Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees F.
10. Cool on tray 5 minutes for caramel inside cookie to set, then move to cooling rack until completely cool. Store in a sealed container for up to one week.

This post is linked to the following blog hops -- check them out for many more great recipes!