Snickers Cookies on Sticks or NOT

I gotta tell ya, when I first spied these cookies, the attraction was a fun recipe for baking with leftover Halloween candy. Instead, Snickers Cookies are dreamy good, the best cookies I’ve made all year. Think “peanut butter cookie with a Snickers bar inside” but then take a bite, oh so chewy and what’s that? Oh my, it’s chocolate and caramel and nougat right inside. The sticks are optional, the cookies themselves, not.

TESTIMONIALS
"[My husband] says they're the best cookies I've ever made ..." ~ LeAnne
"These are fantastic!! ... Definitely a keeper." ~ -K

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Peel the petals from a daisy to answer, “Does he love me? Does he not?” Visit a clairvoyant to learn “Is it a boy or a girl?” Consult a fortune cookie to foretell the future.

Could a recipe for Snickers Cookies on Sticks reveal what kind of moms we might be? A mom who bakes a plateful of homemade cookies for after-school treats? Or a mom who organizes fun Halloween cooking projects for kids?

So buzzed my brain as I fussed to put mini Snickers bars onto sticks. Why had the idea of cookie-wrapped candy bars shoved me to the fridge to get out the butter? What was it about wrapping Snickers bars in peanut butter cookie dough that wedged itself in my mind?

The Against: Cookies are not sticky or melty, they don’t need a stick!

The For: Turns out, putting cookies on a stick is plain easy and eating cookies on sticks is plain fun.

But in the end, it wasn’t the sticks at all, it was the cookies. With or without sticks, Snickers Cookies are roll-your-eyes good, much more than a novelty cookie, way more than a fun idea for baking with leftover Halloween candy.

Snickers Cookies may be lumpy and unremarkable in appearance but I tell you, one chewy, peanut-y, chocolate-y, caramel-y and nougat-y bite and I was smittttt-ten.

So what kind of mom would I have been if I’d been lucky enough to have children? No daisy, no clairvoyant, no fortune cookie needed to know this truth. I would bake cookies, lots of cookies. And I would bake Snickers Cookies, put half on sticks, then give up the fuss and just toss the rest in the oven. It’s the cookies – the Snickers bar cookies – not the sticks.

ALANNA’s TIPS The sticks come from Wilton. Look for them at a Michaels craft store in the cake-decorating section or here on Amazon. The sharp tip of a corn-holder helped start a shallow hole for inserting the stick into the Snickers bars. The tip of a knife would work too. Half an egg? Yes, that’s because I halved the inspiring recipe. So either double the recipe to use a whole egg or do like I did: whisk a whole egg, then use half for the cookie dough. Chances are, using the whole egg wouldn’t be a problem either. I used about 20 grams of dough for each cookie, leaving the mixing bowl on my favorite kitchen scale, breaking off 20 grams at a time.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Do you have a favorite Halloween recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook!

SNICKERS COOKIES on STICKS (or NOT)

Hands-on time: 45 minutes
Time to table: 90 minutes
Makes about 18

SNICKERS
• Mini-size Snickers bars
• Sticks, optional (see TIPS)

COOKIE DOUGH
• 4 tablespoons (half a stick or 113g) butter, warmed to room temperature
• 1/4 cup (55g) sugar
• 1/4 cup (55g) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (65g) creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 a large egg (what? see TIPS)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 3/4 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring or 98g
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt

SNICKERS Unwrap the Snickers bars. Optional: Carefully insert a stick into the bottom of each bar, without piercing the top, see TIPS. Freeze until the cookie dough is ready.

COOKIE DOUGH Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and combine well. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients and combine well.

WRAP Break the dough into about 18 pieces (see TIPS). Work quickly from here on, so the Snickers don’t thaw. Flatten a piece of dough between your hands and wrap it evenly around the Snickers bar, sealing the dough around the stick. Arrange the cookies around the outside edge of the baking sheet, the sticks crossing each other in the center. (Allow at least an inch between the cookies, they spread.)

BAKE Bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool completely. Repeat as needed.

Adapted from The Ardent Cook by Helen S. Fletcher, long-time St. Louis professional baker and brand-new St. Louis food blogger. Her recipe for Cookie Pops has great method photos, especially for the larger Snickers “fun size” bars. Welcome to food blogging, Helen!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Cookie: 130 Calories; 7g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 13mg Cholesterol; 116mg Sodium; 16g Carb; 1g Fiber; 11g Sugar; 3g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 2.5 & PointsPlus 3 This recipe has been 'Alanna-sized' with smaller portion size. Even so, I was surprised that these cookies added up to a rounded-up 3 points. Are you too? I thought that using the smallest Snickers bars would make them fall right into the one-point mark. But it turns out that each Snickers mini is one point all by itself (the “serving size” on the package is four minis, so a grand total of four points). Even small bites add up when you add on …

Per Snickers Mini Bar: 42 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 22mg Sodium; 6g Carb; 0g Fiber; 5g Sugar; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 1

A Few Tips

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More Candy & Cookie Combinations

(hover for a description, click a photo for a recipe)

~ more recipes for cookies & bars ~
~ more Halloween recipe ideas ~

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What Do You Do With Leftover Halloween Candy?

Leave an idea in the comments. Me, I used to throw it away. Now I'm going to sorting through the bag on a hunt for Snickers bars and one guess what I'll make then ...

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