Christmas Peepers

Zanni's Note:

This is a recipe my family has made at Christmas for years. The marshmallows are so nice and gooey inside the chocolate cookie.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 64

Yield: 64.0 cookies

• 64 miniature marshmallows
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2⁄3; cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 eggs , unbeaten
• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• ½ cup butter or ½ cup margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Place marshmallows in freezer while you mix the dough.
2. Cream crisco, butter or margarine, and sugar.
3. Blend in the eggs and the vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients, mix until moistened.
5. Mix until mixture holds together. Dough will be sticky. Flatten walnut size pieces in palm of hand. Remove the marshmallows from freezer, and place one in center.
6. Shape dough around the marshmallow into a walnut shape, roll in white sugar.
7. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 minutes or until tops start to crackle. Cool on baking rack and store in an airtight container.

Reviews

[KoiPolloi]

What a nice change of pace for a Christmas cookie! It seems everyone makes the same kind of cookies year after year. I'm always looking for something different, and this fit the bill quite nicely. The dough was really easy to work with. I didn't find it necessary to flatten it out first, though- just shaped the dough around each marshmallow. I think it would be helpful to know that the cookies don't spread, they just puff out a little. So you can put quite a few on each cookie tray. The yield is fairly accurate- I got a few more than 64 out of the batch.