Recipe: Candy Corn Cookies

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I didn't buy any Halloween candy this year except for a bag of candy corn. But then I couldn't find anyone to share it with! Candy corn is one of those love-to-hate candies, so I should have known I might be stuck with it all. What was I going to do with it? I figured I'd try to bake with it. 

I found this recipe on the Averie Cooks blog and thought I'd give it a go:

INGREDIENTS

·         1/2 cup unsalted butter, soften

·         3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

·         1/4 cup granulated sugar

·         1 large egg

·         1 tablespoon vanilla extract

·         2 tablespoons cream or half-and-half

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         2 teaspoons corn starch

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         pinch salt, optional and to taste

·         1 1/2 cups candy corn (10 to 11 ounces)

·         1 cup white chocolate chips (or salted peanuts)

INSTRUCTIONS

1.     To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric hand mixer), cream together the first 5 ingredients (through vanilla) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

2.     Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the next 5 ingredients (through optional salt), and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don’t overmix.

3.     Add the candy corn, white chocolate chips (or peanuts), and mix until just incorporated.

4.     Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two-tablespoon mounds (I made 20). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.

5.     Important note – Strategically place candy corn so that it’s not baking directly on cookie sheet because it will melt, burn, or turn runny if it is. The candy corn pieces need to be in the interior of the cookies, shielded and buffered by dough.

6.     Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not overbake because cookies will firm up as they cool. Baking longer than 10 minutes could result in cookies with overly browned undersides.

7.     Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooking.

I will admit that I did not read the recipe carefully before I started putting these together. I didn't realize I'd have to let the dough rest in the fridge for a while (I was wondering why the first step wasn't to preheat the oven!), and I certainly wasn't going to take the time to make sure each piece of candy corn was wrapped in dough. I will say that didn't really matter: the candy corn didn't burn, and it wasn't so hard to clean off the plan. I also didn't bother with covering the dough in the fridge, and that didn't matter, either.

I did make sure not to overbake them. In my mind, they were actually underdone; I feared I might get salmonella from the raw-ish dough in the middle! But my friends and family really liked them. So I'm not sure I can really recommend these, but you might like them!