Christmas is around the corner, which means it’s cookie exchange season! I think it’s a great concept, but I know it’s a hassle coming up with the perfect recipe, finding the time to actually bake the cookies, and worrying that everyone is going to make the same thing. So I’ve come up with a fast, easy, and fun recipe that I can pretty much guarantee no one else will have (unless they read Foodbeast too). Snickers and Cheez Doodles Snickerdoodles — it’s your basic Snickerdoodle stuffed with Snickers, rolled in Cheez Doodle dust and baked with love.

Snickers and Cheez Doodle Snickerdoodles

(makes appox. 20 cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 packet Betty Crocker Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix (with cinnamon sugar packet)
• 1 stick (1/2c) butter melted
• 1T water
• 1egg
• 1.5oz Cheez Doodles (Cheese Balls and Cheese Puffs are acceptable substitutes)
• 20 to 22 Snickers minis

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and prep cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Process Cheez Doodles in food processor until finely crumbed. Combine with cinnamon sugar packet found in cookie mix, and set aside.*
3. Stir together cookie mix, melted butter, water, and egg until soft dough forms.
4. Scoop out 1.5T of dough, wrap and seal around Snickers mini, and repeat until all cookies have been made.
5. Roll each cookie in the Cheez Doodle and cinnamon sugar mixture, leaving generous amounts of powder atop each cookie as you place it on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until cookie edges start to brown.
7. Cool completely before consuming, or risk burning your face off with hot and gooey Snickers caramel.

*This ratio of doodle to cinnamon sugar leaves your taste buds with a subtle cheese flavor. If you’re looking to really let that doodle flavor shine (which I would fully support), I suggest decreasing the cinnamon sugar by half and increasing the doodles to 2 ounces. If you leave the recipe as is, you’ll definitely still get the cheesiness, but it won’t be the star of the show. Regardless of which direction you ultimately go in, I think you’ll find it to be a cookie that s unique, tasty, and talked about at cookie exchanges for years to come.