Description
Spooky season calls for milk chocolate stuffed jack o lantern cookies, a festive treat that brings Halloween spirit to your dessert table. Playful pumpkin shapes with gooey chocolate centers will delight guests and make you the star of any seasonal gathering.
Ingredients
Scale
Primary Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips or chunks (for dough)
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips or chunks (for filling)
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Decoration Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Orange icing
- Black icing
Instructions
- Whip softened butter with granulated and brown sugars in a large mixing bowl until the mixture becomes airy and pale, creating a creamy texture.
- Incorporate eggs individually, thoroughly blending after each addition, then fold in vanilla extract to enhance the flavor profile.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Gently fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just incorporated, avoiding overmixing.
- Carefully melt milk chocolate chips in microwave, stirring at 20-second intervals until achieving a smooth, glossy consistency.
- Heat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper for optimal cookie preparation.
- Create cookie sandwiches by flattening dough portions into thin disks, placing a small chocolate center in the middle, then covering with another dough disk and sealing edges completely.
- Arrange stuffed cookie rounds on prepared baking sheets, ensuring even spacing.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges turn golden brown. Allow cookies to rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
- Once completely cooled, embellish cookies with orange icing to create jack-o-lantern faces, using black icing for detailed facial features.
- Present cookies as delightful Halloween treats, perfect for sharing with friends and family.
Notes
- Melt chocolate carefully in short bursts to prevent burning, ensuring smooth and creamy filling that won’t leak during baking.
- Pinch cookie dough edges firmly when enclosing chocolate to prevent unexpected chocolate spillage during baking.
- Let cookies cool completely before decorating to maintain crisp icing details and prevent melting or running.
- Substitute all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour blend and add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum for similar texture and structure.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 24
- Calories: 262
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 111 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 33 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg