Halloween has come, gone, and left us with a mountain of leftover candy. It was a rainy, chilly evening here in St. Louis for trick or treating. Although some faithful trick or treaters braved the elements in search of full sized candy bars, the numbers were limited. The rain finally stopped around 8pm, but by then, most of the little ones were tucked in bed. Whether you were stuck with candy to give, or your neighbors were super generous to your children who brought home piles of sugar, baking these cookies is a delicious way to use up some of that leftover candy.

This recipe is super nostalgic to me. When I was young, my favorite part of sitting in a suite to watch the mighty St. Louis Blues was the food. The game was great, the seats were awesome, but really… for this six year old it was all about the food- especially the dessert cart. When I heard that brisk knock on the door during the game, I would leap up and run to the door to welcome the dessert cart man to our suite. Of all the delicious treats, the one I remember most was the snickerdoodle cookie with a candy center on a stick. I’ve been wanting to make these for a while now (20 something years), and with all of this leftover Halloween candy, it seemed like an opportune time.

Sweet cinnamon sugar coats these chewy cookies with a melty sweet center. I think a variety of Halloween candies will work for the center. I used Snickers, but you can try Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Baby Ruth, Rolos and more. The jumbo size popsicle sticks are  found at your local craft store and hold the cookies well. I wrapped these cookies with plastic candy bags over the cookies and tied them with a ribbon. We recently took them to a tailgate and they were a hit (pardon the ubiquitous Solo cups in the picture). They won’t last long at any birthday party, baby shower, luncheon, or bake sale!

Snickerdoodle Cookie Pops

Prep Time: 40 min. Cook Time: 14 min.

Adapted From: Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

12 fun-size chocolate coated candies (or 24 bite-size 1 x 1″ candies)

Topping:

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each candy piece in half into a 1 x 1″ square. Insert a baking stick in the candy pieces about 3/4 of the way through and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, 1 cup of white sugar, and brown sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to mix. Then, add the dry ingredients and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the 1/4 cup white sugar and cinnamon together.

Using your hands, wrap a heaping tablespoon of dough around the candy so that none of the candy is showing.

Next, use a spoon to generously roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar until coated.

Bake on a silicone mat for 12-14 minutes.

Cool on the pan until they are easy to remove, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 cookie pops

The Newlywed Chefs

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