Candy corn is quite the controversial candy. It seems you either love it or hate it. Count me in the love it group. I start buying it as soon as I see it then stash it in the back of the pantry. The stores by me are completely out by mid-October and I like to have it until Thanksgiving.
I’ve been playing with cookie recipes using the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe as the base. My first try at these did not go as planned. They tasted great and some cookies looked pretty. Others, not so much. The pretty cookies all had one thing in common, no candy corn on the bottom that spread far and wide while baking. The rule in our house when sneaking a warm cookie is to take an ugly one. Let’s just say there were plenty to choose from.
Then I found these beauties while meandering through Target’s Halloween section. I was already thinking about pressing candy corn into each cookie instead of stirring them into the batter and these mini ones were going to be perfect. I couldn’t wait to play with them.
Ready to give them a try?!
Melt the butter then let it cool a bit before mixing it with the sugars. If the butter is too warm, the batter will be affected. I learned this lesson when I tried to make them on a time crunch. Never again. While the butter is cooling, sift the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Sifting gives the right amount of fluff for perfectly structured cookies. I could eat these either way, batter by the spoonful or as a warm cookie.
When the butter is slightly cooled, cream it with the sugars until light and fluffy. Next, add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and mix until just combined.
Stir in one cup of white chocolate chips by hand. I like my cookies on the small side, purely so I can eat six or eight and not feel bad, so I use a 1-tablespoon size scoop. Gently press in a few candy corn into the cookie.
Bake in a 325 degree oven for 9-10 minutes. If using a big, beefy scoop then bake for 11-14 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets halfway through cooking time. Do not over bake. Let them sit on cookie sheet for one or two minutes then fully cool.
I decided to experiment. I placed three regular sized candy corn on a dough ball and a mix of regular size and mini on a dough ball. The results were clear, the all mini candy corn cookies baked the best without the mess.
White Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- Mini candy corn
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Melt butter.
- While butter is cooling, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the white chocolate chips by hand. If your butter was still hot when you added it your dough may be really wet at this point. Let it rest at room temperature for a couple of minutes if this is the case and then it will be cool enough to scoop into cookies.
- Scoop and place dough on cookie sheets. Gently press a few candy corn pieces into the top of each cookie and bake 9-10 minutes (my oven cooks slow, your time may be shorter), rotating/turning cookie sheets halfway through baking time. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy. Do not over bake.
- Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
I hope you enjoy these delicious morsels as much as we do. May they last longer in your house than they do ours.