Cookies and cream bar cookies

A homemade version of my favorite candy bar from childhood gets chopped up and mixed into a deliciously buttery and thick cookie dough for a cookies and cream lover's dream come true cookie.

Any trip to a convenience store growing up typically included the purchase of a cookies and cream candy bar. I'm not even the biggest white chocolate fan, but there was something about the crunch of the chocolate cookie and the creamy white chocolate that I just absolutely loved. For these cookies, to make sure we get maximum melt and the perfect cookies and cream pieces - we're going to make our own version of the beloved candy bar! You'll melt your white chocolate and mix in finely chopped chocolate sandwich cookies, and then spread flat onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze while you work on your cookie dough.

Aside from the homemade cookies and cream bark, these cookies are intentionally basic. I did go through a few rounds to ensure the cookie dough had just the right thickness, and the end result is a dough that is soft and chewy while still being able to hold the gooey pieces of white chocolate cookies and cream bark.

I know sometimes a long chill can be frustrating, but this is really important here to make sure the cookie bakes with just the right thickness. They'll still be delicious if you bake after a shorter chill time, but the extended chill will ensure a thicker cookie with slightly crisp edges and a gooey center.

Ingredients:

Cookies and cream bark

• 6 chocolate sandwich cookies

• 1 1/3 cup (8oz) white chocolate, chips or chopped

Cookie dough

• 9 tablespoons (127g) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 cup (96g) light brown sugar 

• 1/3 cup (64g) granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

• 2 chocolate sandwich cookies

• 1 2/3 cup (200g) all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Prep time: 30 minutes

Bake time: 11-14 minutes

Chill time: 6+ hours

Servings: 10 large cookies

Equipment:

• Sharp knife

• Stand mixer with paddle attachment

• Spatula

• Parchment paper

• Cookie sheets

• #16 scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup

Cooking instructions: 

Make your homemade cookies and cream bark. Line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Finely chop up your six chocolate sandwich cookies and set aside. Carefully melt your white chocolate, you can either do this in 15 second intervals in the microwave stirring after each trip to the microwave until smooth, or very carefully on your stove top over the lowest heat stirring continuously until smooth. Once your chocolate is melted, mix in your finely chopped sandwich cookies until evenly dispersed.

Onto your parchment lined cookie sheet, spread your mixture evenly across until it's about the thickness of a standard chocolate bar. Place into the freezer to set.

Make your cookie dough. Place your butter and both sugars into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Let your mixer run at a medium to high speed for about a minute. Pause your mixer and use your spatula to scrape down the sides of your bowl and paddle attachment to ensure that no pockets of butter and sugar go unmixed.

Add in your vanilla extract, egg and extra yolk. Slowly bring your stand mixer back to a high speed and allow it to combine your mixture for another minute or two until the color of the mixture has lightened. Pause your mixer and scrape down the sides of your bowl and paddle again.

Next, finely chop up your two chocolate sandwich cookies. To your mixer, add in your chopped cookies and the rest of your dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and start your mixer at a low speed mixing until your dry ingredients are about half incorporated.

Pause your mixer and meanwhile remove your cookies and cream bark from the freezer. Chop it up, being sure not to create pieces that are too small - you want pieces about an inch long and wide as it will break up more when you mix into your dough. Reserve a few pieces if you'd like to top your baked cookies with later.

Add your chopped up cookies and cream bark into your dough and turn your mixer on at the lowest speed. Mix for just 15-30 seconds at a time until your bark is evenly distributed and your dough has formed. You can also finish mixing with your spatula if you're worried about your bark breaking up too much.

Onto a lined cookie sheet, I used parchment paper, use a #16 (4 tablespoon) cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion out your dough - it should make about 10 cookies, ~75g per dough ball. Cover your scoops with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours, up to 24.

Shape, bake and enjoy your cookies. When you're ready to bake your cookies, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your dough balls well spaced out onto lined cookie sheets and bake (one cookie sheet at a time) for about 11-14 minutes until you reach your desired bake level. If you reserved some pieces of your cookies and cream bark, top your cookies right when they come out of the oven. Allow your cookies to cool on your cookie sheets as they will continue to bake and set once out of the oven, and enjoy!

If you want to save some of your dough to bake another time, you can place some or all of your cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet and place into the freezer for 24 hours after chilling in the fridge. Then, transfer your frozen dough to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer. To bake from frozen, set your oven to 325 and bake for 15-18 minutes. My preference is to enjoy them fresh baked, but you can also store your baked cookies once fully cooled in an airtight container for about 3 days and they'll still taste great. To refresh them, pop a cookie or two into the microwave for about 10 seconds, reheat in the oven for a few minutes at 350 degrees or enjoy at room temperature.

Carb and serving info:  

Servings: 10

Carbs per serving: 54

Carbs for full recipe: 544

Carbs from white chocolate: 144

Carbs from chocolate sandwich cookies (all 8): 80

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.