Saturday, November 2nd is National Cookie Monster Day! We think the perfect way to CELEBRATE is by baking up some of the furry blue guys favorite treats – COOKIES!

If your house is overflowing with Halloween candy like mine, you may not be excited about baking MORE treats. But this recipe is a win-win. By substituting the chocolate chips with chopped candy bars, you’ll put a dent in that giant candy pile! It’s genius right?!

Now, let me help you understand one thing. Baking hasn’t always been a strong point for me, in fact when it comes to Chocolate Chip Cookies specifically, it took me 5 years until I found this recipe! I don’t know if it is the elevation where I live, the brand of baking soda I use or what, but they’ve never turned out right – until my mother-in-law shared with me her recipe. Now, they turn out perfect every time!

Candy Bar Cookies (or chocolate chip cookies)

Ingredients:
1 c. Vegetable Shortening
1 c. Butter – room temperature
1 1/2 c. Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
3 Large Eggs – slightly beaten
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
5 1/2 – 6 c. Flour (add the 5 1/2 c first and if the dough is still too wet, add in another 1/2 c)
2 c. Chopped Candy Bar

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl cream together shortening, butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix to combine well. In a separate bowl add flour, baking soda and salt and whisk. Add to the creamed mixture on low speed one cup at a time until just incorporated. Mix in candy bar chunks with a spoon or rubber spatula. Spoon golf ball size portions (I use my Large cookie scoop from Pampered Chef) onto a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10 – 12 minutes.

The only thing I changed was the chopped candy bar in place of the chocolate chips (which is usually 2 c.). This makes a large batch (like 36 – 48 depending on the size) so I always bake some and roll the rest into balls and freeze them overnight on pie plates, then toss them into a zip top bag and that way fresh baked cookies are never more than 12 minutes away! 🙂

*I made some with Milky Way candy bars and some with Twix candy bars. The Milky Way was my favorite by far! The caramel and chocolate in the buttery cookie was awesome. The Twix had the same idea, but added unnecessary cookie and not enough caramel and chocolate.

**Just for fun, here is a link to the history and creation of COOKIE MONSTER!