what's better than one cookie? a cookie inside another cookie!

firstly, let me apologize for my near month hiatus.  there is really no excuse, so i will fabricate one.  i got in a fight with this huge dragon and just now got out of the hospital.  yep, that’ll do.

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i was reading all my favorite food blogs one day towards the end of the semester (when i probably should have been studying for finals) and a particularly interesting food photo caught my eye.  it was simple but striking: a chocolate chip cookie with a Oreo nestled in the center.  the center was revealed by the photographer’s “service charge” i assume; one clean bite.  even for someone who does not have much of a sweet tooth, i wanted one of those gooey confections immediately.

lucky for me, my best friend was coming to stay with me for a few days.  this was the perfect recipe to try at the exact right moment-- like the Cooking Gods had aligned the stars.

Bonnie and i decided to go ahead and make the classic CCO (chocolate chip oreo) but we also wanted to play around with other combinations.  so we got some sugar cookie mix and Grasshopper cookies (like a thinner thin mint).  what we really wanted were tagalongs, but alas it was not girl scout season. 

i didn't bother to make my own cookie dough for this recipe because the real point of these cookies is to see how crazy you can get.  but it’s totally up to you-- make your own if you would like!  

we whipped up a batch of chocolate chip and a batch of sugar cookies (a bag of the mix, an egg, and a stick of butter) and made sure to refrigerate the dough for about half an hour before we used it.  this is actually important because if you are working with warm cookie dough it will spread like crazy in the oven and you will end up with stuffed cookies that look like UFOs.  i should also mention that this was a little bit of trial and error for us, so don’t worry if they don’t look perfect.

while the dough chills, get your “inside” cookies ready!  we used the Oreos and Grasshoppers.  but if you would like a different kind, go for it.  you could even put in those fun sized candy bars.

to make the CCO’s, take a small ball of the chocolate chip dough and press it in to the oreo on all sides.  you don’t want to use too much- just enough to cover the cookie completely (it should be a fairly thin coating).  you can think of it this way:  take as much dough as you would to make a regular sized chocolate chip cookie and stretch it around the oreo.

place the cookies about 6 to a big baking sheet (as they will spread some, so be careful!) and pop them in a 350 degree oven for between 8 and 12 minutes.  but definitely keep and eye on them so that they don’t burn!

when they come out, let them cool for about 5-10 minutes before you cut in to them.  this way they will keep their shape and not crumble!  Be patient :)

while these cool, take the sugar cookie dough out and go through the same process covering one or two Grasshopper cookies (stack ‘em if you’d like!).  the sugar cookie dough will naturally spread more than the chocolate chip will, so be very careful not to use too much dough. (they'll be tasty, but deformed hahaha)  Reduce the time in the oven for these guys- between 6-10 minutes. 

we also tried a couple different variations: sugar cookie and oreo, chocolate chip and Grasshopper, and even a sugar/chocolate chip oreo (half and half!).  my personal favorite was the sugar cookie and oreo because it really showcased the oreo flavor, and i found it got lost among the chocolate chips in the other kind. 

all in all this dessert was so sweet, it’ll knock your socks clear off.  i don’t think it is humanly possible to eat a whole one by yourself, but these are great cookies to cut up and share. 

so i hope you enjoy these as much as our arteries did :)