Sara, Fancy and Tall

Happy Valentine's Day!

In celebration of this love-ly holiday, I made some delicious Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies. They were amazingly simple and really different, so I would definitely suggest you whip up a dozen giant cookies. Here is a recipe adapted from Twos Peas & Their Pod! Enjoy your Valentine, your hot date, your little box of candy, whatever it is, soak it up!



Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

Makes: About  10 giant cookies

Baking Time: 11-13 minutes

Ingredients:

1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cheesecake filling:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the white chocolate drizzle:
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted

In a large bowl combine cake mix and flour and mix until clumps disappear. Mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract with a mixer until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 or 3 hours. The dough will be shiny, so don't worry.

To make the cheesecake filling, while you are waiting  combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth with a mixer. Scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a plate in heaps. Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 10 or 12. Place plate in the freezer and freeze for at least 2 or 3 hours.

Go take a nap, fold some laundry, run 6 miles, clean the kitchen...whatever makes you happy.

When you are ready,  preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

This is the tricky part....To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup, or a heaping spoonful of the cookie dough and flatten in your hands. Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling. Gently roll into a ball , or attempt to seal the filling inside and place on prepared baking sheet. You want to work quickly so that your dough and filling doesn't heat up in your hands, it will make it more difficult. I greased my hands with some pam spray before this step.Only bake 3 cookies at a time on each sheet because they will become huge. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle and look solid around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, ten place on a cooling rack to cool.

If you would like, you can stop here because the cookies are JUST as yummy, but if you want to step it up a notch, make them guest worthy, and a little sweeter, keep going with the drizzle!

Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. 

Ta-da!! A Valentine treat to drown out your sobs while watching The Notebook. 

A quick shout out to my husband. We have never been in the same city, or even country on Valentine's Day in over 5 years of dating, and including today when we are actually married..haha. I am so happy ecstatic to be married to a wonderful man like him. He really completes me and I love having him as my best friend, knowing he is always there by my side. I love him, so if he happens to read this (fat chance) I want him to know how much I care for him, every day not just Valentine's Day. :)

Eat some chocolates people! Loves ya

-Sara Jacqueline