Ingredients
The following ingredients have 30 Servings
- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese (full-fat, at room temperature)
- 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup; 113g) butter (unsalted, at room temperature)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract (optional)
- 1 package (3.9 oz.; 111g) chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix ((unprepared) not cook-and-serve)
- 1 package (18 oz.; 510g) fudge brownie mix ((we like Betty Crocker Delights Brownie Mix, Supreme Chocolate Chunk best!))
- 3/4 cup (113g) peppermint bark ((1, 3.5 ounce bar),coarsely chopped (Ghirardelli is a great brand))
- 3/4 cup (136g) milk chocolate chips
- Optional: 1/3 cup (60g) white chocolate chips
Instruction
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner and set aside. Bring the cream cheese and butter to room temperature by either leaving out for 1 hour or by microwaving the (unwrapped) cream cheese in increments of 5-10 seconds until soft and separately microwaving the butter for 5 seconds, flipping to the other side, and microwaving for another 5 seconds. Be careful to not melt or overly soften either ingredient.
- CREAM BUTTER: In a large bowl fitted to a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until completely smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and optional peppermint extract. Beat until smooth and creamy.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: Add in the dry pudding mix and brownie mix. Beat to combine. (The dough will be extremely thick and takes a while to get a dough to form. This is intended. Just keep mixing and it will all come together even though it seems like it won't.)
- ADD-INS: Coarsely chop the peppermint bark candy. Stir in the chopped peppermint bark, chocolate chips, and optional white chocolate chips.
- FORM DOUGH BALLS: Measure each cookie dough ball to be a full, packed 2 tablespoons of dough (43 grams). Knead the dough ball to get the chocolate chips to stick into the dough and then roll it into a ball. Slightly flatten balls to about 1/2-inch thick. You should get about 28-30 cookies from this batter. Place 6-8 cookies on the prepared cookie sheet, giving cookies ample room to spread.
- BAKE: Bake each batch for 10-14 minutes. Slightly under-baking these cookies gives them an awesome taste and texture like ultra fudge-y brownies, so err on the side of slightly under-baking. Remove from the oven. Sometimes the edges have a tendency to leak out; simply use the back of a spoon or metal spatula to press the edges in towards the center of the cookie right out of the oven. If desired, add some additional chocolate chips and/or chopped peppermint bark on top of the cookies. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.