Christmas Surprise Inside Sprinkle Cookies

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Everyone loves a surprise, I know I do, and that is what you get with these tasty buttery-almond flavored Christmas Surprise Inside Cookies with a fudge middle layer. Rolled in red, green, and white sprinkles these are the ultimate Christmas cookies and my family’s favorite. Seriously, who can resist cookie cuteness?

tis the season for cookie baking

First published Feb. 13, 2018, updated Dec. 19, 2020

Today I turned on my favorite Christmas songs and started my Christmas baking; tis the season for delicious and colorful made from scratch cookies.

Don’t you love all the holiday colors? That’s one reason why these red, white, and green sprinkle sugar cookies are irresistible.  Another reason to love these tender cookies is the surprise chocolate layer of cookie inside. It’s like two cookies in one.

Cookie ingredients

• Butter
• Sugar
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Egg
• Vanilla
• Flour
• Powdered sugar
• Cocoa powder
• Almond Extract
• Christmas colored nonpareil sprinkles

For these cookies the sprinkles you need to use are called nonpareil’s. They are the little round balls that roll everywhere. Personally, I love using nonpareils instead of the jimmies for cookies since they keep their color when baked.

I have tried using other sprinkles such as the jimmies and colored sugar on these cookies and they didn’t look good on the cookie. Gotta use the nonpareils.

The holiday nonpareils are carried in craft stores but they are sometimes hard to find the exact colors you want for the specific holiday. So plan early. And, for these cookies I would suggest getting two bottles so you have plenty of sprinkles for rolling the cookies in.

Let’s make some cookies

We are going to be rolling dough today, not with a rolling pin but with our hands to make lots of dough balls.

Prepare – Baking sheets with parchment paper, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, and pour the sprinkles into a big bowl

Step 1. In a large bowl beat the softened butter with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy.

Step 2. Add the sugar baking powder and salt then mix to combine

Step 3. Add the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Step 4. With the mixer on medium speed beat in the flour to form a soft dough.

Step 5. Remove ¾ cup of the dough and put into a small bowl then add the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and melted butter. Mix all together with a spoon until well combined.

Step 6. Add the almond extract to the plain dough.

Step 7.  With a tablespoon, scoop out 30 pieces of plain dough and roll into balls, and with a teaspoon, measure out 30 pieces of the chocolate dough and roll into balls.  (I normally get between 28 – 30 balls of each dough.)

Step 8.

1. Flatten the almond-flavored dough into a round disk
2. Place the chocolate dough ball on top of the flat disk
3. Wrap the dough around the chocolate dough ball
4. Roll the one big dough ball around in your hand until it is smooth and slightly tacky and immediately roll the dough ball into the nonpareil sprinkles then place on the baking sheet.
5. It is important you roll the dough ball immediately in the sprinkles while it is warm from your hands.

Note:  This first picture below is what happens when you don’t roll the dough ball immediately in the sprinkles, they just won’t stick, no matter what!

Step 9. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven to a cooling rack. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

This is the perfect cookie recipe to get the kids involved in your holiday cookie baking. They can roll the dough into the balls and the sprinkles; and then, prepare yourself for lots of joy and laughter.

I promise everyone will love these cookies, especially Santa.

Pin to your cookie boards on Pinterest

What’s the Surprise?

Just take one bite to find a fudgy chocolate center inside the cookie.

These cookies are not only perfect for Christmas but all year through.  It’s so easy to roll the dough in different colors of nonpareils for different holidays, or maybe sport team colors and just for fun. Sometimes I change the middle filling color and flavor. There are so many options with sugar cookies.

Try these other One Hot Oven Surprise Inside Cookies

For Valentine’s Day make these Red Velvet Surprise Inside Cookies for your sweetie.

To celebrate all things Irish try these Mint Surprise Inside Cookies.

Fill Easter baskets with this pastel Surprise Inside Easter Cookies.

Let’s get patriotic with Firework Surprise Inside Cookies.

Show your team colors like these San Francisco Giants Orange and Black Surprise Inside Cookies.

Baking for Christmas tips

Baking for Christmas should be fun. Many cookie recipes can be made and kept in airtight containers for a week. Even the batters can be made and kept in the refrigerator several days before baking. For these Chai Shortbread’s I have frozen the dough logs and then baked them during the holidays.  Plus shortbread cookies keep well for over a week.

Another cookie that keeps well are these Holiday Jeweled Biscotti. These are the first cookies I bake for the holidays since they will keep for weeks.

Remember cookies are for sharing, which means you can eat all the cookies except one!

Tea and cookies are always a favorite treat

These are two of my favorite teas you might enjoy.

If you love a bold tea this Aztec Spice Pu-Erh tea has chocolate and a hint of chili powder that pairs so well with these cookies.

On a lighter note, Plum Deluxe has some of the best green teas and their Garden Grove Green Tea with hints of cherry and jasmine that pair well with the green tea.

I love loose leaf teas and this tea strainer is the best one I have found. The holes are the perfect size to keep the tea from falling into your cup and it is big enough to allow the tea to expand and steep.

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  Thank you for stopping by the One Hot Oven blog.  Please leave a comment to say Hello or just let me know what you are baking these days, I always love hearing from fellow bakers. Have any questions or just want to chat about the recipe? Contact me here, and I’ll be happy to help!

About Jere’

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending.  Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.