These hidden candy center in these Cinnamon Caramel Cookies will make everyone smile when they find it. Fill your cookie jar with a batch today!
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So, surprises…do you like them, or could you do without them?
I have to say I’m not a big fan of surprises. I like to know what’s going to happen and when it’s going to happen. Of course, with teenage boys that isn’t always an option I get. They like to jump out at us from random corners.
My hubby spilled a cup of coffee all over himself one night when our oldest son popped out from behind the laundry room door. Now that was funny stuff. Well, until I am the next surprise victim.
Want to know what totally surprised me the other day? I was doing a little grocery shopping before picking up the kids from school. Who am I kidding? I was getting cookies, eggs, candy, and a few cake mixes. You know, just a normal shopping trip for me.
Anyway, I walked down the cookie aisle to grab a package of peanut butter cream cookies (stay tuned for a recipe using those or make a batch of these Peanut Butter Nutter Butter Brownie Bars if you cannot wait) when a much older gentleman started a conversation with me about the few items in my cart versus the many in his cart.
Now this was NOT your normal conversation. You know the feeling when someone starts flirting with you, right? This was totally the vibe I got! I answered him politely and then got out of that aisle quickly. Of course, I passed him again in the store, and he gave me this big smile. I smiled back but thought, “Yup, definitely time to get out of the store!”
To top it all off…he had gray hair! GRAY HAIR!!! Surprised was definitely how I felt at this new development. Seriously I can’t be that old that older gentlemen are flirting with me. My hubby just laughed his head off when I was telling him about it! I’m glad he found it super amusing!
Now one surprise I DO like over and over is candy hidden inside cookies! I mean look at these triple chocolate cookies! Who can resist that? Surprise candy inside cookies = good! Surprise flirt attack from an older man = not good!!!
These puffy cinnamon cookies look all innocent, right? That is until you bite into the cookie and find a soft caramel center!
Last week I asked for some cookie inspiration from my Facebook fans. I wanted to know what your favorite kinds of cookies were. Overwhelming the answer was Snickerdoodle. There were a few mentions for caramel, chocolate, chip, honey, peanut butter. I can’t wait to try a few of your ideas. I appreciate the inspiration!!!
One reader mentioned these Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodles from Maria, and that flavor combo just wouldn’t leave me alone until I made something similar. You know by now that I am in love with cake mix cookies! They are one of my favorite “box item turned homemade with flair” things to make.
The cream cheese added to the dough of these cinnamon caramel cookies makes them so soft and puffy!
The dough needs a little bit of refrigeration time to firm back up before you scoop out the balls. Then flatten each ball and hide a mini caramel candy bar inside each one before rolling them in cinnamon sugar.
Then sit back and watch for that surprised reaction that will come when someone bites into the soft caramel center. It’s priceless!
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These hidden candy center in these Cinnamon Caramel Cookies will make everyone smile when they find it. Fill your cookie jar with a batch today!
Ingredients
- 1 white cake mix
- 1 egg
- 8 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 24 Rolo candies, unwrapped
- 3-4 Tablespoons cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set out a cookie sheet.
- Beat together the cake mix, egg, butter, and cream cheese until a soft dough forms. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Scoop out and roll the dough into 24 even dough balls. Press each ball flat and place a Rolo in the center.
- Form the cookie dough around the candy bar and roll into a ball again. Roll the cookie dough ball in the cinnamon sugar and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a piece of parchment paper.
- Use the back of a flat spatula to gently tap the cookie tops, if desired. Let cool completely. Store in a sealed container on the counter. Makes 24 cookies.
Notes
If you cannot find the cinnamon sugar or do not want to buy another product, you can also use 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
More cookies I can’t wait to make and enjoy:
- Nutella and Dulce de Leche Stuffed Cookies from Oh, Sweet Basil
- Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod
- Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies from Belly Full
sue griffore says
where do you find the milky way caramel bits? if I cannot find them, what would you recommend? thank you
Jocelyn says
I have seen these Milky Way caramels at Walmart, Target, and Meijer. If you can’t find them, any small bite sized caramel candy bar would work.
Margaret Z says
Could I use rollo candies inside this recipe?
Jocelyn says
Yes, you could use Rolo’s, but they will not be as soft and chewy after the cookies cool. The caramel candy bars stay soft even after cooling.
Terri Taylor says
love your recipes. just yesterday i made the banana split fluff salad. for a bbq at work. big hit. thanks again.
Whitni @ A Cookie & A Kiss says
Hidden caramel is ALWAYS a wonderful surprise!
Muriel J Moore says
I loved your story about the “older gentleman” with “GRAY” hair…I had to laugh. I’ve had “graying” hair since I was 16 (It’s a thing with Scots we tend to grow gray early) I am now 72 with white-ish hair that my daughter, a former hair dresser actually believes I am using hair colour to acheive it. I grow my hair out for 3-5 years before cutting it for “Locks of Love”. I am lucky that my hair is thick and tends to be silky and hard to style because I will not use heat on the ends and risk the company having to take that off the length I send. I admit it, I am kind of an idiot about my hair, but then, I don’t think of it as mine…I’m just a surrogate for someone who has lost her hair to chemotherapy. I am loving your recipes…and your blog.
Mindie says
These look amazing!!
Any tips on how to keep dough from sticking to your hands??
I refrigerated the dough for about 2 hours. When I tried to roll up dough with candy in center it all stuck to my hands?
Jocelyn says
Cake mix cookies generally don’t stick as much after refrigerating the dough. Two ideas for you though…spray your hands with nonstick baking spray. It works wonders! And second idea is to use a cookie scoop. For this one, I think a 2 Tbsp. scoop would work. I hope that helps.
Susie says
Hmmm…looking for cookie ideas & ran onto your blog, this recipe and your story about the older gentleman.
Re: the comment made by Jean. I agree with her… try a little kindness. Gray hair? Most of us have it beginning in our 40’s.
One more thought. I’m assuming you haven’t lost your life partner. My Dad has lost my Mom & my brother has lost my sister-in-law @ a relatively young age. They are lonely, not lecherous. Glad you were polite. It only takes a smile & a few kind words to ease that void for a time…
Jocelyn says
Hi, Susie. Thank you for your comment. As I mentioned in the post, I was very nice and friendly to him. I wasn’t trying to be rude in my story, just making light about the situation. I would never be hurtful or rude to anyone and agree that a smile goes a long way.
Stephanie says
Hey I just made these for first time and they came out pretty good! I followed the directions but the top and middle came out pretty doughy. I’m not sure if I did something wrong but do you have any suggestions?
Jocelyn says
Are they still doughy after chilling completely? They do look underdone after they come out of the oven, but they will firm up as they chill. Also, everyone’s ovens do bake slightly different. You could always try baking them 1 minute longer to get them to a consistency you like better. I never bake ours more than the 10 minutes though. I hope that helps.
dan jackson says
I had to double the cooking time to avoid raw centers as well. Also, about half the batch was ruined because the caramel leaked slightly out the bottom, stuck to the cookie sheet and gutted themselves upon attempting to remove them to parchment paper. I’m guessing those ones didn’t have quite enough dough, though any difference was pretty small: go bigger for the sake of your sanity.
Jocelyn says
Yikes! Double the cooking time? My guess is they were quite over done then. I have never baked mine longer than 10-11 minutes. Yes, they look under done and doughy when they first come out of the oven, but if you let them cool they are perfect. Did you scoop 24 dough balls before adding the caramel candies? This keeps them all the same size so you don’t have the issue with the dough. Also, it probably leaked out because you baked them too long. Also, using parchment or a Silpat on a cookie sheet keeps cookies from sticking.
Lacey says
Jocelyn,
Just found your recipe on Pinterest and was very interested until I saw the caramel source as Rollos. I know from experience that they don’t stay soft in a cooled cookie. However; when reading the comments I saw references to Milky Way mini bars as the caramel source. But, when checking the recipe again it clearly lists Rollos.
Can you explain as these look so amazing? Thanks☺
Jocelyn says
Actually the Rolos stay pretty soft in these cookies. When I made the recipe originally back in 2014, you could buy the all caramel milky way mini bites. When I did the video earlier this year, I couldn’t find those anywhere, so I changed the recipe to Rolos, and it worked just as well.
Grama J says
The filled centers of the cookies, are marvelous. Great idea. The grey haired gent ..well .. when someone does that to me, I do not take it …lightly. To me .. that is an INSULT to say the LEAST. I have always been a slim gal … and to say that I ATTRACT the OLDER GREY GUYS is just like I said … an INSULT. I know older men like to be sexy talkers but they are there for one reason. So gramps…. go home to your wife and be HAPPY!!!