Penguin Cookies

Looking back on my childhood, it really isn't a surprise to me that I grew up with a love for cooking. I remember a hurricane day where my best friend and I stayed in and made delicious dirt pudding cups. I also remember a random Sunday afternoon where I decided I wanted to make corn soup, and it was basically corn floating in murky water. I've come a long way since then.

As I got older, I found the items that I loved to make and have slowly built up my recipe list of treats known among my friends and family. One of the first recipes added to that list was these Penguin Cookies. I created them for Thanksgiving when I was in high school, a small step towards baking with the recipe calling for a mix of store bought and homemade ingredients. For years after that they became my signature dish; friends were always asking me to bring them to parties or bake them as their birthday gift.

I also brought these cookies along the first time I traveled to meet Andy after dating long-distance for 6 months. We're still together, so I think it's safe to say the cookies are magical. Or crack. Give them a taste and see for yourself.

Your turn:

1. Do you have a signature dish known amongst your friends and family?
2. What dish are you most excited to enjoy this Thanksgiving?

Penguin Cookies

• 2 packages of store bought, break-n-bake double chocolate chip cookies
• 1 tub of Cool Whip, refrigerated 
• 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 15 Oreos
• 1/2 cup sugar

1. Preheat your oven to package instructions. 
2. Take each square of dough and break it in half, rolling it into a smaller cookie and placing it on the baking sheet.*
3. Bake for amount of time specified on package. Once they're done, allow them to fully cool.
4. While your cookies are baking, combine the cream cheese and sugar, making sure there are no clumps in the cream cheese.
5. Stir in the Cool Whip to the cream cheese.
6. Add your Oreos to a Ziploc bag, and using a wooden spoon crush the Oreos into crumbs.
7. Pour the crumbs into the Cool Whip, stirring to combine. Refrigerate the mixture.
8. When your cookies have cooled, pick two similarly sized cookies and place a dollop of the Cool Whip mixture between them. Repeat for the remainder of the cookies.
9. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*You don't have to roll out smaller pieces of dough if you're wanting larger cookies. I just prefer having a larger quantity of bite-sized cookies for a crowd.