Chocolate Peanut Butter Mickey Mouse Cookies

Yesterday, we briefly touched upon the Nestle and Disney relationship and the commemorative tin Nestle released as part of Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary. Tucked away inside of the Toll House Tin was a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Mickey Mouse Cookies. Last week I doubled up the recipe and made a batch, but let’s take a look at the recipe, some photographs of the preparation, and then we’ll have some thoughts.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER MICKEY MOUSE COOKIES
(Makes about 2 ½ dozen cookies)

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups (12-ounce package) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, divided in half
1 cup Quick Oats
1 cup (2 sticks) Butter or Margarine, softened
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs

Dough Directions:
Combine flour and baking soda in small bowl.
Beat butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla in large mixer bowl until creamy.
Beat in eggs.
Beat in flour mixture.
Stir in 1 cup morsels and oats.
Freeze until slightly firm but not hard.

Baking Directions:
Roll dough into 1 ½-inch ball; press down slightly on ungreased baking sheet.
Roll a 1 ¼-inch ball; cut in half.
Attach halves to first ball as ears.
Repeat with remaining dough; place 2 inches apart.
Bake in preheated 350° oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown and centers are still soft.
Let stand for 3 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool.

Decorating Directions:
Microwave remaining morsels in heavy-duty plastic bag on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds.
Knead; microwave at additional 10 to 20 second intervals, kneading until smooth.
Cut tiny corner from bag.
Squeeze to pipe chocolate to create Mickey Mouse faces.
Allow chocolate to set.

The cookies were easy enough to create, although they take up quite a bit of space on a cookie sheet, so allow ample time for baking multiple rounds of cookies. For the ears, while rolling one ball and cutting it in half will suffice, it is just as easy to make two smaller balls and attach them as ears. As for decorating, I went for a classic Mickey in the style of the old Walt Disney World ice cream Mickey bars, but the preparations had some problems. The first set of morsels I tried to microwave melted the heavy duty bag and started to smoke in the microwave, and then in the kitchen. I found it more useful to melt and mix up the morsels in a small cup or measuring cup and then spoon the chocolate into a plastic or piping bag.

As for the taste of the cookies, they were terrific! And I’m not usually one to enjoy the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. The oats and morsels add a nice texture to the generally chewy cookie, while the vanilla lingers around as an aftertaste, even with a strong peanut butter flavor. While baking is not my strongest kitchen gift, these are simple enough and tasty enough that I would whip up a batch again.