Eggless Vanilla cookies with Chocolate Filling

Rich buttery vanilla cookies with chocolate filled centers; these cookies are easy and always delicious. 

 These need a handful of ingredients and come together in under 30 minutes!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of OXO. All opinions are mine alone.

Cookies and Christmas go hand in hand. Every year we bake dozens of cookies through December. 

From piped cookies to stamped ones and from linzer cookies to thumbprint ones, we have them all. 

This year I decided to make a cookie box for a few friends and so ended up with far more cookies than I had anticipated. 

These eggless cookies filled with chocolate and decorated with tiny stars is my favorite from the box. 

For the longest time I would have a small Christmas tree as a child and would wait for Santa-Claus to drop off my favorite toy in the stocking. 

Then we had some friends who heard a tale that you get amazing gifts if you leave some cookies and milk for Mr. Claus to enjoy on the way. 

Thus began the saga of cookie making for Christmas. It has continued for years and though there is no more Santa coming for gifts, we make a lot of cookies and enjoy them ourselves 🙂

Why should you make this recipe?

From start to finish; this recipe comes together in 30 minutes! That is my favorite part of the recipe for sure. 

The recipe yields a batch of dozen buttery cookies that melt in the mouth. They are not overly sweet or bland. They are just right! 

Finally, the recipe is super versatile. I added melted chocolate chips in the center but some cranberry jelly or jams would be great too. Make the cookies festive by adding some sprinkles in the middle too. 

The recipe needs a handful of pantry essentials. It is easy to put together and needs no overnight chilling etc. 

What you need to make these cookies?

Flours: Here I have used a mix of all purpose flour, almond meal and some corn starch. 

Feel free to swap almond meal for all purpose flour if you desire. Adding some cornstarch is highly recommended though.

Sweetener: Powdered sugar works the best here. We avoid sticky sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. 

If you like to use confectioners' sugar, do so. Else just powder some regular sugar and you are good to go! 

Butter: I have used unsalted butter that is at room temperature. 

Of course I added some salt too, but would not really recommend using salted butter. It would make the cookies super salty.

Flavoring Extract: I used vanilla extract to make these cookies but adding some almond extract would make them perfectly festive. Add the flavor that you like the most.

Filling: I used a mix of coconut oil and semi-sweet chocolate chips in my recipe. And added some sprinkles on top. 

Feel free to use any jam or jelly of your choice. The jam needs to be filled in before baking. 

Dipping in chocolate

These cookies taste great by themselves. But if you are a chocolate fanatic, I would suggest you dip these in molten chocolate till about halfway and let the chocolate set. 

The cookies would then be even better for sure! 

Storing these cookies

Once made, the cookies can be stored in an air tight container for about a week. 

If storing them longer, refrigerate them or freeze them. They freeze wonderfully and can be enjoyed later. 

Steps

Preheat oven to 350 F/ 180 C.

In a mixing bowl add all purpose flour, corn starch and almond meal. Mix well.

In a medium size bowl cream the butter and sugar till pale and light.

Add vanilla and mix it in. 

Transfer the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mix and fold it in using a whisk.

Make a soft dough with a spatula or with your hands. Do it quickly so that the butter does not melt too much.

Make equal size balls using a medium size cookie scoop and place it on the cookie sheet leaving 2-3 inches on all sides.

Flatten it with your palms and make an indentation in the center using a small scoop or measuring spoon. 

If using jam, fill it in now. If using chocolate, leave it as is.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, not letting the cookies brown too much. They will still be soft when out of the oven so let them cool completely. 

To make the filling microwave the chocolate chips and coconut oil for 1 minute and stir them well. Transfer to a sandwich bag. 

Pipe in the the centers and decorate with sprinkles. 

Let the chocolate set before transferring to an airtight container.