Chocolate Filled Italian Cookies

My Grandma has made these cookies every Christmas since I can remember.  I was never a big fan of them until I became an adult.  Her cookies were always a little drier than I liked, so I added some much needed cream cheese to the dough.  It makes them tender and really quite yummy.  They look so pretty on a tray too!




CHOCOLATE FUDGE FILLED ITALIAN COOKIES
recipe adapted from Jo Cali

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. shortening or butter
• 1/3 brick of cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 c. AP flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 c. milk

FILLING:

• 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts) chopped

DIRECTIONS

Cream cream cheese, shortening and brown sugar.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix.  Whisk dry ingredients together and add to cream cheese mixture alternatively with milk until combined.  Turn out onto floured surface and divide into quarters.  Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for an hour.  Roll each out on floured surface into rectangle, about 7"x10" (roughly, can be bigger) until about 1/4" thick.

For filling, melt chocolate chips in microwave for 30 second increments, mixing in between each until melted.  Add sweetened condensed milk and mix well and microwave for another 30 seconds.  Add nuts if desired.  Spread 1/4 onto middle of prepared dough, going out to the edges in length.  Fold over and seal.  Carefully transfer to greased cookie sheets, seam side down an bake @ 350 for 15-20 min, until just set touch.  Over baking, or browning will make a drier cookie.

Let cool on cooling rack and wrap in foil.  Frost with cutout butter cream just before serving and slice.  These freeze very well.  Freeze and take out and frost before serving.