Surprise Packages

These surprise package cookies are a Christmas baking project that kids and adults both love. Each one is a buttery shortbread rectangle wrapped around a hidden chocolate mint wafer, baked golden, then iced and decorated to look like a tiny wrapped present. Bite in and you get that burst of chocolate mint surrounded by tender, crumbly cookie.

The dough is a simple butter shortbread: butter, flour, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a teaspoon of water. No eggs, no leavening. It bakes into a firm, delicate cookie that’s sturdy enough to hold together around the chocolate center without being too thick or doughy.

Pressing the dough flat and thin before wrapping each chocolate mint is the tricky part. You need it thin enough that the cookie bakes through but thick enough that it doesn’t crack or expose the chocolate. A scant tablespoon per cookie is the right amount. Pinch the edges tightly to seal or the melted chocolate leaks out during baking.

The icing is a basic royal icing: powdered sugar thinned with milk, tinted with food coloring. Use it to paint the cookies in festive colors, then add ribbons and bows with contrasting icing or sprinkles to make each one look like a little gift.

Kitchen Tips

• Keep the chocolate mint wafers frozen until ready to wrap. Warm chocolate softens the dough and makes wrapping messy
• Press the dough edges firmly together. Any gaps let melted chocolate escape and burn on the baking sheet
• Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned, not the tops. The tops stay pale even when the cookies are done
• Let the icing dry completely before stacking or storing. Wet icing sticks to everything

Variations

• Use Andes mints, Rolo caramels, or peanut butter cups instead of chocolate mint wafers for different surprises
• Add a teaspoon of almond extract to the dough for a more pronounced flavor
• Pipe icing ribbons and bows for a more detailed, gift-like presentation