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Huggable, lovable, and fun…Sweet and Salty Teddy Bear Snickerdoodles. Homemade oatmeal cookies, rolled in cinnamon sugar, then generously decorated with both white chocolate and milk chocolate. These cookies are shaped into the cutest, fattest little Teddy Bears, made effortlessly by shaping the dough into round balls. Stuff with salty pretzel pieces before baking them to perfection. There’s nothing not to love about these sweet little teddy bear cookies. Each bite is slightly crisp on the edges but soft in the center…with just a little pretzel crunch.
I have the sweetest most lovable cookies today…because we all need something sweet and smiley in our lives. We just do!
You guys, these cookies!!! I am so excited to share these cookies with you all. Just looking at them alone makes me smile. They’re truly the most lovable little cookies and I really, really hope they bring some much-needed joy to you all today. I made these cookies this week after seeing the cutest little teddy bear photo on my Pinterest feed. The photo made me immediately smile. I was instantly inspired to create the cookie version, because you know, what’s even better than a cute bear photo? An even cuter, even sweeter, real-life cookie that’s not only fun and easy to create, but delicious too.
Here’s the truth. I know things have been hard this week. Everyone is struggling and everyone is feeling a little bit on edge. These are certainly strange times, and I’m sure the days are starting to feel long. So my goal? To bring you all the fun, happiness, and deliciousness I can.
Yes, I’m hoping these cookies can bring you some much needed Friday cheer…or just a fun cookie to bake up on a Friday night spent at home.
(dough balls before assembling, full body teddy bears at the top, faces at the bottom)
The inspiration.
As mentioned, I saw a photo of a teddy bear and immediately thought to make cookies.
With things being the way they are, recipe development has been hard. Food is a little hit or miss around here and I know it’s the same for many of you. I also know that a lot of you have been finding comfort in baking, so I figured this could be the perfect recipe to share today.
I also know that many of you are looking for activities to do with your kids. So I kept that in mind while creating this recipe and I tried to keep the steps simple and EASY. But let’s be real, I did that more for my own sanity. I’m no professional baker, and certainly not a professional dessert “decorator”. I’m right there with you all when it comes to decorating…perfectly imperfect!
So… the inspiration was first a photo, then all of you, and then it was your kids…but most importantly? I really just wanted to create an easy and delicious cookie recipe for all of us to enjoy today. Because Friday’s need cookies…especially this week!
Here is how to make these sweet and salty Teddy Bear Snickerdoodles.
One, gather your ingredients. You’ll need the basics…butter, sugar, flour, oats, etc. Plus some cinnamon sugar. Simple, nothing fancy, but all good.
Two, the additions are the most important part. You’ll need old fashioned oats, salted pretzel twists, white chocolate, and semi-sweet or milk chocolate.
Three…beat, mix, stir, roll…a lot of dough balls out. Then roll through cinnamon sugar, add pretzel pieces, bake, wack that pan on the counter, bake again, decorate, have fun…and enjoy way too many cookies.
Yes, there’s not one complicated thing about this recipe. These are easy cookies that are hard to mess up…because they’ll always turn out cute.
Attaching the pieces to form the bears…
As you all know, I am no professional when it comes to decorating sweets. BUT I still love to make my desserts look as cute as possible. Enter these cute Teddy Bear cookies.
The idea is to take the oatmeal cookie dough, roll it into tiny balls, attach them together into a “Teddy Bear” body, and bake. If you use the photos as guides, it’s the easiest cookie. Not to mention, so much fun! No stress, no pulling out your hair, just fun. Exactly what baking should be.
Now, attaching the pieces? This is the step that you might think could be tricky, but it’s actually so easy. To make each Teddy Bear, just gently push the dough balls together. Once again, use the photos as guides. Nothing needs to be shaped perfectly or lined up just right. As long as you have a rough body formed, the cookies bake up like adorable fat little Teddy Bears.
The process of rolling the balls will take a little time, but to me, this is easier than cutting out shapes…and I think these are way cuter, not to mention a little more unique. Everyone bakes cookies, but let’s bake something a little different!
Decorating is easy.
Since the cookies themselves are already so cute, decorating is EASY. I used melted white chocolate and melted milk chocolate to simply draw on the bear’s faces, hands and fat little stomachs.
So simple. So delicious.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re so easy to make. They require no chilling and I almost always have these ingredients on hand. And when it’s Friday night and the urge for a delicious yet simple oatmeal snickerdoodle cookie comes on? These cookies will be my new go-to.
They’re just perfectly crisp on the edges, but soft in the center, heavy on the cinnamon, with a nice crunch and a little saltiness from the pretzels on top. The best kind of cookie.
Bake these tonight, or sometime in the next few days. Promise you, these are sure to keep your kids busy…and certain to put a smile on everyone’s face.
Looking for some other kid-friendly baking ideas? Try these…
Cinnamon Sugar Brown Butter Popovers
Chocolate Covered Brown Butter Krispie Treats
If you make these sweet and salty Teddy Bear snickerdoodles, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Sweet and Salty Teddy Bear Snickerdoodles
Servings: 12 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 511 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar (optional)
- 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate or milk chocolate melted
- 6 ounces white chocolate, melted
- 1 cup mini pretzel twists
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add the vanilla, beating until creamy. Add the flour, cinnamon (if using), baking soda, and salt. Fold in the oats, mixing until combined. 3. To make full-size teddy bears, roll about half the dough into 24 (1 tablespoon size) balls. These are the head and stomach. Roll the remaining dough into 72 (1/2 inch size) balls. These are the feet, arms, and ears (see above photos). I find it easiest to make all the parts first, then assemble.4. If desired, coat all of the balls in cinnamon sugar. 5. On the prepared baking sheet, place the 2 of the 1 tablespoon size balls side by side, gently flatten until 1/2 inch thick. Attach 6 of the 1/2-inch balls for arms, legs, and ears. Repeat with the remaining dough, arranging the bears 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Add pretzel pieces to the top of the ears (see above photos for visuals, this will help!).6. Transfer to the oven and bake the teddy bears for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 2 times to flatten them down. Return to the oven and bake another 3-4 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges. Let cool.7. To decorate. Transfer the melted white chocolate to a ziplock bag and snip a very small portion of the corner off the bag. Use the bag to draw on the stomach, mouth, eyes, ears, and hands. Do the same with the melted semi-sweet chocolate, decorating as desired, have fun with this!! Let the chocolate on the bears harden at room temp for 1 hour or 15 minutes in the fridge.8. If you prefer to make just the teddy bear faces, roll about half the dough into 20 (1 tablespoon size...or a little larger) balls. Roll the remaining dough into 40 (1/2 inch size) balls. These are the ears (see above photos). Decorate as directed above.
Notes
Freezing: cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw, then decorate as directed.
Cinnamon Sugar: mix 1/3 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Store in an airtight container.
These cookies are not simple. Would not try to make with children either until you’ve practiced on your own. Making the batter is simple. That’s it. If you follow directions to make 1 tablespoon size balls and 1/2 inch balls for the full-size Teddys you won’t have enough to make 12 bears. I had to make the balls smaller 1/2 way through the process which meant I was handling the dough too much, and that makes cookies tough. Next there is Not enough sugar in recipe. They taste pretty Meh even though I rolled each ball in the Cinn Sugar. And I was so excited for the Snickerdoodle taste which they are not. The pretzels are good addition but only at ears. Finally, please tell everyone the exact type of white choc that actually melts. I bought white choc chips assuming I could melt in double boiler or even microwave. Nope- would not melt. Turned into a lump. Which the internet proceeded to tell me. So I rushed to store and bought vanilla choc chips for melting as Rec by another baker. These sort of melted. Ugh! And then trying to get this into a plastic bag. Nope – does not work. I pretty much gave up and smeared half melted vanilla choc on and used whole mini choc chips – giving up on melting. This recipe was extremely frustrating and much too time consuming for finished product. And I bake cookies all the time too!
Do you think that cream cheese frosting would be an OK substitute to white chocolate?
Hey Makayla,
Totally, that would be delicious! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
Yum and oh so cute
Thanks so much Alice!
These cookies are very cute. The texture is more like an oatmeal cookie than a snickerdoodle. I made the faces only and they came together quickly and effortlessly. A full recipe made 18 faces. For some I rolled the face in cinnamon sugar but not the ears, and for others I did the reverse. Instead of melted chocolate for all the decorating, I used googly eyes and a chocolate covered coffee bean for the nose which made them less labor intensive. It only took a minute to pipe on the mouths.
Would it be okay to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it until I’m ready to roll & bake them?
Hey Cortney,
Yes, that would be totally fine to do! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made these tonight. My husband loved them. He likes anything with oats. I was afraid these would be too sweet but they were not. Will make these again sometime. The cookie dough comes together in no time so it’s a quick cookie if you skip the bears and decorating, but why would anyone want to do that. ☺️
Hey Courtney,
Thanks a lot for giving the recipe a try, I am delighted that the recipe was enjoyed! Happy Sunday! xTieghan