Peppermint-Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Christmastime ... hmm, 'tis the season! When I was younger, now was the time I'd raid the family freezer plundering it of my mother's homemade Christmas cookies. I could not be stopped. To this very day I remain prideful of my erstwhile cookie thieving ability. Stealth was only a part of my game. Locks could not impede me and were soon broken. The methods and manner of resealing packages became an art. Despicably, so that the finger of blame would point elsewhere, I'd leave false clues. The lower I dove into my bag of nefarious tricks the higher I soared. I have no regrets. Hey! Mom's Christmas cookies were that good! Well, all that was back in the day. Now, I'm making my own cookies. This recipe will get you some pretty good cookies and they're not overly difficult to make. I got the recipe from bon appetit.


Peppermint-Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups - semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups - all purpose flour
1/4 cup - unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp - baking powder
1 tsp - instant coffee
1/2 tsp - salt
1/2 cup - unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
1 cup - sugar
1 tsp - vanilla extract
1 tsp - peppermint extract
2 - large eggs
16 - red-and-white striped peppermint candies, crushed coarsely

Preparations:

Stir 2 cups chocolate chips in metal bowl (breakfast bowl size), set over saucepan of simmering water until melted, stir occasionally. Measure out 2/3 cup melted chocolate transfer to another metal bowl. Reserve for drizzling.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, instant coffee, and salt in medium bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add sugar and both extracts (vanilla, peppermint). Beat until smooth. Add eggs an beat to blend. Beat in melted chocolate (excepting the 2/3 cup which has been reserved). Add the dry ingredients and beat just to blend. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Measure 1 level tablespoonful dough, roll dough between palms to form ball. (Note, if the dough mixture is too gooey to work at this point, you'll need to refrigerate it for at least an hour. The refrigeration, if needed, will firm up the dough making it easier to work with.) Place dough balls on prepared baking sheet (rimmed bake sheet covered with parchment paper). Space the dough balls 1-1/2 inches apart.

Cooking:

Bake cookies in a 375 degree oven for 9 minutes. The cookie tops should be cracked all over, some will be dramatically cracked though most will be subtly cracked. My experience called for 12 minutes.

Remove cookies from oven, cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies and parchment paper to counter top to cool completely.

Rewarm reserved 2/3 cup chocolate over saucepan of simmering water. Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy over, arrange some of the pieces to show their red parts. Chill until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes.

Comments:

Crush the peppermint more finely than that shown in the above photo. Nice cookie to serve cool or frozen.