Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Six years ago I found this recipe and it became “the” cookies I make each year around Christmas. There are a few cookies out there that just scream Christmas to me (Russian Tea Cakes, krumkake, gingerbread) but this is the cookie that I make to share. I don’t like making cookies that need to be cut out and decorated. I get impatient with that process and now my time is much more precious than it was a few years ago. The scooping and plop method is much more my style when it comes to cookies and aside from pressing the cookies into a little crushed peppermint these are that simple.

Chocolate and peppermint make such a lovely combination. This cookie has just the right amount of peppermint to go with the chocolate. I like that there are two different peppermint sources and two different chocolate sources. When husband saw all of the ingredients for these cookies out on the counter his eyes got huge and he actually said “wow.” Honestly there aren’t THAT many, I had a few duplicates out – my vanilla was down to its last drop.

After making these cookies a few times I’ve made some adjustments to the original recipe. I bumped up the cooking temperature, subtracted some of the peppermints and added some time for the cookies to firm up after taking them out of the oven. I always use a silpat when I bake these beauties. I found that trying to get a spatula under them to move them to the wire racks turns the spatula into a mess, the melted candies can be a little gooey. With a silpat you can lift the cookies after they sit for a few minutes and they transfer perfectly. Also, the silpat lets you discard any melted candies that may get stuck on your cookie sheets. The cookies do spread while cooking so make sure you place them at least two inches apart.

If you have a food processor I highly suggest crushing your peppermints in it. Husband happily took my ziplock bag of unwrapped peppermints to the basement to crush them with a hammer. It worked but I also had a mish mash of pieces and peppermint dust in the basement, on the stairs and on the kitchen floor.

Enjoy!

1 ½ cups flour

All packed up and ready to go to the Cookie Exchange

½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. coarse salt
4 oz. milk chocolate chips
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. pure peppermint extract
3 large eggs
40 round swirled peppermint candies, coarsely crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Heat for one minute at 50% power, stir and repeat until completely melted.

Pour chocolate in a mixing bowl. With a paddle attachment mix in sugar, extracts, and eggs on medium low speed until combined. Reduce speed to low and mix in the flour mixture. Stir in one third of the candies.

Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Using a 1 ½ in ice cream scoop, form mounds of dough. Dip cookie tops into remaining candies to coat. Place cookies, candy sides up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (silpat), spacing two inches apart. Bake cookies until just set, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets for five minutes then transfer to wire racks.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Adapted from http://www.marthastewart.com/334692/chocolate-peppermint-cookies