Festive and delicious and right on time for any Christmas celebration, these cookies include chocolate and cocoa, peppermint and vanilla extracts, and a nice crunchy taste attributed to crushed peppermint candy.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon of baking soda
½ cup of unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
4 ounces of milk chocolate
4 ounces of unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 ½ cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract
45 peppermint candies, crushed
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place racks on lower and upper thirds of the oven.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, cocoa and baking soda.
Melt chocolate and butter in a heat-proof mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water.
My Kitchen Aid stand mixer has a heat-proof mixing bowl, so I directly transferred it to the stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to beat in the eggs, sugar, vanilla and peppermint extracts on medium-high speed.
Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture and 1/3 of the crushed candies.
Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop, form balls of dough and dip the top of the ball in the crushed candy. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches space between cookies.
Bake cookies for 15 minutes, changing position of the sheets in the middle of the cooking time.
Cool cookies on the sheets on the wire racks.
This recipe will make about 35 cookies.
Active time: 10 minutes not including cooling time
Baking time: 15 minutes per batch of cookies
Cookies will stay fresh for 3 days at room temperature, in an air-tight container.
Inspired by a recipe found at www.marthastewart.com
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