This past year for Christmas, I wanted to make desserts that incorporated the flavors of the season: peppermint and eggnog. I really wanted to make one dish that took both of these flavors to a whole new level, and may wind up doing so next year. I have made spiced sugar cookies for the past two years, and decided to add another cookie into the Christmas cookie rotation. I used a basic homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe and then added a bunch of crushed peppermint candy twists (the hard ones, NOT the soft ones!), but you could use starlight bursts or candy canes as well. I crushed the mints in the food processor, much easier to do than by hand! I love the combination of chocolate and peppermint! A perfect marriage of cookie and peppermint bark! Sometimes, peppermint bark is just too rich! I used white chocolate chips in half, and dark chocolate chips in the other. They came out fantastic! I doubled the recipe, making two balls of dough, and made about 4 dozen cookies, give or take. This year as part of Eoin's gift to his family members, we made each (about 8 in total) little gift boxes filled with 2 kinds of cookies. We also filled a bucket for each of his Grandparents with both cookies, made a tin-full for my landlord and still had some to keep for ourselves!
- 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup of butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips (your preference as to white, milk chocolate or dark chocolate; or a mix of all 3!)
- Between 1/4 and 3/4 cup of the crushed peppermint. Less if you want a more subtle taste, more if you want the flavors to be more prominent.
Directions:
- Using an electric mixer, mix together the brown and white sugars and the butter, until it becomes incorporated and resembles wet sand.
- Add the vanilla and egg to the bowl, and beat.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, flour and baking soda.
- Using your hands (because it's way easier), add the dry ingredients to the wet, a little at a time.
- When your dough has become thoroughly incorporated, mix in the chocolate and the peppermint.
- Wrap dough in wax paper, and then wrap in clear plastic wrap. Chill dough at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, take approximately 1 tablespoon worth of dough and roll into balls. Eoin loved helping with this part! Just beware! The dough is extremely sticky!
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cool on tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
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