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In the spirit of the holidays we recently took to the kitchen a second time to follow up our smashingly successful Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies with another round of treats to share. This time we had our eye on a more Christmassy flavor: Peppermint Candy Cane. The cookie? Chocolate Peppermint. It's a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie with a mint-flavored glaze sprinkled with crushed candy cane pieces.
In general these were fairly simple to make. The batter was a lot stickier and messier than we'd expected, and the cookies didn't spread as much as we'd thought once we popped the trays in the oven. But the results were rather impressive, in looks and in taste. One recipient of the cookies cursed us, saying they were so good that they had to eat them all in one sitting. Another taster gave them a big thumbs up, noting that they had a similar flavor to that famous cookie, the Girl Scout Thin Mint; though the minty taste is indeed reminiscent of that annual indulgence, these are also more textured and rich, and have that definite holiday flair with those red, white, and green bits of candy cane on top. Most of all, people are drawn to the looks of this cookie--they look fancy and professional, but that's readily accomplished. All you need is the recipe, and, if you're so inclined, the set of photos we took to guide you through the procedure.
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
From Food Network.com/ Audrey, 1st Place Winner Roseville Cookie Swap, California
(Note: LAist made some modifications, which we've italicized)
Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
Glaze*:
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 drops mint extract, or more to taste
3 1/2 teaspoons water
*Either we're sloppy or too generous with our glaze, because we wound up needing double these quantities and make a second batch of glaze.
Topping:
8 small packaged candy canes (we used the strip of canes, each one in its own loose wrapper), crushed into small bits
For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla. On a low speed beat in the flour mixture a little at a time. Gently mix in chocolate chips.
On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart. Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 to10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Cool completely. (We cooled the cookies on racks, then returned them to lined trays for the glazing and candy cane sprinkling, since it's a very messy process.)
For the glaze:
In a small bowl mix together the sugar; mint extract and water until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium resealable plastic bag and snip off the corner. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. While glaze is setting sprinkle crushed candy cane bits on to the cookies. Let cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes.
