Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Every year I try a few new cookie recipes. Well, to be honest more than a few. Many are not worth writing about, but every now and then I come across a winner. Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch cookies definitely fall into the winner category.

I found the recipe in the December Bon Appetit magazine. I think what grabbed me was the enormous spread devoted to these festive gems. The larger than life cookies jumped off the page. The crushed peppermint candies and the melted chocolate decorating the tops make these the quintessential Christmas cookie. The cookie is soft, chocolaty, and is gently flavored with peppermint extract.

I baked these over the weekend and stored them in an airtight cookie tin overnight before I finished them off with the melted chocolate and candy. I popped them into the freezer and will share them with friends next week when the rest of my cookies are ready for distribution to friends and family.

May God bless those Bon Appetite editors. Seriously, I think I have a new favorite cookie.














Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

2 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (not to exceed 61% cacao; 15 to 16 ounces)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 large eggs
4 candy canes or 16 hard peppermint candies, coarsely crushed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Stir 2 cups chocolate chips in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth (or use a double boiler). Measure 2/3 cup melted chocolate; transfer to a small bowl and reserve for drizzling.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Add sugar and extracts, beat until smooth. Add eggs, beat to blend. Beat in melted chocolate from medium bowl. Add dry ingredients, beat until just blended. Stir in remaining chocolate chips. Chill dough for 20 - 30 minutes if too warm to form into balls. Measure 1 level tablespoonful dough and roll between palms to form a ball. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until cookies are cracked on top, 8 to 9 minutes. Cookies should remain moist. Do not over bake. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to racks to cool completely.

Finish cookies by rewarming reserved 2/3 cup chocolate in microwave or over saucepan of simmering water. Drizzle chocolate over cookies using a fork. Sprinkle crushed peppermints on each cookie. Chill until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes.

Can be made ahead of time and frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Cookie Press rating: 5 cookies! (out of 5)

Chocolate Mint Wafers

The girl scouts are at it again. Hawking cookies in public spaces, they stand in front of supermarkets, drugstores, and on street corners. They sometimes shout as you exit the stores as if you aren't already helplessly drawn to the table of cookies like a moth to a porch light. You simply can't resist the little buggers in their tacky green uniforms making eye contact and being as sweet as the cookies they're selling.

They use cuteness to lure you in and make a killing from overpriced (but yummy) cookies like Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs, and last year's new cookie, Dulce de Leche. Two boxes? Sure no problem. Three boxes? Why not, it's for a good cause. Four boxes? I can always freeze them. Yeah right.

My absolute favorite are those addictive Thin Mints. Some people smoke, some do illicit drugs. I do Thin Mints.

About two years ago, I found a recipe for chocolate-mint wafers in Martha's Everyday Food magazine that are very much like the Thin Mints I adore so much.

For the cocoa powder, I used Droste, dutch processed cocoa imported from Holland. If you can find it, (and can afford a splurge) it's totally worth it. Pricey, at about $7 - $9 per 8 ounce box, it has an intense chocolate flavor without the bitterness of unsweetened cocoa powder.

These cookies are easy to make. Be patient when dipping the wafers into the chocolate. Let the chocolate drip back into the bowl and gently scrape the bottom of the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate.

Chocolate Mint Wafers

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powders
1/4 teaspoon (plus 1/8 teaspoon salt for chocolate coating)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixture on low, gradually add flour mixture. Mix until combined being careful not to over mix.

Form balls of dough about 1 teaspoon each, and place on cookie sheets. Dip bottom of a glass in water, and flatten balls into 1 1/2 inch round discs (about 1/4 inch thick). Bake until slightly firm to the touch, 8 to 10 minutes. If baking two pans at a time, rotate pans midway through baking. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Place chocolate, peppermint extract, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt into a double boiler, or large, heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Dunk each cookie into the chocolate and carefully remove using a fork. Carefully scrape the bottom of the fork against the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Allow chocolate to drip off.

Refrigerate until chocolate has hardened, about 30 minutes. Keep cookies chilled until ready to serve.

Cookie Press Review

These cookies are simply incredible. A rich, chocolate cookie covered in an intense layer of bittersweet chocolate, I can't think of anything better. My tasters comments weren't audible over the ummms and ooohs. I'll take that as a good sign.

Cookie press rating: 5 cookies (out of 5). A perfect score!