Dark Choco Peppermint Spice cookies!
Posted on
12/28/2012
by blackmagedark
- Tags:!holiday post, !theme post, chocolate, mint
Hello BBB! I love being a member of this group for recipes and advice as others have posted, but I generally don't do my own posts here. That said, this is my first recipe I'm putting up here! I usually alter recipes slightly, change a few ingredients here and there, but the one here has been altered and morphed so much that it's basically become its own thing, and I'm excited to share it for some belated holiday cheer!
About a few years ago, I started making holiday cookies for my out of state friends, since we barely see each other. We decide on which cookie to have, and we go from there; generally anything chocolate is a crowd pleaser though. This year we decided on a mint chocolate variety, and after realizing the mint extract I bought smells and tastes like toothpaste, I figured I'd just crush peppermint candies for the same effect, and this Frankensteined recipe of holiday goodness was born.
(yield roughly 33 cookies; you might wanna double this recipe, they go fast!!)
- 1/2 cup peppermint candies, crushed (I used a giant 7" candy cane)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar (I like to use raw; same thing as granulated white but better)
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I used Hershey's)
- 2 tbsp milk (I used 1% b/c that's what we drink)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground instant coffee (I used a Starbucks roast, though I don't recall which)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- cute holiday sprinkles or more crushed peppermint candies for topping
1) Get your peppermint candies and put them in a ziploc bag. Take a pestle mallet, meat tenderizer, or equivalent, and bash the @&#! out of those candies! Set them aside in a small cup.
2) In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and egg. You can use a mixer for this, but the batter gets incredibly thick later on, so I just do everything by hand. A pastry mixer or fork will do the job just fine as well.
3) Slowly mix in the flour, then the cocoa powder, until it forms a soft but thick dough. Towards the end I have to mix this literally by hand, so be warned!
4) Mix together the milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, cinnamon, coffee, and salt. It will smell amazing and you'll be tempted to eat the dough :).
5) Shape the dough into 2" logs, about 7" long each. Chill for at least 2 hours, up to overnight. I haven't frozen this dough before, but I can imagine it'll hold up for at least a week in the freezer if you have to. But honestly this smells so good that you'd just wanna bake it ASAP.
6) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and bust out the cookie trays, ungreased. Cut the dough logs into 1/4" slices and place them about 2" apart from each other. Shower some sprinkles or crushed candies over them if you'd like, and put them in the oven for 325F. They'll take about 5-7 minutes to bake, or wait until edges set and are crispy. For a chewy cookie, take out the trays when the cookie's edges set but it's still soft towards the center. For a more crispy cookie, leave them in the oven a minute or so after the edges start to set. Cool for at least 10 minutes before diving in!
**TIPS**
- Feel free to adjust any of the ingredients' measurements based on your own personal tastes. For less of a minty punch, cut the crushed peppermint candies to 1/3 cup; for more, 3/4 cup.
- I use this dough's base a lot for my other cookies, and sometimes I run out of eggs when I decide to make them! This dough tastes great with 1/2 mashed banana or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce as well! No one can taste the difference!
- For more of a spiced cookie, add 1 tsp ground cinnamon. For more of a mocha cookie, add 1 tsp ground instant coffee. If you're cutting back on the cocoa, add more flour to compensate and cut the salt down to no less than 1/4 tsp.
About a few years ago, I started making holiday cookies for my out of state friends, since we barely see each other. We decide on which cookie to have, and we go from there; generally anything chocolate is a crowd pleaser though. This year we decided on a mint chocolate variety, and after realizing the mint extract I bought smells and tastes like toothpaste, I figured I'd just crush peppermint candies for the same effect, and this Frankensteined recipe of holiday goodness was born.
(yield roughly 33 cookies; you might wanna double this recipe, they go fast!!)
- 1/2 cup peppermint candies, crushed (I used a giant 7" candy cane)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar (I like to use raw; same thing as granulated white but better)
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I used Hershey's)
- 2 tbsp milk (I used 1% b/c that's what we drink)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground instant coffee (I used a Starbucks roast, though I don't recall which)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- cute holiday sprinkles or more crushed peppermint candies for topping
1) Get your peppermint candies and put them in a ziploc bag. Take a pestle mallet, meat tenderizer, or equivalent, and bash the @&#! out of those candies! Set them aside in a small cup.
2) In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and egg. You can use a mixer for this, but the batter gets incredibly thick later on, so I just do everything by hand. A pastry mixer or fork will do the job just fine as well.
3) Slowly mix in the flour, then the cocoa powder, until it forms a soft but thick dough. Towards the end I have to mix this literally by hand, so be warned!
4) Mix together the milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, cinnamon, coffee, and salt. It will smell amazing and you'll be tempted to eat the dough :).
5) Shape the dough into 2" logs, about 7" long each. Chill for at least 2 hours, up to overnight. I haven't frozen this dough before, but I can imagine it'll hold up for at least a week in the freezer if you have to. But honestly this smells so good that you'd just wanna bake it ASAP.
6) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and bust out the cookie trays, ungreased. Cut the dough logs into 1/4" slices and place them about 2" apart from each other. Shower some sprinkles or crushed candies over them if you'd like, and put them in the oven for 325F. They'll take about 5-7 minutes to bake, or wait until edges set and are crispy. For a chewy cookie, take out the trays when the cookie's edges set but it's still soft towards the center. For a more crispy cookie, leave them in the oven a minute or so after the edges start to set. Cool for at least 10 minutes before diving in!
**TIPS**
- Feel free to adjust any of the ingredients' measurements based on your own personal tastes. For less of a minty punch, cut the crushed peppermint candies to 1/3 cup; for more, 3/4 cup.
- I use this dough's base a lot for my other cookies, and sometimes I run out of eggs when I decide to make them! This dough tastes great with 1/2 mashed banana or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce as well! No one can taste the difference!
- For more of a spiced cookie, add 1 tsp ground cinnamon. For more of a mocha cookie, add 1 tsp ground instant coffee. If you're cutting back on the cocoa, add more flour to compensate and cut the salt down to no less than 1/4 tsp.
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