Mission Accomplished: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies and Snickerdoodles

Hello Nomsters,

Wrapped Up and Ready to Go!

Happy New Year! Hopefully everyone's enjoyed the holiday season and has been ringing in 2011. Regardless of my unpunctual post, I did in fact manage to successfully carry out the Cookie Challenge. I opted to make two different kinds of cookies, the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (which some of you had the chance to order) and straight up Snickerdoodles. After a morning of present opening and Christmas cooking, I spent my afternoon and evening rolling and baking the cookie dough that I had made the previous night. Spending an afternoon running back and forth from the oven with cookie sheets, I was happy to finally see over six dozen cookies all lined up on my counter. The final touch was packaging. I went and bought little clear bags from Target (in the gift wrap isle) and used typical present wrapping ribbon to add a personal touch to the cookies. The recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Cookies is included and pictures are floating around throughout this post.

Enjoy and look out for more posts and updates on 2011 here soon!

All the best!

The Georgetown Foodie
 
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (anywhere from 2 dozen (lrg) to 4 dozen (small/med) cookies)
Ingredients:
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup cocoa powder
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-12 ounces semi sweet chocolate (that's one bag of Toll House Chocolate Chip)
-1/4-1/2 package of Herseys' candy cane kisses (optional, basically any mint chocolate can be used, but the candy cane kisses are a nice touch because the cookies end up having specs of red)
-4 large eggs
-1 Tbsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp peppermint extract
-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (or salted) at room temperature
-1 or 2 Tbsp butter (to be used when double boiling)
-1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, because that's what I usually had in my pantry)
-1/2 cup granulated sugar

For the pink chocolate ribbon:
-1/3 to 1/2 (about 10-20 kisses)
-Microwave


Process:
Cookies:
*Preheat oven to 350f. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment.
-Combine  the flour, cocoa, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
-Cream the butter for about 1 minute, add the white and brown sugars and mix well on medium. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each to incorporate. Mix in the vanilla extract and peppermint extract
-Double boil to melt the chocolates and then let cool down for about 5 minutes.
-Add the chocolate in a stream and mix well.
-Mix in the dry mixture (flour, salt, etc) and mix until the flour just disappears.
-Allow the batter to sit for about 20 minutes if you plan to bake straight away; however, I like my cookies to be chewy and "chubby," therefore I often transfer the dough to Tupperware that has been lined with saran wrap, and place it in the fridge overnight. If you want to follow my method exactly, see the "Cookie Note" I post in the next day about freezing/rolling cookies.
-If you choose to make the cookies directly after waiting 20mins, then scoop out the batter with a spoon or a small cookie scoop leaving about an inch between each cookie. If you plan to roll cookies, then let sit in fridge until firm and use a a spoon to get chucks that can be rolled into balls for baking.
-Bake for about 10 minutes (or until cookies are slightly cracked on top), let cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from the tray and finish cooling on a rack.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Pink Chocolate Ribbon:
-melt down kisses using a small bowl and microwaving in about 20 secon intervals, stirring after each. As the kisses get hotter and melt, they'll help other kisses melt also.
-use a spoon to dab lines back and forth across cookie. Starting at the top of a cookie, dab a bit of chocolate and then stretch to other side of cookie and dab once more. Continue this process until cookie is covered in desired design. 

All Rolled Up (Chocolate Peppermint Cookies)

Snickerdooles

Getting ready for the freezer

 







The Double Boil Method:
Basically, this is the best way to melt chocolate. If there's one thing you need to know about melting chocolate, it's that WATER IS YOUR ENEMY.... hands down, most important rule. Well, that and make sure you don't over cook the chocolate. When in doubt, just melt until almost all is melted, because at that point the heat from the melted chocolate will take care of the rest.
1. Use either two pots or a bowl and a pot and place the smaller on top of the other, fill the bottom pot with enough water to maintain a steady boil, but not too much that it could risk boiling over.
2. Turn on the flame to low/medium, add part of your chocolate and the butter. (I feel as though the butter helps keep the chocolate moist while it melts; however, in most cases of melting chocolate butter is necessary, so you can decide whether to add it or not.).
3. Keep stirring chocolate to help distribute heat evenly, and continue adding chocolate as melt process continues.
4. Continue stirring mixture on and off until chocolate melts, then let cool until ready to combine with other mixture/batter.

Snickerdoodles

The Line Up