Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

I still don't have my Christmas tree up. This is unusual for me, it's usually up the last week of November. I'm feeling left out, I wanna be one of the cool kids. Tomorrow - come hell or high water, a tree will be erected in my living room. 


But tonight...I baked. I feel much better now. I also chatted with my BFF for 2 hours on the phone, so all is good in my world. My husband is at his work Christmas party. I've been reading a lot of blogs and people are talking about the stress of having to attend their husband's dreaded work Christmas party. I feel for them, I do. Even as I snort with laughter at the perils of having to find something to wear, and then the whole crisis of whether or not to wear pantyhose. I, on the other hand, elect not to participate. I'm not missed, I'm okay with that.


So, in lieu of stuffing myself in a pair of Spanx and applying a second layer of make-up to my tired and haggard face, I put on my favorite sweats and decided to put a dent in my Christmas baking. I started with these: Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies from Bon Appetit. These babies are decadent, I almost made them for my daughter's class but now I'm glad I didn't. They're delicious, but they're for the hardcore chocolate lover, they might not be appreciated by little ones. I'm gonna test that theory tomorrow on my own kids, right after I feed them the mandatory Saturday morning pancakes. 


These cookies are a dense like a brownie, except they have the crisp outer layer, similar to the Chocolate Crackle cookie without the icing sugar. Then they're drizzled with chocolate and finished with crushed candy-canes. Delicious and pretty, a nice addition to a cookie platter. The original recipe calls for peppermint extract in the cookie dough, but I opted not to do that. My friend Kim once told me that the chocolate-mint combo was an abomination. I almost slapped her. We made it through that rough patch though.


I've included the recipe exactly as written in the magazine, with my changes in brackets.

I found the dough a little soft for rolling into balls, but a quick 10 minutes in the fridge remedied that.

Don't you love my new spatula? I bought it just cause of the color. 

 Bake for 7 - 9 minutes, until cracks appear, like this:

Allow to cool completely.

 Now take a couple of candy canes and beat the hell out of them. Pretend you snatched them from the hands of the bratty kid who's mean to your daughter. It's more fun that way. And don't act appalled, not all kids are precious.

 Drizzle the cooled cookie with melted chocolate

 and then add the smashed up candy canes.

Yum, yum and yum.

Keep reading for the recipe. 

Recipe

(Source: Bon Appetit)

2 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (do not exceed 61% cacao; 15 to 16 ounces), divided
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder  (I omitted)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used salted)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I omitted and doubled the vanilla)
2 large eggs
4 candy canes or 16 red-and-white-striped hard peppermint candies, coarsely crushed

Preparation 
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large 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. Measure 2/3 cup melted chocolate; transfer to small metal bowl and reserve for drizzling.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Add sugar and both extracts; beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat to blend. Beat in melted chocolate from medium bowl. Add dry ingredients; beat just to blend. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Measure 1 level tablespoonful dough; roll dough between palms to form ball. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies 11/2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked all over and tester inserted into center comes out with large moist crumbs attached, 8 to 9 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to racks to cool completely.

Rewarm reserved 2/3 cup chocolate over small saucepan of simmering water. Using fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over, arranging some pieces with red parts showing. Chill just until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 weeks ahead. Store airtight in freezer. Bring to room temperature before serving.