Turn off your phone, turn on some music, clear your calendar and get ready for some serious baking! You’ll want at least three hours of free time to get to the finish line of these cookies. The cookie part tastes just like a girls scouts thin mint!
white chocolate peppermint cookies
ingredients
- 1 c. unbleached flour
- 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 5 tbl. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 3/4 tsp.peppermint extract
- 4 large candy canes, crushed
- 2 pounds white chocolate, chopped
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Cream butter and sugar on medium high speed in an electric mixer for 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium, add egg, then egg yolk, mixing well after each addition. Add peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Form dough into 2 balls, flatten into disks and wrap in plastic. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
When ready, roll out 1 disk to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured cutting board. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut out cookies with a 2 inch circle cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Re-roll scraps and repeat. Freeze for another 15 minutes. Repeat with other disk. Preheat oven to 325°.
Bake cookies on middle rack, one sheet at a time. Bake 12 minutes, until cookies are no longer shiny. Transfer parchment with cookies to wire rack to cool.
Melt chocolate in a bowl on a wire rack over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Put candy canes into a ziploc bag, and use a hammer to crush them. Put pieces in a bowl. Set up your workspace with melted chocolate, crushed candy canes, wire racks and cooled cookies. Use one hand to dip the cookie in chocolate, letting extra drip off and scraping the bottom against the side of the bowl. Place on wire rack. Use other hand to sprinkle some crushed candy cane on top. Repeat until all cookies are decorated. Let dry on wire rack.
Some notes on white chocolate:
white chocolate is not, technically, chocolate at all. It can be tricky to melt, so get the best quality baker’s white chocolate you can find. Don’t use white chocolate chips here. When melted it will be too thick and leave marks on the cookie. If you find that your melted chocolate is too thick, you can add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to thin it. Make sure to whisk it in completely.
double batch made, 93 cookies, 1,042 to go.