The taste combination of chocolate and mint is a weakness of mine! Costco sells tubs of superb dark chocolate peppermint bark. So does Trader Joe’s. If I had my way, I’d eat all of it in one sitting. Not so good for blood sugar levels, so I usually end up convincing myself to stick to one piece (per sitting–I sit a lot during the day).
No, this article isn’t about making your own peppermint bark! Instead, it’s about a chocolate glazed cookie that pays a slight nod to my favorite holiday season indulgence. Slight, I say, because there is only a hint of peppermint flavor and crunch, so as not to push away those who are not chocolate/peppermint fanatics like me. It’s also not wildly chocolaty either–from the chocoholic’s perspective, that is. It is a crunchy shortbread-type cookie that has a festive appearance, and that should appeal to a wider audience than the chocolate/peppermint crew.
This cookie calls for crushed peppermint candy canes or peppermint stick. How finely crushed they should be is a matter of preference. My home taste testers report that if too coarsely crushed, the peppermint sticks to your teeth. Not good. Here are options when it comes to appearance:
I eventually went with lower left-hand corner for this batch. You can stick to cookies without any adornment, and even no frosting, but maybe not for the Christmas cookie table. They are still tasty, but probably too plain-looking.
The cookie dough is super easy to make, especially for kids. The dough is stiff enough to handle with your hands. Form the dough into balls and place them on the cookie sheet, evenly spaced. No refrigeration is necessary beforehand, but it is an option if you feel the dough is not stiff enough.
They come out of the oven looking plain as day.
The glaze/frosting caused me some trouble with this batch. I took a risk and microwaved the chocolate chips FIRST, which, if you are not careful enough, will give you a thick and unspreadable, unworkable, nearly ruined chocolate. I wasn’t careful enough so that is what basically happened to me. What I did to fix it was to mix in some melted butter, one tablespoon at a time. I stopped adding butter when the desired consistency was reached.
In the recipe below, I recommend first bringing some water and butter to a boil first in a saucepan on the stove-top, throwing in all of the chocolate later when off the heat, and then mixing. This should ensure that you have greater control over the outcome and won’t get an unspreadable disaster like I had. However, you might get a more runny glaze that takes some time to set. If you want to risk it, do it all in the microwave, but be careful.
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dozen
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- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided: 1/2 cup for cookie dough; 1 1/4 cups for glaze)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick or 2 ounces)
- 3 candy canes (finely crushed)
Ingredients
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- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine water and butter and bring to a boil. Take off heat and pour in the remaining chocolate morsels (1 1/4 cups) all at once. Stir until melted.
- Using a spoon, dollop and spread melted chocolate onto the tops of each cookie. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until set.
