We’re starting to get our Christmas Cookie Baking List together, so I thought I’d bake a batch of unrelated – but holiday-centric – cookies just for the heck of it.  I really wanted to try out some chocolate peppermint chunks to see how they were because I have an idea for a chocolate peppermint biscotti this year.  We’ve dramatically cut the amount of cookies we bake every year, but every year we also come up with some new ideas to augment the old standards – and a chocolate peppermint biscotti – dipped in chocolate – sounds like it may be a fun idea.

After tasting a couple of the peppermint chips I decided to up the chocolate content a bit and made a batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies with a bit more cocoa and a heaping teaspoon of espresso powder.  I also added more plain chocolate chips to offset the peppermint a bit.

The end result was a pretty festive cookie.  Lots of chocolate with a goodly amount of peppermint. It gave me a good starting point for the biscotti.  And if I dip them in a good dark chocolate, they’ll be the perfect holiday treat – amongst all our other perfect holiday treats.

I used a #40 disher to scoop out the cookies.  They hold 1.75 tablespoons of dough and are the perfect size for adult-sized cookies.  It’s also the perfect size for mini-muffins. A #60 disher is just barely a tablespoon and makes a great kid-sized cookie.

I highly recommend everyone putting several different sized scoops on their Christmas Wish List this year.  They really make cookie, muffin, and even pancake-making, a snap!  We have 7 or 8 different-sized scoops we use for a variety of things.  We’ve also had them for years.  They really do last forever.

Chocolate Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 heaping tsp espresso powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups chocolate peppermint chunks
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, expresso powder, and salt and set aside. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and and vanilla and beat until combined well.

Beat in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir in chips.

Use a #40 scoop if you have one – and you should – and bake about 13 minutes or until cookies are just set and begin to crack on top. Remove from oven and cool.