Very Merry Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I have been busy in the kitchen the past two weeks as I’ve been baking cookies for the holidays.  No, we don’t need the 17 dozen cookies I’ve made so far.  But I just love baking this time of year, trying new recipes and perfecting old ones, and anyway, I’m sure I’ll find a good use for those cookies over the next week or so.

As I’ve been baking the past couple of weeks, my husband just keeps asking for the same cookies- Very Merry Chocolate Peppermint Cookies.  I only make them at Christmas-time, since they’re a bit too holiday-ish for the rest of the year, in my opinion.  But they are delicious, so if you are still looking for a yummy batch of cookies to make this holiday season, these might just be a great bake.

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
4 squares Baker’s semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted  (There are directions on the box for melting.  You have to be very careful not to over-heat the chocolate, or else your cookies will taste bitter.)
1 cup white chocolate morsels
2 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Secret Ingredient-  If you have it on-hand, you could include a splash of liquid peppermint coffee creamer too.  It’s not necessary, but I’ve found it gives a little extra peppermint taste to the cookies and makes them just a bit more moist.

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla until mixed well.  I’ve found using an electric mixer gets the ingredients to a nice smoothness better than mixing by hand.

3.  Add flour and baking soda, and stir until well blended.

4.  Stir in the melted Baker’s chocolate, until the chocolate is spread throughout the dough and the color is consistent throughout.

5.  Divide dough into 50 pieces, and rolls each piece into a round ball.  Place on baking sheets, two inches apart, and bake for 9-11 minutes.

6. After baking, cool on baking for 3 minutes, then cool completely on wax paper or wire rack.

7.  When the cookies are cooled, melt the white chocolate morsels.  You can either melt these on low-heat over the stove or in 15-second-and-then-stir increments in the microwave.

8.  When melted, pour the liquid chocolate into a sandwich bag and seal.  Snip the tip of a bottom corner off the bag.  Then drizzle the chocolate over the cookies.

9.  Before the chocolate hardens, sprinkle the crushed candy cane pieces over the melted chocolate.

While these cookies are yummy when first baked, we’ve found they actually taste the best 2-3 days after baking.  I haven’t a clue why, but that’s just been our observation after lots of testing.  :)

Enjoy!