Have a ton of broken candy canes? Laura San Nicolas has the answer for you.

Cookie exchange, anyone?

What better way to encourage the lessons that the holiday season brings us than to have a cookie exchange?

Cookie exchanges give bakers an opportunity to showcase their special cookie recipes, meet up with friends, imbibe in holiday favorites such as eggnog and mulled cider and best of all get a multitude of baked treats in the end. Who wouldn’t want that?

This year’s host happens to be an avid chocolate fiend…so I thought I would whip up a cookie that would incorporate both chocolate and the holiday season. 

This year, my contribution will focus on a holiday treat that is perfect for this type of event. It is a wonderfully sinful chocolate peppermint cookie. Candy canes are so abundant this time of year and I always seem to have a handful that gets damaged along the way. For some reason the amount of broken candy canes seems to increase with each year…could there be a correlation between the rise in broken candy canes and the increasing wisdom of my 10 year old? Thankfully for her, the holiday season inspires my forgiving side. I turn a blind eye to this obvious sabotage this time of year 🙂

This recipe will give you a wonderfully chocolaty, chewy cookie with a yummy peppermint frosting.

Recipe for the decadent and chewy chocolate cookie:

2 cups flour
¾  cup cocoa powder  (use the best you  can find, it will make a difference)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ sticks butter (softened)
2 cups baking sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First preheat  your Thermador wall oven to 350 degrees.

Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla last. Beat well.

Working in small batches, gradually add the flour mixture, beating well each time. 

Using a cookie dough scooper — I like the 1.5 teaspoon scooper — drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 – 9 minutes.  The cookies will be slightly soft and puffy.  Remove from heat and cool on a wire rack. Once completely cooled, they will lose the puffy top. Ice with peppermint buttercream frosting and smush (this is a technical term) into a small pile of crushed peppermint candy canes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Frosting:

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter softened
1 tablespoon whole milk (this is just a starting point – add more as needed – I like my frosting on the thin side for this cookie)
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Optional (but very encouraged): crushed candy cane or peppermints morsels