tis the season with peppermint chocolate chip cookies

happy holidays!!!!

here’s a great peppermint chocolate chip cookie recipe to give you a break from all the shopping.

when you make these cookies you are going to be the star everywhere you take them. these cookies are a.m.a.z.i.n.g. … seriously. go right now to your kitchen and preheat your oven. they are that good.

measure flour and sift in a large bowl.

IMG_5579

IMG_5580

IMG_5583

add baking soda and salt to the flour.

IMG_5584

cream butter until fluffy.

IMG_5593

add brown sugar and granulated sugar!

IMG_5596
IMG_5600

almost cookie dough…

IMG_5606

add flour slowly

IMG_5609
weigh your chocolate chips.

IMG_5626

mmm!

IMG_5633

put candy canes in food processor and pulse a few times.

IMG_5636 IMG_5642

add candy canes to cookie dough.

IMG_5647

i use a tablespoon to make the cookie dough balls. you can use a small sized ice cream scoop. or a large one but the baking time will be different.

IMG_5648 IMG_5649

sprinkle with sea salt!

IMG_5650 IMG_5654 IMG_5656

i wish you could SMELL this!!

IMG_5657 IMG_5658 IMG_5667 IMG_5668 IMG_5669

and here i went crazy and started to take a million pictures. i love the santa.

recipe and directions are below!

IMG_5673 IMG_5675 IMG_5676 IMG_5677 IMG_5682 IMG_5683 IMG_5687 IMG_5688 IMG_5692 IMG_5695 IMG_5697 IMG_5703 IMG_5707

peppermint chocolate chip cookies

ingredients:

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
6 candy canes
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 large egg, room temperature {sitting on the counter for 30-50 minutes approx.}
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 stick {8 tbsps} unsalted butter, room temperature {cold to the touch and not melted; sitting on the counter for 30-50 minutes approx.}
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/4 tsp sea salt, and more to sprinkle cookie dough balls
1/2 tsp baking soda

yields about 28 cookies

directions:

preheat oven to 375F.

measure flour and sift. add salt baking soda and mix well.

cream butter in medium-high speed until fluffy {2 minutes}. add sugars and mix well.

reduce speed to medium and add egg and vanilla. make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of mixing bowl so everything is mixed well.

reduce speed to low and add flour slowly until combined. don’t over mix.

add chocolate chips and mix with a rubber or wooden spatula.

in a food processor grind candy canes until they are powder. well, you’ll have chunks, but that’s the idea :) add candy canes to cookie dough.

spoon cookie dough with a tablespoon and release dough with the help of a teaspoon onto a cookie sheet. i could fit 12 cookies in mine {about 2-3 inches apart}. sprinkle with sea salt.

bake for 8-10 minutes rotating cookie sheet half way through. yes. you have to rotate it because it makes a huge difference.

let cookies cool a minute and transfer to a cooling rack to cool even more. then you’ll have the chewiest cookies you ever did eat ;)

repeat the steps above until you are out of cookie dough!

***note*** if using a large ice cream scoop, bake for 10-12 minutes. if you have a thin cookie sheet turn down oven temperature to 350F or bake for less time. If the cookie dough it’s too soft, put it in the fridge for 15-30 minutes and start baking away! you may make this recipe without the peppermint and watch everybody drool ;)

have a great holiday season!

love,

carolina

FacebookTwitterGoogle+

Share This Post

in search of the “one”

back in college, i would show my boyfriend the different flavors where i come from. he would love it because it was not your typical tuna-out-of-the-can meal with pop-tarts for dessert. hey. i think tuna and pop-tarts are delicious. not together of course.

i had cable tv then. i was hooked on the food network and would fantasize about doing an internship in new york city. or maybe with martha stewart? i thought, what an experience that would be? i went back and forth between the food network and the crafty/cook/baker mogul. to this day, i still want to be part of either :)

when i first made fried plantains, the bf fell in love with the flavor. and when i introduced grilled flank stake with chimichurri, it was the icing on the cake. (linked recipe has basil and oregano which i disapprove of. i also use lime instead of lemon and red wine vinegar instead of sherry).

“a woman who eats stake is the greatest thing the world can have,” he would chant between bites.

then i made one of my favorites: crêpes. let’s just say he was grateful for my cooking abilities. he absolutely loved those as well.

one day, he tells me that he wants a truly american dessert.

“what are you thinking?” i asked.

“it’s a no-brainer.”

“apple pie?”

“no,” he said.

“umm…what is it?!?”

“chocolate chip cookies… how don’t you know that?”

“they are just too ordinary,” i said looking at him in the eyes.

he was about to defend the lovely cookies when i bursted out laughing and said “i’m kidding, hahahahaha, i love chocolate chip cookies, they are the best!”

his heart rate went back to normal.

i refused to make that recipe from the back of the chocolate-chips bag. you know which one i’m talking about, right?  hint. hint. it is a yellow bag.

so we went to the library and out of all cooking books existent in the giant building, we found the “one.”

we proceeded to go to the copier and duplicate that pretty page – immediately!

i made the recipe that same day. wow! they were d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. !!! so much, that the bf was the human version of the cookie monster from sesame street.

after graduating college, i moved away and lost the precious recipe. or so i thought. a year went by, and after the vast search, i managed to find it. score!

well, i have moved once again. and, yes. i have lost it. i can’t find it anywhere. i seriously don’t know what’s up with that. it seems like the recipe is running away from me, as if it wants to go back to its original home. really recipe? i’ve loved you with all my heart.  don’t worry, i’ll keep you posted if i ever find it.

one minor huge detail i didn’t mention to you is that i am that kind of girl who likes her cookies chewy. and the “one” delivered chewy cookies. just to think about it makes me sad.

i consulted with my friend google to look for the “one” yet again. i came across alton brown’s chewy cookies recipe and they are great! oh, and the bf says that they are the best ones, yet!

i’m still trying to figure out the cooking time because the cookies aren’t that chewy if i leave them in the oven for the time the recipe says.

i have adapted the recipe with 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar instead of 1 1/4 cups, and reduced the oven temperature to 350 degrees f., as i use a dark baking cookie sheet.

chocolate chip cookies by the baking cup

chocolate chip cookies by the baking cup

chocolate chip cookies by the baking cup

chocolate chip cookies by the baking cup

chocolate chip cookies by the baking cup