Fixin' Leaks and Leeks

If candy cane confetti hits the kitchen like a festive windstorm of merriment, do you… a) finish the email you’re writing, b) freak out and call the Krampus Control Hotline, or c) bake a batch of chocolate cookies and use them as pillows to catch all the fun?

I opted for “c” mostly because “c” is for cookie and confetti and chaos. It’s a recipe for a whole lotta sweet, sweet trouble. And whoopass. Which does not start with a “c,” but candy canes do–and they are about to get obliterated. 

As you’ll notice, this recipe starts off much like the one from last week: with a chocolate chip cookie dough base because there’s a lot of stuff a chocolate chip cookie recipe can be turned into–and I invited peppermint to the party.

So here it is: the Chocolate Peppermint Party Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

–Several candy canes that have been pulverized into Christmas snow and perhaps bigger bits because candy canes are frustratingly hard mofos to whack. Altogether, pound enough to make 1/4 cup.

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 cup of butter, softened

3/4 cup of brown sugar

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 egg

1/4 cup of peppermint schnapps

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Method: Cream the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder together in a large bowl. Add the egg and peppermint schnapps and blend well. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together in another bowl and add it a little at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, blending well. Then, stir in the chocolate chips and half of the crushed candy canes. Drop the mixture by rounded tablespoons–or with a cookie scoop–onto a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 375(F) for 8-10 minutes and decorate with a final sprinkling of candy cane pieces.

Results: The whole house smelled like chocolate and peppermint. But the cookies only had a subtle peppermint taste. Mostly, I tasted the chocolate, which was not a bad thing at all. Very rich and satisfying. The candy cane pieces on top pulled the peppermint flavor together a bit more.

Serve these with:

• Any member of the Krampus Control Hotline who is having a day
• Anyone who needs more candy cane drama in their life
• A bucket of peppermint ice cream
• Troughs of holiday coffee drinks
• That one elf at the mall holiday display who’s just trying to keep it together
• Sleighs full of holiday napkins
• A riot of sleigh bells tinkling through snow-frosted trees as a York Peppermint Pattie wind kicks up, sending festive skiers down candy cane-particle slopes that have suddenly formed in the living room.

Your Turn: What is a favorite recipe you love to change up with new ingredients every now and then?