Dark chocolate peppermint patty cookies

My coworker Leigh hosts an annual cookie swap around the holidays. I searched high and low for a recipe to make for this festive event and had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time. Of course, I found it on Beantown Baker and knew that this would be a hit.

We were asked to bring about 4 dozen cookies for the swap, and I saw that the original recipe made about 2 dozen so I doubled the recipe but only ended up with 40 cookies. I also wasn't sure what the "small" peppermint patties were but soon realized that they are the standard size patties that you can find just about everywhere. I bought two bags of them and had about 12 peppermint patties left over. Ok, maybe I snuck a few to eat, so there might be less than 10 left.  I'm not telling.

These cookies were fantastic! They were time-consuming to chill, flatten and shape around the peppermint patties, but I think that they were worth it. I used dark cocoa to cut down on the sweetness and that worked very well. My husband exclaimed that these were his second favorite cookies to date (with his #1 favorite being the Jacques Torres mudslide cookies).

I also didn't add any decorating sugar because 1) I felt the cookies would be sweet enough on their own, and 2) I don't have decorating sugar!

I'm happy to say that my cookies were a hit at the cookie exchange - they went very quickly and seemed like one of the first kinds to go. Give these a try!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg 
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa (I used dark cocoa)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 24 to 26 small (1-1/2 inch) York Peppermint Patties
• White decorator's sugar (I did not use)

Directions

Beat butter and sugar in large mixing bowl; add egg, milk and vanilla, blending thoroughly. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture, blending well. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle. (Dough will be a little soft.)

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Remove wrappers from peppermint patties.

Roll dough into 1-1/4 inch balls. For each cookie flatten ball slightly; press peppermint patty into dough. Mold dough around patty so that it is completely covered. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Using knife edge press star design into surface of each cookie; sprinkle with decorator's sugar. (I did not do this last step.)

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until cookie is set (I baked for 12 minutes); sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 2 dozen cookies. (I got 40 cookies by doubling the recipe.)

Source: Beantown Baker. Originally seen on Hersheys.com

My coworker Leigh hosts an annual cookie swap around the holidays. I searched high and low for a recipe to make for this festive event and had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time. Of course, I found it on Beantown Baker and knew that this would be a hit.

We were asked to bring about 4 dozen cookies for the swap, and I saw that the original recipe made about 2 dozen so I doubled the recipe but only ended up with 40 cookies. I also wasn't sure what the "small" peppermint patties were but soon realized that they are the standard size patties that you can find just about everywhere. I bought two bags of them and had about 12 peppermint patties left over. Ok, maybe I snuck a few to eat, so there might be less than 10 left.  I'm not telling.

These cookies were fantastic! They were time-consuming to chill, flatten and shape around the peppermint patties, but I think that they were worth it. I used dark cocoa to cut down on the sweetness and that worked very well. My husband exclaimed that these were his second favorite cookies to date (with his #1 favorite being the Jacques Torres mudslide cookies).

I also didn't add any decorating sugar because 1) I felt the cookies would be sweet enough on their own, and 2) I don't have decorating sugar!

I'm happy to say that my cookies were a hit at the cookie exchange - they went very quickly and seemed like one of the first kinds to go. Give these a try!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg 
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa (I used dark cocoa)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 24 to 26 small (1-1/2 inch) York Peppermint Patties
• White decorator's sugar (I did not use)

Directions

Beat butter and sugar in large mixing bowl; add egg, milk and vanilla, blending thoroughly. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture, blending well. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle. (Dough will be a little soft.)

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Remove wrappers from peppermint patties.

Roll dough into 1-1/4 inch balls. For each cookie flatten ball slightly; press peppermint patty into dough. Mold dough around patty so that it is completely covered. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Using knife edge press star design into surface of each cookie; sprinkle with decorator's sugar. (I did not do this last step.)

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until cookie is set (I baked for 12 minutes); sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 2 dozen cookies. (I got 40 cookies by doubling the recipe.)

Source: Beantown Baker. Originally seen on Hersheys.com