Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was another one of those recipes that as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make it for the holiday baking. Every picture I saw of these cookies made them look like they had the most perfect chewy, dense texture, just like chocolate chip cookies should be.
Unfortunately, when I made them they didn't turn out quite like the pictures. Mine seemed to turn out with a more cake-like texture than the dense, chewy one that I prefer. I've noticed this happens with a lot of my cookies.
Why is that?
Does anyone know?
Anyone?
Yeah...you should let me know.
But still, cakey texture and all, these were good. They had just the right amount of peppermint and smelled amazing while baking. It's like insta-air freshener for your house. I mean, even if I didn't eat them, it was totally worth it for the smell.
Really.
Promise.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of baking Soda
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 tsp. of peppermint extract
1 cup of chopped dark chocolate

Directions:
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and peppermint extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chopped dark chocolate by hand. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. *You don't have to chill the dough if you are in a hurry.*

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and roll them into balls. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 8-9 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing.

This is a small recipe, It only made about 18 cookies. Feel free to double it or to eat them all on by yourself.

Recipe from Here
Photos by Keegan Orange

Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies

Personally, I'm not a big fan of chocolate cookies. In fact, I'm not a big fan of most things chocolate flavored. I love real chocolate, or anything fudgy chocolatey like fudgy brownies or icing. But stuff like chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream or cookies, I've just never been a big fan. But regardless of whether or not I would eat them, I decided these were a great holiday cookie.
They remind me of cherry cordials, with the cherry inside and fudgy icing on top. And even though they weren't my favorite, I still thought they were good, and everyone else seemed to love them!
I brought quite a few into work and they were certainly one of the first cookies gone.
Make sure you don't over bake these cookies, you want them to stay nice and soft on the inside. And make sure they cool completely before adding the frosting. Also, this recipe makes quite a few cookies, so make sure you get enough cherries to fill them all!
(Pre-frosting)
Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 (6 ounce) jars maraschino cherries, well drained
1 (6 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, bear butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients; stir into butter mixture (dough will be stiff). Shape into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press cherry into center of each cookie. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool. *To make these cookies fabulous make sure to not make them too big so the cherry/chocolate ration is good and do not overbake! Start with 8 minutes. Remove from pan right after they come out of the oven.

3. In heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt chips with condensed milk. Cook until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Frost each cookie, covering cherry. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Source:The Girl Who Ate Everything
Photos by Keegan Orange

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

Every year for Christmas I usually make peppermint bark. It's always just so easy and so good, and wraps up well for holiday gifts. This year though, I decided to go with something a little bit different, peppermint bark popcorn.
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it, and I'm so glad I did. This stuff is so addicting! It's definitely sweet, being coated in chocolate and all, but it's still so easy to snack on. And the peppermint extract really gives it good flavor. My only bit of advice is to try and pick out the corn kernels that don't pop before mixing in the chocolate or else you're going to have a much harder time eating some of it!

Peppermint Bark Popcorn
Ingredients:
16-20 C popped popcorn (fresh, or about 2 bags microwave popcorn)
1 lb Almond Bark
1 6oz box candy canes, crushed. (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best!)
2 tea. peppermint extract
3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
*one bag microwave popcorn has about 10 cups in it, so if you're air-popping, do about 20 cups.
Directions:
Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.

Unwrapping the candy canes to crush them is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. I put my candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin.
One they're crushed, dump them into the bowl with the popcorn.

To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package. I just break it up and put it in a glass measuring cup and microwave on 1 min intervals until it's nice and smooth.

When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract. It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine. Pour over popcorn and candycanes.

Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed. Pour the popcorn out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer and leave it alone!

While the popcorn is setting, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. I really like dark chocolate to counter-balance the sweetness of the almond bark, but I know there's a lot of dark haters, so do what you want!

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn. You can use a fork, or put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off.

Leave it until the almond bark and the chocolate is hardened. If you need to hurry it up, do this whole process on lined cookie sheets you can pop in the fridge.

When chocolate is hardened, use your hands to break up popcorn into chunks.

Source:Our Best Bites
Photos by Keegan Orange