I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I just can’t get enough chocolate and peppermint.
The other day I was at Vons, perusing the candy section, when I spotted a bag of York Pieces.
Now, I’m pretty sure I’d seen them before, but it must have been at a point in my life where I wasn’t obsessed with either chocolate, peppermint or Christmas cookies, and so I paid no attention.
This particular day, though, I paid attention. I also paid about $3 so I could take them home with me.
In case you aren’t familiar, York Pieces are basically M&Ms with a pepperminty dark chocolate center. Which makes them perfect to put a little Christmas spin on the classic M&M cookie.
I wanted a rich chocolaty cookie that would balance out the peppermint flavor, as well as make a dramatic backdrop for the bright white candies. (There are also blue candies in the bag, which would have been perfect had I thought to make these for Hanukkah, but since I missed the boat on that one, I decided to eat all the blue ones and put the white ones in the cookies.)
I found exactly what I was looking for at melskitchencafe.com — a soft, deep chocolate cookie that perfectly complements the peppermint.
If you aren’t into peppermint, you could easily substitute any variety of holiday M&Ms. And, of course, you can always make this a non-Christmas cookie by throwing regular M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces or another similar candy in there.
Recipe: Double-chocolate cookies with York Peppermint Pieces
Adapted from melskitchencafe.com
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 stick (½ cup) butter, cut into pieces
- ¾ cup York Pieces (or similar candy)
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat your oven to 325˚F and grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Melt the semisweet chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Let the mixture cool slightly, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted chocolate, sugar, eggs and vanilla at medium speed until combined. Reduce the speed to low and gradually stir in the flour mixture. Use a spoon or spatula to stir in the candy pieces.
- Scoop tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls, placing them about 1½ inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for about 13 to 14 minutes; they’ll still be soft, but the tops will have started to crack. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
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1 comment
Maria
January 8, 2011 at 7:05 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I also crave chocolate and mint this time of year and thought I was strange, so glad someone else has the same craving!