Candy Cane Cookies

It's not a huge tradition in either mine or Will's family to make lots of cookies for Christmas, however that does not mean I do not increase my cooking baking at this time of year. It's primarily because you can only get mint chocolate chips at Christmastime (unlike when I was a kid and you could get them all the time) and thus, once I buy them, I want to eat them. This year, my chip purchases have increased due to the Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips (and I made Creme de Menthe Cookies) and their candy cane peppermint baking chips. I wasn't exactly enthralled with the cookie recipe on the back of the bag, so when I saw this recipe in my weekly People magazine, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to make! It turned out to be a successful recipe and I would even make it again with mint chocolate chips and the candy cane baking chips. Also, using the baking chips was much more enjoyable than crushing up candy canes, which I have had to do for cookie recipes before-that's never a fun experience.

Cooking Notes: I baked these cookies for 14 minutes because I only used 1 tbsp scoops. The recipe originally called for 2 tbsp scoops of dough to bake for 20 minutes, but I love using my small ice cream scoop which is only 1 tbsp, thus the alteration. Also, for the peppermint chips, I used the Andes candy cane baking chips-so good!


Candy Cane Cookies (from People magazine; makes 4 dozen)
2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer on high about 1 minute (this step is crucial-it made the consistency of the dough really light and fluffy, almost like cake icing). Beat in eggs, followed by vanilla and water. On low speed, mix in flour mixture just until combined. Mix in chips and crushed candy.

Using 1 tbsp per cookie, drop dough 3 inches apart onto sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 14 minutes. Cool 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.