During the winter, my family and I make hot cocoa every Sunday night, and I love to add a peppermint to mine. I thought these peppermint hot cocoa cookies would be a great holiday treat to share. I think these are delicious! They feel really festive, they’re easy to take to parties and they look really pretty with the crushed peppermint on top. You could also make cookie sandwiches by putting the buttercream between two of the cookies and rolling the edges in the crushed peppermint.
Cookie Ingredients:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 10 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips
Frosting Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• crushed peppermints
• red food coloring
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In the bowl of the mixer, mix the butter and the sugar together, mixing until it’s smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs and peppermint extract, and beat until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix on medium low speed.
4. Mix until well combined, then use a wooden spoon to mix in the semi sweet chocolate chips.
5. Scoop out cookie dough into balls about
2 tablespoons each and place them on parchment lined sheet pans, with 12 cookies on each pan.
6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. While the cookies are baking, make the peppermint frosting.
7. In the bowl of the mixer, combine the butter, salt and sugar and mix on medium speed until the butter is fluffy and white. Add the powdered sugar, mixing on low to keep from making a mess. Add the peppermint extract to the mixture, and then add heavy cream a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency. If you’d like your frosting to be pink like mine, add a drop or two of red food coloring, or you can leave it white.
8. Put the frosting into a piping bag and add a 1M tip. Pipe the frosting on the cooled cookies, then sprinkle with the crushed peppermints before a skin forms on the frosting. Enjoy!
By Elsie Stark
