These cookies are rich like brownies, bright and cheery with a peppermint twist, and easy to whip up for the Holidays! You'll want to make it a staple in your Holiday baking for many years to come.
It's the most wonderful time of the year for Holiday baking! Pulling out favorite recipes to enjoy throughout the Holiday season is the best, and we have a new recipe for you to add to the collection this year: Chocolate Peppermint Brownies.
These cookies are rich like brownies, bright and cheery with a peppermint twist, and easy to whip up for the Holidays! The dough doesn't require any chilling before baking -- in fact, these cookies defy all cookie laws and are actually best if you bake them straight from the mixer!
As you might remember, every season I get together with Lori from Foxes Loves Lemons, my childhood friend who lived just up the street on Orchard Road. Fast forward to adulthood and we both have a delicious history in culinary arts. Matt, myself and Lori all have culinary degrees, and we've decided what better way to share good food with the world than by combining our powers and bringing you a new recipe to enjoy each season! Matt and I develop the recipe and Lori styles, photographs and add it to her extensive blog (if you haven't you, bookmark her blog for all your cooking and baking needs!)
So let's get to baking, shall we?
Here's what you'll need:
- 4 ounces Harvest Snacking Chocolate, chopped - pick your favorite variety!
- 1/2 cup Harvest Cocoa Powder, divided
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy
Guide to Choosing Chocolate:
The best rule of thumb when it comes to choosing which variety of Harvest Chocolate to bake with is this: *there are no rules!*
Pick your favorite variety (we have four!) and go for it.
If you like dark chocolate that has a little fruitiness to it, I'd go for the Haiti (which is what we used for this recipe, and it was delicious).
If you like dark chocolate that has slightly nutty notes to it, go with the Ecuador, and if you are an all out classic dark chocolate lover, go with the Ghana.
Truly, there are no wrong answers here but what I know for sure: using good quality chocolate and good quality cocoa powder will really make all your favorite chocolate recipes SHINE, and that I can promise you!
A Note on Cocoa Powder:
Pro-tip: *shouts from the mountain top* skip the cocoa powder you find in groceries stores! I repeat...
Okay, you get it. :) Most cocoa powders you find in grocery stores have been processed and stripped of flavor through chemical washing. Harvest Cocoa Powder is quite the opposite. With tasting notes of fresh cocoa and creamy banana, this cocoa powder is all natural, never "dutched," so instead, it's the rich fudginess in your chocolate brownies, the bold cocoa in your favorite mocha, and the silky creaminess in your favorite chocolate cake. It's the flavor and texture in all your favorite chocolate recipes, including this one, that make you sigh with pure delight!
Now that we have all that settled, grab your ingredients, and head over to Lori's blog for the full recipe, linked below. I hope you love this recipe as much as we do and share it with friends and family for many years to come!
Happy Baking and Happy Holidays!