Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

When we were in Houston a few weekends ago, I stopped by Starbucks and bought a non-fat latte and the Holiday Edition of Bon Appetit. In the magazine, Adam found a recipe he wanted to taste and since it's been a while since I actually made him anything, I thought I would make them.

The cookie part of the sandwich is a basic chocolate cookie and was relatively easy to make. My handy-dandy kitchen aid mixer made the dough with in 10 minutes.

I was a little ticked off at my self for not reading the recipe before I started, because after I made the dough is when I realized I had to chill the dough for 1 hour.

So, to kill some time I made my yummy peanut brittle, which takes all of 15 minutes and did the dishes. Since the dishes were done, I could start on the peppermint filling. This was another no-brainier. Butter + Sugar = Yummy Frosting. I added the peppermint extract and the food coloring and Voila!

I did the dishes yet again and waited for another 10 minutes. (Okay, so only 45 minutes actually passed.)

I followed the directions as described and then decided that I had a better method for making the cookies. I used my cookie scoop and then pushed them down with my hand instead of a cup. When I pressed them with the cup they would get stuck on the bottom and tear off big chunks of cookie dough.

After the first patch of cookies got out of the oven, Adam was already poking his head in the kitchen asking for a cookie. So I took a warm cookie and put a big blob of frosting on it. And yes, the butter started melting right away. So, I had to wait for about 20 minutes before putting the filling on the sandwich bottoms.

I used my new pastry bag I just bought from Williams Sonoma and it made the assembly line run very smooth. I also opted to not use crushed candy canes on the side, because I thought that would be a little too much and decided on a sprinkle of powdered sugar on the top.

Over all these cookies are a fantastic addition to my Christmas Cookie collection. They taste very similar to Thin Mints, but have this nice gourmet flavor.

Cookies
1 & 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. unsalted butter (room temp)
1 large egg

Whisk together the first three ingredients. Use an electric mixer to beat sugar and butter until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients, beat until blended. Refrigerate dough 1 hour.

preyed oven to 350. Scoop out dough by level tablespoon. Place balls on parchment lined cookies sheet about 2 inches apart. (I used a slilpat mat instead of parchment paper). Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass. Bake cookies for about 11 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE or they will be too crisp.

Wait for 5 minutes before removing the cookie from the sheet and then let them cool completely on a wire rack.

FILLING
1 c. Plus 4 tables powdered sugar
3/4 c. unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 drops red food coloring

Beat powdered sugar and butter with an electric mixer until well blended. Add extract and food coloring and beat until light pink.

Assemble cookies like you would any cookie sandwich. You'll put about 2 tablespoon flush of frosting on the bottom part of the cookie sandwich.