Chocolate Crinkle Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

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I think these have got to be the most festive-looking cookies I have ever baked. Just get a load of that cheerfully crinkled chocolate! Those bright red peppermint swirls! The snowy dusting of powdered sugar!

The recipe name has a distinctly festive ring to it, too. "Crinkle" sounds a little like "Kringle" as in "Kris Kringle" as in Santa Clause's hip nickname, don't you think?

Also, as an English major, I find it hard to resist a good dose of alliteration! Just like I find it hard to resist a good dose of chocolate - which this recipe has in spades!

I'd been contemplating the idea of a peppermint chocolate Christmas cookie to work into our traditional holiday repertoire this year (with Peanut Blossoms and Mexican Wedding Cakes in the starring role), and Audrey and I had been looking for a worthy recipe to use our Candy Cane Kisses in. So when I saw this recipe on Bakergirl a few weeks ago, I knew it would be what festive Christmas cookie dreams are made of.

If you think about it, most cookies are like ugly babies. They don't look that great to start with, even if they really grow into their features and the final product couldn't be more appealing. But these cookies are good-looking from the get-go.

Just look at those candy-cane-flecked kisses - so pretty!

If the appearance of these cookies promises all things festive, their taste more delivers on that promise. You would not believe how rich and fudgy the chocolate crinkle cookie is. It's almost more of a brownie than an actual cookie. I have never seen a larger quantity of cocoa powder called for in any other recipe I've ever made - 1 whole cup! 

Now I don't know about you, but in my book, there's no going wrong with anything in the brownie family. I am so into all things chocolatey and fudgy, it's actually a little weird. I'm a borderline addict.

But please, do not stage an intervention. I will take blissed out fudgy chocolate induced sugar rush comas over chocolate sobriety always.

You probably don't need me to tell you that the addition of peppermint kisses to fudgy chocolate crinkle cookies is nothing short of magical. Because unless your tastebuds are broken or you're missing a few links in the "holiday spirit" gene sequence (*cough* like my mom *cough*), you know that chocolate is to peppermint as peanut butter is to jelly, or cats are to laps, or chilly winter break mornings are to coffee and reading and pajamas until noon. The kind of combo that doesn't need explaining.

You probably can't quite tell from the above picture, but that white glow emanating from the window? That's snow! Christmas Eve/Day are shaping up to be not only not white, but soggy and overcast. (Not. Okay. Where's the weather's sense of Christmas spirit, I ask you?) So we're grateful that Winter Storm Draco's (has there ever been a better name for a storm??) final wheezes gave us a little dose of White Christmas, even if it came a few days too early.

The snow's supposed to be gone by Monday (temps tomorrow in the mid-40's!), but while it lasts, you better believe I will spend my evenings by the fire, wrapped up in a blanket, with a book on my lap and a plate of these cookies within arms reach. And if that scenario sounds as appealing to you as it does to me, well, I think we would get along just dandy.

These cookies are so pepperminty wintry delicious that I plan to add them to our holiday cookie repertoire in perpetuity. What cookies are in your holiday repertoire? 

- Molly

Chocolate Crinkle Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

From Bakergirl

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

Peppermint Hershey Kisses 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. 

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, until just combined. Place plastic wrap over bowl and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile unwrap Hershey kisses, place in a small bowl, and freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with baking spray; set aside. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl; set aside. 

Scoop dough into 1/2 tablespoon balls, roll in powdered sugar, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until cookies crackle and no longer look raw (they'll start to look cakey). 

Remove from oven. Immediately press a frozen kiss into each cookie, then place cookie sheet into the freezer just until chocolate is set and no longer shiny. Remove from freezer and allow to cool completely.