Peppermint Patties

Wow, it has been quite some time since I last posted. I’m sorry, but I took another college trip. This time I went to visit the College of Charleston in South Carolina. My goodness, Charleston is so beautiful and the weather was lovely every day that I was there. And the campus, it’s like medium sized with a little over ten thousand students- the perfect size for me. I can totally picture myself going there. Only problem is, I have another college that I’m crazy about. So now I have to make the hard decision of choosing this one or going for the Bridge Program into Clemson. I guess the good news is that I have two solid choices and either college I pick will be right for me. I know one person who applied to thirteen colleges, and I know one person who didn’t get into any, so I guess I’m lucky that I got into ones that I really love.

Ok, so enough about that, let’s talk chocolatey/minty/creamy goodness. I actually made these about a week before St. Patrick’s Day, but have only gotten around to posting about them now. I’m showing you these awesome little peppermint patties I found on Tracey’s blog.

These were seriously addicting to eat, and did not last long in my house, seriously. It is so easy to pop two or three into your mouth without realizing it, but it’s totally worth it because these taste a whole lot better and fresher than the store-bough variety.

I hadn’t had a peppermint pattie in so long, and after eating a handful of these, I’m starting to wonder why. I probably won’t buy the name brand version again because these are just too delicious not to make!  The only minor frustration is the sticky dough? Cream? Center type thing. It was kind of hard to roll out.  After adding some more powdered sugar and making sure the creamy center was thoroughly chilled it was much easier to roll out and cut into circles. I also recommend brushing some of the melted chocolate onto the bottom of the foil to coat the bottom of the peppermint pattie and then brushing the chocolate on top- it makes for a much neater assembly process.

Peppermint Patties
From Tracey’s Culinary Adventures
Makes 4 dozen 1 inch peppermint patties

Ingredients
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ tbsp light corn syrup
1 ½ tbsp water
½ tsp. pure peppermint extract
1 tbsp. butter, soft
Pinch of salt
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, water, peppermint extract and butter. Beat on medium speed until the dough starts to form a ball.
2. Dust work surface with a little bit of confectioners’ sugar. Knead the cream center a few times until smooth. Place the cream center between two sheets of parchment (I just used plastic wrap and it worked fine) and roll into about 1/8 inch thickness. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm (at least 15 minutes).
3. Remove peppermint disk from the freezer and dust with a little more powdered sugar. Using a 1 inch round cutter cut circles and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Once you have cut out as many circles as you can, re-roll the peppermint cream filling and repeat until all of it has been used up. Put back into the freezer while you melt the chocolate.
4. In a glass bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate until smooth. Take the peppermint patties out of the freezer and gently work them off the foil. Brush on a dollop of chocolate onto each spot a pattie used to be. Place the peppermint pattie centers on top of the chocolate dollop and brush with more chocolate. Place the chocolate-coated patties back into the freezer to set up (about 15 minutes). Store the peppermint patties in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer for up to a month (they won’t last that long, trust me). I personally believe these taste the best right out of the freezer, something about the fresh peppermint taste combined with the chill from the freezer gives the peppermint pattie an extra pepperminty taste.

Peppermint Biscotti

A few weeks ago I ate a gingerbread biscotti from Starbucks and it was absolutely fantastic. I don’t know why I loved it, I just did. Well that got me to thinking that I want to make gingerbread biscotti for my Christmas baking list. And for the past few weeks I’ve had it in the back of my mind but never really doing anything about it. Well Yesterday I saw a rerun of Gilmore Girls (my favorite show!) and Lorelai and Rory got back from their Europe trip and they were eating biscotti throughout the episode and that sealed the deal for me. So I goggled up gingerbread biscotti recipes and I came across a website with holiday biscotti recipes and as I scrolled down I saw the gingerbread one and then at the very bottom of the page I saw it; the chocolate-peppermint biscotti and my idea for gingerbread biscotti flew out the window and all I could think about was chocolate-peppermint biscotti. And that is the story of how these babies came to be.

It looked so much like chocolate chip cookie dough,

which I didn't expect, but then again it is a cookie in a way...

 Before putting then back into the oven for the second time

 I found it easier to spread the chocolate on one side instead of just

dunking it in. Also i wish i had smashed the peppermints a

little smaller.

Chocolate-Peppermint Biscotti
from Mangia Bene Pasta
makes 3 dozen

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peppermint candy

Directons

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, butter, extract, and eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips.
3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Shape each into a 10-inch by 2-inch log on the baking sheet, about 3 inches apart and bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Do Not Shut Off Oven!
4. Remove from oven and place baking sheet in a wire rack to cool 15 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
5. Transfer each log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place the slices cut side down on the baking sheets.
6. Bake 12-15 minutes, turning biscotti over once during time. Cool on wire rack.
7. Melt remaining chocolate chips. Dip half of each biscotti into the chocolate and sprinkle with peppermint candy. Allow to cool on waxed paper.

Nutrition Facts
serving size: 1 biscotti
Calories 124.4 Total Fat 4.9 g Saturated Fat 1.8 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g Cholesterol 18.7 mg Sodium 53.6 mg Potassium 14.1 mg Total Carbohydrate 19.6 g Dietary Fiber 0.9 g Sugars 13.3 g Protein 1.8 g

'Tis the Season for Holiday Baking: Peppermint-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I absolutely love the holidays, but Christmas is my favorite! Call me insane, but I love the crowds and buying the perfect thing for everyone and I definitely look forever for my families gifts. Plus there's the holiday baking that is always amazing and the house always smells so delicious for days on end. Well this season I'm going to be baking up a storm, I just know it :)

About a week ago I saw these on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and I knew I just had to make them. They looks so delicious and peppermint is the flavor of Christmas (along with other things), right? I had to make a few modifications because of things that I had and didn’t have. They turned out kind of crunchy (not the peppermint part, but the actual cookie itself) and I’m not really a crunchy kind of girl when it comes some kinds of cookies. I think they would be a lot better if they were chewier or softer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like these cookies. They are great for the holiday season and they taste really good with milk, but what cookie doesn’t?

The lovely dough...mmm

they were suppost to be disks cut from a log but I

 was too lazy and rolled them into balls

A little too crisp for my taste, but overall they were yummy!

cookies and milk :)

Peppermint-Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

I made 31 cookies from half the batch

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1 1/4 cups)

3/4 tsp. baking soda (about 1/2 tsp)

1/8 tsp. salt (small pinch)
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup {1 stick})
1 cup packed light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp. vanilla extract (1/2 tsp)
2 large eggs, at room temperature (1 egg)
7 ounces milk chocolate chips (3 1/2 oz semi sweet mini chocolate chips)
7 ounces Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips (2 1/4 oz of a big peppermint candy)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed just until smooth, about 2 minutes
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture followed by the chocolate and peppermint chips.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters or halves if you are halving the recipe. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably for 24 hours (do this part for real please) For the first batch, I froze it for 10 minutes and refrigerated it for about 30 and the second batch I refrigerated it for 24 hours, I didn't see a difference.
4. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
5. Slice the logs into disks ¾ inch thick and place the disks 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and set about 2.5-3 inches apart, if you flatten the balls then it will give you a much larger cookie. If the chips crumble out (and they will), simply push them back in, they reshape nicely.
6. Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are very lightly browned in the centers, about 10 minutes (took me about 12 minutes).
7. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.

Nutrition Facts
serving size: 1 cookie
Calories 99.9 Total Fat 4.4 g Saturated Fat 0.9 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g Cholesterol 14.6 mg Sodium 27.7 mg Potassium 2.0 mg Total Carbohydrate 14.6 g Dietary Fiber 0.1 g Sugars 10.3 g Protein 0.7 g