December 19, 2018

Peppermint Patties

I’m excited I was able to participate in this month’s Fantastical Food Fight! The theme was candy and it’s something that I usually don’t make, so I knew I would be stepping outside of my comfort zone with this recipe. I took time to really think about what I wanted to try and I kept coming across recipes for fudge and hard candy. I’ve made fudge before so I knew I could handle that and I wasn’t ready to experiment with hard candy, so more searching. I found a few recipes for peppermint patties and decided to go for it. Oh boy, am I glad I did! These are delicious!

I thought it would be pretty straight forward to make – which they were until I started to cover them in dark chocolate. I had some that melted while trying to coat them so they went back into the freezer to hard more. Then my dipping fork broke on the next batch, but I finally figured out a good technique to get them all coated. I wasn’t going to give up!

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Peppermint Chocolate Delight

I hosted dinner for my family on the Saturday before Christmas and I was looking for an easy and quick dessert to make. This dessert was perfect! It had all the flavors of the holidays – chocolate and peppermint! I was able to make it the night before and it was ready for dessert. It’s so much goodness layered together – starting at the bottom is a layer of chocolate graham crackers, peppermint cream cheese, chocolate pudding, whipped topping and finished with crush peppermint chocolate candy bars. YUM!!!

Peppermint Chocolate Delight | Join Us, Pull up a Chair
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December 16, 2015

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap – Peppermint Crunch Cookies

I was once again excited to participate in this year’s Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! This is the 5th year of the swap that brings together bloggers from around the world to exchange cookies – 475 bloggers to be exact! We each get paired with three other bloggers and exchange a dozen cookies. Of course, that’s the best part – getting cookies in the mail. Doesn’t everyone love coming home to find a package on their porch?!?

The three bloggers that I was matched up with were:
Allie from Key Ingredients
Amber from Loves Food, Loves to Eat
Jessica from Golden Brown and Delicious

As in the past, the swap partnered with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, which is a national non-profit organization that funds new therapies used to fight pediatric cancer. There are also several brand partners who match the donation to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer dollar for dollar! How amazing is that!!

This year’s brand partners are:
Dixie Crystals
Land ‘O Lakes
OXO

After searching around for recipes, I narrowed it down to this peppermint crunch cookie. Who doesn’t love peppermint at the holidays? The cookies are soft shortbread cookies that include white chocolate chips and small bits of crushed up candy canes. I’m thinking they would be dipped in chocolate…you know, just for an extra special treat.

Peppermint Crunch Cookies | Join Us, Pull up a Chair

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¾ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5-6 candy canes, crushed
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and crushed candy canes.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixer and combine until a dough forms. Mix in the chips by hand.

Scoop out the dough into a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies start to turn golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.

Now…who did I receive cookies from??
Jessica from A Happy Food Dance – Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Alice from Honestly Fitness – Lemon Coconut Cookies
Sheila from Life, Love and Good Food – Sand Tarts

For any food bloggers who want to get involved in the cookie swap next year, just sign up here to keep updated on next year’s swap!