Double Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies for Santa!

To celebrate Christmas the labbits have shared a Citrus-Spice cookie and an Eggnog-Almond cookie, and although both are tasty, the names don't sound like something you'd sell to a kid whose idea of cookies is Oreo Double Stuff or Sugar Cookie or Gingerbread. Ted DeCoste wanted to get in the kitchen and share something that kids of all ages would reach for, but more than anything, Ted wanted to bake a cookie that one would want to leave for Santa, with a big glass of milk. Chocolate chip cookies are a classic, but Ted wanted to take it up a notch or two. So, how about a cocoa-y cookie with chocolate chips? And, how about crushed up bits of candy cane? Yes!

Mmmmm, peppermint!

The labbits love recipes where you throw things in a bowl, mix them up and drop them on a cookie sheet to bake. No waiting for dough to cool, no rolling out the dough, no zillions of steps, just mix and drop and bake and eat! (Ow, the paws! Maybe wait a little bit for them to cool...)

Santa is sure to love these cookies, and this recipe bakes up a generous 3 dozen (baker's dozen, natch). Perfect for fattening up Santa to such a state that no magic can get him up the chimney. Labbit wants ALL the presents! Print the recipe here.

Double Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup crushed candy canes (about four 6" candy canes)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Crush about four candy canes with a sharp knife or in a food processor. The Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender does a quick job of making itty bits of your candy canes. Sift the candy cane bits through a fine metal sieve, separating the fine candy cane "dust" from the small bits. Discard fine candy cane dust. Set aside small bits.

Cream together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. 

Beat in the egg...

...then add vanilla and peppermint extracts. 

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. 

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well. 

Add in the chocolate chips, stirring to distribute evenly. 

Finally, add the candy cane bits and stir to distribute evenly.

Mmmm, so tempting to eat raw cookie dough!

Drop small, rounded spoonfuls onto a prepared cookie sheet, leaving 2" space between each cookie (they spread a lot when baked). Bake at 350°F for 9 - 11 minutes for crisp-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside cookies. Allow cookies to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool...or let's face it, before you shovel these into your mouth. These are best fresh, while the chocolate chips will still melt all over your fingers. YUM.

Yields: About 36 cookies.

Recipe: Adapted from Allrecipes.com