Chocolate Peppermint Surprises

These cookies were billed as “Fudgy and rich, like brownies.” That is certainly true. They are very chocolatey and decadent. You can adjust the amount of dough incorporated into each cookie. The more the dough, the more fudgy they are and the subtler the mint flavor. I am excited to make them with other stuff in the center like peanut butter cups, Werther’s candies or marshmallows.

Recipe By:

Sunset

Ingredients:

¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
16 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), chopped
¼ cup unsalted butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups Demerara or turbinado sugar, *see notes
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
30 small peppermint patties, such as York, 1 package, about 20 ounces, unwrapped and chilled

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Put chocolate and butter in a medium-sized metal bowl and set over a saucepan of 1-inch simmering water. Bowl should not touch water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts and is completely smooth. Remove bowl from pan and let cool. **see notes

3. Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat eggs on medium-high speed until foamy.

4. With motor running, gradually add sugar. Continue beating until mixture is light and tripled in volume, about 7 minutes.

5. Blend in cooled chocolate and vanilla, scraping bowl as needed.

6. Reduce speed to low and mix in dry ingredients until smooth. The dough will be thin, like cake batter. Chill, covered, until dough is firm enough to scoop. The original recipe said, “at least 4 hours or overnight.” When I chilled it overnight, it was so hard it was unshapable. So, it needs to be chilled to be able to work with it but watch that it not get too hard.

7. Heat oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1-tablespoon scoop, portion a half-dozen balls of dough onto a work surface. Roll them in granulated sugar. Lightly butter the bottom of a drinking glass. Press each dough ball, with the bottom of the glass, into a disk about 2 inches wide. Repeat to make a second disk. Set a peppermint patty on one disk. Top with a second and press edges to seal. Repeat to make more cookies, spacing them about 1½ inches apart on lined baking sheets.

8. Bake 1 sheet of cookies at a time until set at edges and crackled in center, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then loosen from parchment with a wide spatula and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes:

*I just used granulated sugar. The original recipe says. “Light brown, partially refined Demerara and turbinado sugars have a more complex flavor than regular brown sugar. You can find them with the baking supplies at well-stocked grocery stores.” I guess my local Nob Hill is not well-stocked.

**I carefully melted them in the microwave like my dad, a master candy maker, always did.