White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Cookies - The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

I know I'm a little late in posting this, but HOLY SMOKES it has been a wild trip to crazy town lately! Right now I'm in the lobby in a beautiful hotel on the banks of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Last night we went out for some Deep Dish Chicago Pizza - truth be told, I didn't eat any (it was crazy expensive). But it smelled incredible. I ordered a thin crust pesto bruschetta chicken pizza. It was heavenly! 

Anyway, back to these amazing cookies. This year I was so excited to be able to participate in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. There were over 500 food bloggers who were able to all swap cookies with each other (via snail mail), and in doing so, raised over $12,000 for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. It's incredible! What an amazing idea and cause to be apart of this holiday cookie season (and a fun one, too!) I was amazed at how many participated, and just how delicious the cookies were that I received from my lovely ladies. They all came within a few days of each other, which was perfect, so we could gobble them up with enough time to enjoy the next batch. I wasn't feeling up to baking during those weeks, so it was fun to be able to have some treats for my little family anyways! 

Instead of going with an entirely new cookie for the cookie swap, I wanted to share a cookie that I know was going to be sure-fire, taste amazing, not require a ton of effort, and would ship well to my cookie swap matches. I immediately thought of my White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. Except this time, I took the white chocolate taste even further. By dunking the finished cookies into white chocolate and sprinkles, the Christmas flair just got even more over-the top! These cookies are incredibly soft (using both white and cake flour helps a ton) and the beautiful pockets of peppermint and white chocolate make this cookie absolutely perfect for dipping in hot chocolate. If you're attending a cookie exchange party, need to bring a fun Christmas cookie to a family gathering, or even if you want to leave something extra special for Santa this year, THESE cookies are a win. 

White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Cookies

makes 2 dozen

ingredients:

1 C all purpose flour

1/2 C cake flour

3/4 C sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 egg, room temperature

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1 t cream of tartar

1 t cornstarch

1 t vanilla extract

2 t peppermint extract

2/3 C white chocolate chips + 2 C white chocolate chips for melting

2/3 C Andes white peppermint pieces

Christmas Sprinkles 

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep cookie sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray, set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, and both extracts. Beat on high until light in color - about 2-3 minutes. Reduce mixing speed to low, and add egg until just combined. 

3. In a separate medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (both flours, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch). Whisk together until combined. With the mixing speed on low, and the mixer shield over the top of the bowl, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet until flour is fully incorporated. Toss in chocolate chips and pepper mint pieces. Mix about 10 seconds more. 

4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They should look slightly undercooked, but not raw. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. 

5. Heat white chocolate carefully in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds or so. When completely melted and hot, dunk the cooled cookies halfway into the melted white chocolate. Sprinkle with a few Christmas sprinkles. Let dry on a sheet of wax paper. When white chocolate is hard, store in an airtight container with a slice of bread. Serve with hot chocolate. 

Recipe source: Baking with Blondie