CHocolate Peppermint Toffee Cookies
And on the night before Christmas Eve, all the baking went down.
Including these decadent, chewy, crispy on the outside, soft and cakey on the inside, extra big Chocolate Peppermint Toffee Cookies.
If you’re anything like me this year — really, really last minute to everything Christmas-y, including baking any cookies — this is the cookie recipe you need. It doesn’t require any chilling time and the cookies are ready to eat in less than hour from start to finish, making it the perfect last minute Christmas Eve baking endeavor.
Last year for Chrismas, my family was gifted a massive box of American Spoon items - an array of jams, fudge and caramel sauces, and other jarred goodies. There were so many that a year later, we still haven’t made it through half of the jars. One of the untouched ones being a peppermint caramel. At first, I wasn’t totally obsessed with the idea of peppermint and caramel together. Once I gave it a chance, though, I was instantly hooked. You can use it as a topping for ice cream, stirred into hot chocolate, or — in this instance — stuffed in the middle of cookies. The caramel melts into these cookies and creates a chewy, crispy, toffee-like texture that is unbelievably addicting. Stuffing them with caramel requires more dough, making them extra large cookies, which is always a plus.
As much as I love the peppermint-chocolate combo around the holidays, it’s all about getting the balance right. Too much peppermint and suddenly that peppermint mocha tastes like Colgate. The peppermint flavor in these cookies is very subtle compared to most chocolate-peppermint cookie recipes I’ve tried in the past. I find it to be the perfect amount, though, because it allows the caramel and chocolate to really shine through.
It’s obviously a little too late to get ahold of this specific caramel sauce, so any thick, chilled caramel sauce will work. The overall peppermint flavor will be a little milder, or you could always add in one extra candy cane or 1/4 tsp. of peppermint extract into the batter. If you can get your hands on this caramel though, I highly recommend it.
Also, once you’ve made enough cookies for Santa, you should absolutely use any leftover dough to make a skillet cookie for yourself and your family. In fact, I prefer it to the cookies. To do so, lightly grease a cast iron skillet. Add a thick layer of the dough to fill the cast iron about 1/2 of its depth. Lightly press the center of the dough to create a small dip and spread the dough up the sides. Fill the center with a hefty serving of the caramel (I used about 2-3 tablespoons). Add the rest of the dough on top to fill the skillet about 3/4 of the way up and completely encapsulate the caramel so it doesn’t ooze out. Top with crushed candy cane pieces. Place on a baking sheet to catch any overflow (just in case, butt it shouldn’t overflow) and bake at 350ºF for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the cast-iron. I used a small, 5-inch one, which took about 22 minutes. A larger cast-iron will take around 30 minutes. Allow to cool and set for about 10 minutes before digging in.
Chocolate Peppermint Toffee Cookies
yields 16 large cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 cup unsalted butter - cold, cut into 1/2 inch. cubes
1 tsp. course salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tbs. heavy whipping cream
1 cup dark chocolate chunks
3 candy canes, crushed
1 additional candy cane, crushed, for garnish
American Spoon Peppermint Caramel (can sub regular caramel, as long as it is thick and chilled)
Preheat the oven to 350º F.
In a large standing mixer using the paddle attachment, mix both sugars, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt together until tthoroughly combined. Slowly beat in the chilled butter cubes until the pieces are broken down into crumbles. Beat in the whole eggs, vanilla, and cream unttil a dough is formed. Finally, beat in the chocolate chunks and crushed candy cane pieces until just combined. Do not overmix the dough.
Form a disk of dough about 1/2 inch thick and 3 inches in diameter. Press the center in slightly to create a dip. Place 1 tsp. of the chilled caramel sauce into the center and wrap the dough around it completely forming a ball. If any caramel is peeking out, patch it up with a small piece of dough. Repeat with the rest of the dough. An average baking sheet should hold about 6 of these to allow enough room for spreading. Lightly press the balls down just enough to create a flat surface on top and top each with a sprinkle of the remaining crushed candy cane. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cookies are cooked on the edges and a crispy exterior has formed. Allow to cool and finish cooking on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before eating.
