Peppermint Bark Meringue Cookies

I've never really had a job where everyone gave Christmas gifts to everyone else (granted, I've only had about 3 jobs that lasted to Christmas and beyond. But still: giving something to everyone was never a thing). So when my co-workers at SHAG started handing out gifts last year, I was a bit unprepared. I decided to change that this year.

Since I had leftover egg whites from my pinwheels, I started to look for meringue recipes (meringues are easier and quicker to make than macarons). At first I wasn't sure what to focus on. Then I had an idea: one of my favorite flavors of the Christmas/holiday season is peppermint, specifically peppermint bark. So I decided to make peppermint bark meringues. I started to specifically look for peppermint bark meringue recipes but I didn't like what I found. Eventually, I realized I'd have to make my own so I switched to searching for chocolate meringue recipes with the goal of dipping them in white chocolate and crushed candy canes. Eventually, I settled on a recipe from Beyond the Chicken Coop.

Chocolate Mint Crinkles

Another one of my favorite cookies that we make around Christmastime is chocolate crinkle cookies. They're so chewy and chocolatey and delicious that I don't care how messy they are (which is saying something because I'm the baker who cleans as I work). One thing we've never thought to do, though, is add peppermint. Even without the internet to give us recipes with the exact amount, it's a pretty easy addition.

Which is why I decided to make peppermint crinkle cookies for work's usual Valentine's Day potluck. You see, we got some snow. Which lead to me staying close to home for about 4 days. During the first couple days I tried to use up two things: my packets of hot chocolate (because of the calories I don't drink it as often as I would like) and the almost-empty bottle of peppermint extract. Except using peppermint extract to make peppermint hot chocolate is A HORRIBLE IDEA! So with Monday off I decided to find a recipe and make the cookies in order to use up the extract (who says peppermint is only for Christmastime?). I ended up modifying a recipe from Betty Crocker's website. The recipe was for a chocolate crinkle version of the peanut butter blossoms (kinda like the peppermint thumbprint cookies I made once) except I left out the candy cane Hershey's Kisses.

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

I have probably the biggest sweet tooth ever (which in reality isn't a good thing). So every time my favorite candy and cookie brands release a new flavor, I like to get a package to try it out. For the seasonal flavors I can't always remember if I tried it or not. Such was the case for the Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses. While I still can't remember if I've tried it or not, I decided to bake with it. The perfect opportunity came when Auntie Vicki sent out an email about Christmas Day and I offered to bake these. They're basically like the Peanut Butter Blossom cookies with the regular kisses except instead of peanut butter the cookie is chocolate and brownie-like. The Hershey's website does have a recipe for these but I decided on one I found on Pinterest (I really need to cut down on my Pinterest use for baking).

Peppermint Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are probably one of the simplest and easiest things someone can bake. The recipe should be one of the first things used when learning to bake. It's also very versatile: you can replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with pretty much anything similar: another flavor of chips (I like milk chocolate chips), chopped up candy bars, baking bits, M&Ms. Or Anthony's favorite this time of year: Andes Peppermint Chips. My mom has only been able to find these bags at one store (can't remember which one but I think it was Cost Plus World Market) so when she goes to that store she buys several bags. A while back she gave me a bag. And in an effort to get it out of my pantry, picking Anthony's present this year was a no-brainer.