Tasty Tuesday: Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies!

It's Christmas cookie time! 

First up this Tasty Tuesday (a little late)....

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies!! 

Yum, right?! These are pretty easy to make but there are a good number of steps and they do require a lot of down time between them so make sure you can work on these over a couple hours.

First step is to mix the butter, part of the powdered sugar and melted unsweet chocolate (if I make these again I'll be using semi-sweet chocolate for this step) until nice and creamy. 

Next add in the flour and mix until it starts to thicken and form a "dough".

Next mix in the chocolate chips by hand. I used regular sized semi-sweet chips since they were on hand but really should have used the mini chips like the recipe calls for. They'll work easier for the rest of the steps and I think make nicer looking cookies in the end.

Form 1 inch balls and space evenly on an ungreased cooking sheet.

Next you flatten the balls with the bottom of a drinking glass that's been floured. 

The easiest way is to put a bit of flour on your fingers and rub the bottom of the glass with them.

If the glass isn't floured enough the cookie will stick and end up doing this. Damn! You can smush them back together though but still. Grr! So keep that glass floured nicely!

Flatten those cookies. 

I pressed mine to about 1/4 of an inch. The recipe called for 1 1/2 inches but these aren't cookies that are going to rise much and that just didn't seem right to me. 

Bake 5-7 minutes. Remove and set 2 minutes before placing on cooling rack. Cool completely before icing. 

Next Up! The ICING:

Mix icing ingredients on a low speed. If you start too fast you're going to get nice and powdered sugared. For a pale green use only ONE drop of food dye. 

You may need to play around with the consistency of the icing. It should be slightly fluid. If it's too thick add a teaspoon of milk at a time. If too thin add a bit more powdered sugar. 

Adding icing to the cookies is a bit messy so place them on some wax paper or it'll get all over the counter. The cookies on the bottom left were with the icing too thin. I added powdered sugar and did the top/right side. 

Each cookie was iced with about 1/2-1 teaspoon of icing. I used a spoon to drop the icing and spread it out slightly. The icing will settle some on it's own and may run off the cookie in places.

Allow to set completely before moving on to the next step. Around 20-30 minutes. 

Next up is piping on some melted chocolate! I made my own little piping bags (I'll teach yall how soon) but you can purchase them at most craft or grocery stores. Smaller is better in this case. After melting chocolate on low heat drizzle over cookies and let sit 30 minutes.

The final product!

I think they turned out kinda pretty in the end. Was so doubting them for a while there. 

These are a shortbread so they're not chewy and are a bit crumbly. I'm not a huge fan of shortbread in general but I think these turned out okay. They smell fantastic though especially the step where the hot chocolate hits the peppermint. Mmmm.

So not my favorite cookies but maybe yours?!

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies
Makes 42 (if they're really small), Prep 30 minutes

3/4 cup plus 2Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 squares (1oz each) unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet mini chocolate chips
1 Tbsp milk
1 drop green food color
1/2 tsp vegetable shortening

Cookie:

• First Preheat over to 375.
• Chop up 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and melt in microwave and let cool slightly
• Combine butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract, melted chocolate in large bowl and beat with electric mixer until creamy
• Add flour, beat until forms a dough
• Mix in 1 cup chocolate chips by hand 
• Shape dough into 1 inch balls and space 2 inches apart on ungreased cooking sheet
• Flatten each ball using the bottom of a drinking glass that has been floured
• bake 5-7 minutes or until set, remove from heat and let sit 2 minutes then move to wire rack and cool completel

Icing

• Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract, milk, food coloring in mixing bowl
• Beat on low until smooth
• Add additional milk 1tsp at a time until desired consistency.
• Frost cookies, place on waxed paper to set

Drizzle

• Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips and shortening over low heat stirring occasionally until smooth
• Drizzle in thin lines over cookies and let stand at least 30 minutes