Martha Stewart's Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies

I tried this new recipe for a cookie exchange tomorrow and they turned out great!  I ended up making the dough one day, baking the next day and dipping and decorating the final day; I wanted to prepare them in two stages, but I didn't read that the dough needed to chill, so it ended up being three, which worked out fine for me.

If you've never made a Martha Stewart cookie, you should know that you must follow her instructions precisely.  If she says, "Beat for 3 minutes," you don't beat for 2 minutes or 4 minutes...just do it for 3 minutes if you want it to turn out right.  Trust me on this!  I've messed up a recipe or two of hers in my day...

(The original recipe calls for the entire cookie to be dunked in white chocolate, but doing 1/2 was much faster, less messy and gives you someplace to hold the cookie without chocolate melting on your fingers.  Plus, I thought the fully-coated cookies were a bit too much, personally.)

1 cup flour, plus a little more for the work surface
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large whole egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
3/4 tsp pure peppermint extract *
8 large candy canes or 30 peppermint candies, crushed **
16 oz. white chocolate chips

1. Whisk together first 5 ingredients.  In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium-low, and add egg, then yolk, beating well after each addition.  Beat in peppermint extract.  Slowly add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.  Shape dough into 2 round, flat disks, wrap each in plastic and chill 1 hour or up to 2 days.

2. On a piece of lightly floured parchment paper (or a Silpat), roll out 1 disk of the dough, lightly dusting top with flour, to 1/8 inch thickness.  Place dough, still on parchment, on a baking sheet and chill 15 minutes.  Brush excess flour from dough.  Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Reroll the scraps and cut more rounds.  Chill rounds 15 minutes.  Repeat with remaining disk of dough.

3. Bake at 325 degrees until cookies are dry to the touch, 12 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool completely. (Undecorated cookies can be stored in an airtight container at rom temperature up to 3 days.)

4. Pulse peppermint candies in a food processor until finely crushed, or put them in a resealable plastic bag and pund with a kitchen mallet.  Melt white chocolate in the microwave 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.  Dunk 1/2 of each cookie in white chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with peppermint candy pieces.  Allow to set completely.

* This flavor is very subtle in the cookie.  If you don't want to buy peppermint extract, use vanilla and it will turn out fine!

** I bought some peppermint pieces, already crushed, after a failed attempt to make my own last year (using a Ziplock bag and a rolling pin)  The Ziplock bag was pierced with the sharp peppermint slivers repeatedly, causing a huge mess and tons of frustration.  I bought the product (below) before hearing the brilliant idea of breaking them up in the food processor.