Just Baking

The US Postal Service is not as busy as it used to be.  With emails, UPS, DHL, and FedEx, the only items left in my mailbox these days are bills and junk mail.  I can even view my bills online.  It looks like I won’t be needing my mailbox anymore.  Or maybe I do.

My neighborhood typically hosts a cookie exchange, but somehow no one took the inititive to organize it this holiday season.  Since I was not going to be getting a variety of cookies from my neighbors this year, I was excited to join a cookie exchange through the mail with the Personal Chefs Network of which I am a member.  I was given 4 names of fellow personal chefs to send a dozen homemade cookies to and in return I would receive 4 dozen cookies IN THE MAIL!!!  I finished baking my Triple Chocoholic Peppermint Cookies last night and packaged them for shipment today.

I hope my cookie exchange partners are as anxious as I am to receive the goodie packages.  I am going to check my mailbox to see if I have a package.  The postman is going to be a little busier this year.

Triple Chocoholic Peppermint Cookies

This is a recipe from a Diane Mott Davidson novel.  She is a fiction writer who writes novels that center around a caterer and her adventures.

Makes 3 dozen 3-inch cookies

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 eggs, beaten slightly
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 - 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 4 - 5 candy cans, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Do not alter the order in which the ingredients are combined.  In a large bowl, combine oats and 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips; set aside.  In another large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy.  Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.  The batter will be stiff.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Stir the mixture into the batter.  Add the oats and chocolate chips; stir well to combine.

Drop by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets.  Bake 10 - 13 minutes.  The cookies will look shiny and the centers will be barely soft.  Let cool a couple minutes on the sheets and then remove to cool completely.

In a heatproof bowl, melt the white chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of the whipping cream.  The consistency of the melted chocolates should be thin enough to drizzle over the cookies.  Add more cream if it is too thick.  Drizzle the top of each cookie with the chocolate and sprinkle with the crushed candy cane.  Let dry completely.