Double Dark Candy Cane Crunch Cookies

Can you believe it's already December?! It's such a fun month and the perfect way to start it off is with these double dark candy can crunch cookies. Chocolate and mint are such a natural and easy combination to work with this time of year, so this probably won't be the only recipe you see of the merriment this month. Husband doesn't like the combo. He always says "it's like eating a candy bar after you just brushed your teeth". So I rarely make it because I'll be the one eating it all. I just happened to need a batch of delicious cookies to go to a fun Bloggers' cookie exchange in Salt Lake this past weekend. The timing was great, the party was a blast, and the woman I got to meet were so fun. I think I'll post about that shin-dig tomorrow.

I love this dark chocolate cookie dipped in dark chocolate; all that strong chocolate pairs perfectly with the light fresh peppermint middle. Candy canes are processed to sand and then added to a thick buttercream for the filling. I like the little pieces of candy cane that catch on the tongue... it's different than eating just a mint flavored center. I know you'll love it.

Double Dark Candy Cane Crunch Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies
Printable Recipe

For the dough
1 ¼ cups butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup dutch processes cocoa or dark cocoa powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour

For the filling:

5 or 6 peppermint candy canes

¾ cup butter

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

milk or cream as needed (around ¼ cup)

For dipping:

Good quality chocolate, about 1 ½ pounds

Crushed candy canes for garnish

In a stand mixer, with a cookie paddle attached, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add half of the flour and mix. Add the remaining flour, ¼ cup at a time until you get a pretty dry dough. Don't be worried if the dough is a bit dry...we want a cookie that doesn't spread when baked and is crispy! Divide the dough in half and pat together to form a disk. Cover the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic from one disk and roll your dough out between two pieces of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface until it is about ¼ of an inch thick. Use a 2 inch circle cutter to cut out the cookies. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes. It's super hard to tell when a near black cookie is done. I baked mine for 10 minutes the first round and they tasted burnt on the bottom, so you'll need to adjust as you go. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the filling. In a food processor or blender process the unwrapped candy canes until you have a very fine candy cane dust. Add the candy cane dust to the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the butter, vanilla, and half of the powdered sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the remaining cup and a half of powdered sugar and combine. Add milk or cream as needed to get a very thick, but spreadable filling. Put the filling into a pastry bag with a large circle tip.

When the cookies are cooled, match them with a mate according to size. Take one cookie and pipe a circle of filling, about the size of a quarter, in the center on the flat bottom of the cookie. Take the mate and place it on top (flat sides together) and press it until the filling comes to the edge of the cookies. When the filling was squished to the edge of the cookie it was a little under a half inch thick. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

To dip the cookies, melt the chocolate using a double-boiler. When the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Drop a cookie in the melted chocolate and make sure all of it gets covered by the chocolate. Fish the cookie out with a fork. Tap the fork on the edge of your bowl to encourage extra chocolate to drip off. Place the chocolate-coated cookie on a piece of parchment or waxed paper and garnish with a sprinkle of crushed candy cane if you'd like. Let them rest until the chocolate sets.

Notes:

The cookies are better if they can sit over night. It gives the cookie time to absorb a bit of the chocolate and mint flavor and really improves them. Don't let them sit too long through of the cookie will lose its crispness.

These are excellent served and eaten cold. I love these straight out of the fridge.

If your world is crazy like mine and 3 hours instead of 15 minutes pass before you get back to baking, let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. The butter makes the dough super stiff if it's too cold.
I prefer semi-sweet chocolate, but feel free to use that, white, or milk chocolate. It's up to you.

Homemade Oreo assembly: