Chocolate Peppermint Swirl Cookies

The minute I saw these cookies on Rachel's blog, I knew I wanted to make them. They are so festive looking, and I could tell that the chocolate peppermint combination would be addicting. And it is. They way the kisses melt into the cookie makes the cookies beautiful, and the contrast of the chocolate and the cool peppermint makes them delicious. If you're making one more trip to the grocery store before Christmas, pick up a bag of those candy cane kisses so you can make these cookies!

Start by placing the butter, brown sugar



and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate chips



and stir until most of the chocolate chips are melted. Then remove from the heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the vanilla.



Pour this mixture into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Once the chocolate is a bit cooler, add the eggs, one at a time



and beat each on high speed until completely blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture



until blended. Chill the dough for about an hour.

Now roll the dough into 1/2" to 1" balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.



Bake for 7-8 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven, place a Candy Cane Kiss on top of each hot cookie in the middle and then let them sit about 5 minutes.



Using a toothpick, gently swirl the softened Candy Cane Kiss until you like the pattern.





Remove to a wire rack to cool, then transfer to another baking sheet and refrigerate to set the middle.

Incidentally, while making these I started to think of all kinds of other cookie/candy combinations. And I did run out of kisses at the end, so I decided to throw in some rolos!



These turned out great as well! Not as beautiful to look at, but equally tasty! With all the different flavors of kisses on the market now, I think there could be some really great combination experiments in my future!



One year ago: Macaroon Kisses
Two years ago: Layered Mint Fudge

There are more great ideas at Mangia Mondays, Menu Mondays, Your Recipe, My Kitchen,
Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday (#2), Tasty Tuesday (#3), Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table, Made from Scratch Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Crazy Sweet Tuesdays, Let's Do Brunch, What's Cooking Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Ingredient Spotlight.

Chocolate Peppermint Swirl Cookies

3/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 Tbsp. water
2 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 bag Candy Cane Kiss candies

Combine butter, brown sugar and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until melted. Add chocolate chips and stir until most of the chocolate chips are melted; remove from heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the vanilla. Pour into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times to help cooling.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

When the chocolate is cooler, add one egg at a time beating each on high speed until completely blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in dry ingredients until blended. Chill the dough for about an hour.

Roll dough into 1/2" to 1" balls and place on ungreased baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven, place a Candy Cane Kiss on top of each hot cookie in the middle and let them sit about 5 minutes.
Using a toothpick, gently swirl the softened Candy Cane Kiss until you like the pattern.

Remove the swirl topped cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack. After a few minutes on the cooling rack, transfer to a cold cookie sheet and place the sheet in the fridge to set the middles. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.