Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

This is my daughter's favorite Christmas cookie. But I stock up on the Nestle Winter Dark Chocolate and Mint morsels so I can continue to make them through the winter. They are perfect for snow days! If you choose to use Andes Candies red and white mints chopped instead, you can make them for Valentine's Day too. They are the perfect amount of chocolate satisfaction and minty goodness. This batch is large and can make anywhere from 3 to 9 dozen depending on the size ice cream scoop you use. You can just use a kitchen teaspoon too but I like the consistent size I get from an ice cream scoop - except for the stray chocolate chip which throws off the perfectly round shape. You can really gild the lily here by adding a slather of icing on top to pretty them up or you can add colored sugar and holiday sprinkles, but flavor wise they need nothing. If you use the large cookie scoop and add a layer of buttercream icing with holiday sprinkles on top, one cookie is all you will need to be satisfied. Otherwise, you'll be glad this is such a large batch because they are quite addictive. Fair warning ;) Enjoy!

Yields between 3 and 9 dozen depending on size of cookie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 cup cocoa powder

4 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

2 c (4 sticks) softened unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 c brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

5 large eggs

1 (10oz) bag (or more depending on taste) Nestle Dark Chocolate and Mint Morsels or Andes Candies chopped

Mix dry ingredients (except for mint chips) in a bowl together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar then add egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients slowly until fully incorporated. Do not overmix. Add mint chips on stir setting of stand mixer or by hand. Drop on parchment lined cookie sheets using an ice cream scoop for consistent size. Be sure to space 2" apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until just set.