Chocolate Chip and Peppermint Crunch Crackles

Yay for cookies and yay that it’s still the time of year when we can try – and share – all the new ones!

This very old Bon Appetit recipe for Chocolate Chip and Peppermint Crunch Crackles has lived, untouched, in my saved recipes for years, waiting for the moment of inspiration. Well, the moment is now, and the cookies delivered. If anyone is prepping Christmas cookie boxes, these are worthy of the box space.

Festive and fudgy, these little cookies crunch with peppermint and ooze chocolate. They need to stay little because big would just be too much, and also how much fun is a two-bite treat? The original recipe called for semisweet chocolate chips, but we went for it and used milk chocolate, which is sweeter and softer, good things in our opinions. We also omitted the peppermint extract the original called for, which gave us a minty but not too-minty cookie. And because the recipe was written at the beginning of the aughts, it has us crushing up peppermint candies, which is no longer necessary. Thank you, Brach’s Peppermint Crushed Candy Cane (sold in bags at H-E-B).

These went fast at a Christmas party this year, and the few that were left over might have improved with a couple of days’ worth of counter-time: they just got softer. Happy baking!

Festive and fudgy, these little cookies crunch with peppermint and ooze chocolate. Chocolate Chip and Peppermint Crunch Crackles are a two-bite treat.

Chocolate Chip and Peppermint Crunch Crackles
Adapted slightly from an old Bon Appetit recipe

8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
½ cup crushed red-and-white-striped hard peppermint candies (such as Brach’s Peppermint Crushed Candy Cane, which is pre-crushed), plus more for garnish
6 ½ tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Combine the first three ingredients in a heavy large saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove the pan from heat. Mix in ½ cup finely crushed peppermints and 6 ½ tablespoons of sugar. Cool the mixture to lukewarm, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. 

Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture, 1 at a time, then whisk in the vanilla extract. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl to blend. Whisk the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips into the melted chocolate mixture. Cover the batter and chill until firm enough to shape, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

Take the batter out of the fridge at least an hour before shaping the cookies. Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 generous tablespoonful for each cookie, roll the dough between moistened palms into 1 ¼ inch-diameter balls, then arrange them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until they are puffed and cracked on top but still soft to the touch in the center, about 11 minutes. Immediately press a few pieces of crushed mints onto the tops of the cookies. Let the cookies rest for about 5 minutes, then transfer to racks. Cool completely. (Cookies can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper in refrigerator.)