Christmas cookies in January

My family is large, and so is my husband's. In order to coordinate everyone's schedule, Christmas often gets spread out over a week or so. Which is fine, because we can concentrate on the family we're with and enjoy the event, and not worry about racing to another town to visit another group so we can get to destination #3 on time to see more folks...you get the idea.

Anyways, this year, my part of my family decided to stretch things waaaaaay out--we're having Christmas on January 11. To make it feel more like Christmas and less like the January doldrums, I made the one cookie that says "Merry Christmas" to me like nothing else: Chocolate-Peppermint Goodness (that's what I'm calling them this year). Nothing gets me into the Christmas spirit like the yummy combination of chocolate and peppermint, and I'm hoping it works for everyone else, too.

Start with the basic recipe for Nestle Toll House Cookies. Omit the vanilla extract and definately leave out the nuts. Decrease the amount of chocolate chips by half. Then, add the super awesome secret ingredients:

Andes peppermint crunch baking bits, peppermint extract and Ghirardelli ground chocolate. Simply substitute the peppermint extract for the vanilla extract, mix in the ground chocolate before the flour, and put the peppermint crunch bits in with the chocolate chips.

For extra pepperminty goodness, I always add crushed peppermints. Candy canes and starlights works well. Just make sure they are peppermint flavored and run them through the food processer. I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of those--delicious! Follow the baking directions according to the Toll House recipe.

And there you have it! Christmas in cookie form. Even in January.