And so it begins...

I started my Christmas baking last night with two batches of Chocolate-Peppermint cookies and one batch of Mint Surprise cookies. It felt so, so good to bake something Christmas-y...and now I am full of holiday spirit.  And cookies.  

I made my Chocolate-Peppermint cookies as I have for the past several years.  My cookie is based on Hershey's Double Chocolate Mini Kisses Cookies recipe.  I simply decrease the amount of vanilla to one teaspoon, add one teaspoon of peppermint extract, and substitute the Mini Kisses for Andes Peppermint Chip Baking Bits.  Heaven!

I tried a new recipe and combined chocolate with mint to make these Mint Surprise cookies, which is based on Hershey's Triple Chocolate Cookies. I added one teaspoon of mint extract to the batter, omitted the chocolate chips entirely, and used Hershey's Mint Chocolate Truffle Kisses for the top. 

These were absolutely delicious!  The bag of Kisses contained twice what I needed for the recipe, and at the rate these are going, I'll need to make another batch soon. And next time, I might throw in some mint chocolate chips in the batter (instead of the mint extract--or maybe in addition to?) to turn the mint flavor up to full-blast.  Seriously, you should make these--they are amazing!

Then, because the oven was on and I needed to use up some pumpkin puree leftover from Thanksgiving, I made pumpkin doughnut muffins.  Because I can't live on just cookies, you know?

Actually, I could live entirely on cookies.  My health would be dreadful and my teeth would rot out of my head, but I could make it work for several years before being claimed by scurvy.

My holiday baking is now 15% complete.  That is, if I don't eat all of these cookies myself. If so, then it's back to the drawing board kitchen for me.  And I am completely fine with that.

Chocolate Mint Cake

I first experienced this cake while in high school. I was invited over to a boyfriend's house for dinner, and his mom served this cake. One bite and I was in heaven. I had three pieces and begged for the recipe. The boyfriend's nice mother shared the recipe with me. And now, my dear TMI readers, I'm sharing it with you: here's the recipe for the most wonderful chocolate mint cake. Ever.



Step One: Bake two 8" or 9" rounds of devil's food cake. Go ahead and use a mix. I won't tell Martha if you don't.




Step Two: Mix an 8 ounce container of Cool Whip with 2 teaspoons mint extract and a tiny bit of green food coloring. I think they actually make mint-flavored Cool Whip during the holiday season, but in the event that's not lurking in your fridge in April, the mint extract will do.



Step Three: When the cake has cooled, slice each round in half horizontally. Try to keep the cut as even as possible. And if you are interested in knowing how to level cakes properly, don't look to me for answers. As you can see from my layers, I have no idea what I'm doing.



Step Four: Put a layer of the minty green Cool Whip between each layer of cake. Spread each layer of Cool Whip to an inch from the edge--it will spread to the edge as the other layers are added.



Seriously, look at those crazy layers! While it may not be structurally sound (let's all give thanks I'm not an architect or construction worker), it is structurally delicious.

Step Five: Once the cake is assembled, cover it in creamy chocolate frosting. Again, it's okay to use the canned stuff. Your secret is safe with me.

Step Six That Is Really Crucial To The Success of This Cake: If you are not serving the cake right away, then you must freeze it overnight. Leaving it in the refridgerator is okay, but the layers really tend to smash the Cool Whip and then slide around, leaving you with a lopsided cake. And if your layers are really uneven, that only makes the storage problem worse.

I make the cake, put it in my cake carrier, and then put it in the freezer overnight. Take it out a few hours before serving, and it defrosts to perfection.

Note: my cake is really messy. That can happen with this recipe. Between uneven layers, really soft Cool Whip and assembling it at an ungodly hour, my cake looks like a wreck. This is okay. Once people take a bite, they'll think it's the most beautiful thing they've ever seen.

With the mint and the green, this cake works wonderfully for Christmas and St. Patrick's Day. But it tastes great 365 days of the year. In fact, it would taste great tonight! Give it a try. You'll thank me for it later.