peppermint mocha cookies

directions

chocolate chocolate chunk cookies

1. Melt butter in a medium sauce pot over med-low heat then mix in cocoa powder and espresso. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

   113g unsalted butter, 40g cocoa powder, 30ml espresso

2. Once cooled, cream the butter with the sugars in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Start mixing on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated the turn up the speed to med-high for 2 minutes or until the mixture is homogeneous and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beat on medium speed for a minute or until fully combined

   75g white sugar, 75g brown sugar, 1 egg, 1t vanilla extract

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture into the stand mixer while mixing on med-low speed. Mix until all just combined and there are no dry spots in the dough. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the chopped chocolate pieces.

   150g all purpose flour, 2.5g baking powder, 2g salt, 4oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
4. Roll the dough out into balls ~50g each. Place on a small sheet tray or plate lined with parchment paper and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
5. Once ready to bake preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and place 12 balls of cookie dough on the baking mat straight from the fridge in a 3 x 4 grid leaving 2 inches of room between each.
6. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Start making the buttercream while the cookies are cooling

peppermint buttercream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix on low just until combined. Add in other half of the powdered sugar and repeat.

   113g unsalted butter, 125g powdered sugar

2. Add vanilla paste and peppermint extract to the bowl. Mix on low until the vanilla and peppermint are incorporated and then turn the speed to high and continue mixing for 2 - 4 minutes or until the buttercream is smooth.

   3/4t vanilla paste, 3/4t peppermint extract
3. Move onto the cookie assembly

chocolate ganache

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat the heavy cream on the stove top or by microwaving in 30 second intervals until the cream is almost at a boil. Por the cream over the chocolate in the heat proof bowl, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.

   35g semi-sweet baking chocolate, 35g heavy cream
2. Whisk the chocolate and cream together until very smooth. Use immediately.

assembly

1. Set the cookies on a cooling rack and set over a sheet tray to catch any mess from the ganache.

2. Evenly divide the buttercream among the entire batch of cookies. You can use a piping bag to pipe the buttercream onto each cookie individually or simply use an offset spatula to spread out the buttercream.

   12 chocolate chocolate chunk cookies, 1 peppermint buttercream

3. Make the ganache now. Once ready pour the ganache over the batch of cookies in a thin stream moving back and fourth and left to right to create several stripes of ganache on each cookie.

   70g chocolate ganache

4. Add crushed candy canes on top of the cookies.

   1.5 candy canes