Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is one of my favorite recipes. I came across it a few years ago when I got into my cookie baking craze. This is one that I make every year at Christmastime during CookiePalooza (I make ridiculous amounts of cookies during the holidays). Basically I made these today because I was bored and needed something to do. So I looked around for what ingredients I had on hand and figured that I had everything to make cookies. I was going to make basic chocolate chip, but decided on these in the end, because like I said, its one of my favorites!

Ingredients:

* 3/4 Cup Butter
* 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
* 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
* 1 Egg
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 1 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
* 1 1/2 Cup Flour
* 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
* 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
* 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
* 1 Cup Chocolate Chips

* Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees F.

* Stir together Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt. Set aside.

* In the bowl of your mixer, beat together Butter and Sugars until smooth and creamy.

* Add the Egg, Vanilla, and Peppermint and mix well.

* Add the Flour mix and stir until just combined.

* Stir in Chocolate Chips.

* Drop by rounded spoonful onto baking sheet.

* Bake for approx. 12 minutes.

* Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and move to wire rack to cool.

* Enjoy!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

These are my Dads favorite cookies, so my Nana and my Mom used to make them a lot when I was younger. I made them for work once and I was surprised that a lot of people had never even heard of them before. After trying them though, everyone quickly became a fan. Since I am going to the movies tomorrow with my Mom and sister, I thought I would make these and drop them off for my Dad while I was there. Pretty sure you can find the recipe on the back of the butterscotch chip bag, but here it is anyways.

Ingredients:

* 1 1/4 Cup Flour
* 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
* 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
* 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
* 1 Cup Butter
* 3/4 Cup Granulated White Sugar
* 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
* 2 Eggs
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 3 Cups Oats
* 1 2/3 Cup Butterscotch Chips (I usually just dump the whole bag in)

* Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.

* Combine together the Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, and Cinnamon. Set aside.

* In the bowl of your mixer beat together the Butter and both Sugars.

* Add the Eggs and beat until combined.

* Add in Vanilla.

* Beat the Flour mix.

* Stir in Oats.

* Stir in Butterscotch Chips.

* Scoop out and place on cookie sheet.

* Bake for approx. 10 minutes.

* Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to cooling rack, If you try and move them too soon, they will break.

* Enjoy!

Chocolate Snickerdoodles

I love snickerdoodles; they are one of my favorite cookies. So when I came across a recipe for chocolate snickerdoodles, I thought I would give it a try. The recipe is very similar to a regular snickerdoodle recipe, with the obvious addition of cocoa powder to give it the chocolate taste.  While I didn't love these cookies as much as a regular Snickerdoodle, I would try this recipe again.

Ingredients:

* 2 1/4 Cup Flour
* 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
* 1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
* 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
* 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
* 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
* 1 1/2 Cup Sugar
* 2 Eggs
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 2 Tablespoons Sugar
* 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

* Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F.

* In a medium bowl combine Flour, Cocoa Powder, Cream of Tartar, Baking soda, and Salt. Set aside.

* In a small bowl combine the 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon and 2 Tablespoons Sugar. Set aside.

* In the bowl of your mixer combine the Butter and Sugar (1 1/2 Cups).

* Add the Eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

* Add Vanilla and beat well.

* Add the Flour Mix and stir together.

* Form the dough into balls.

* Roll the balls into Cinnamon/Sugar mixture. 

***I would recommend flattening the balls a little bit before baking. I baked mine as shown, without flattening and when they were done, the outside was perfect, but the inside was still kind of doughy. I think because the cocoa makes them a little more dense than a regular snickerdoodle, they don't bake as evenly or something. Next time I try this recipe, I will flatten the balls a little bit before they go in the oven.***

* Bake for approx. 9 minutes. 

* Move from Cookie Sheet to Cooling Rack to cool. 

* Enjoy!!!