21 Days 'til Christmas (Day 4)

21 Days Left! It's Day 4 of 25 and I'm still posting strong!

I know I mentioned potentially posting pictures of my wreath but I stayed over at my parents' place last night (I'm still there now) so I don't have access to my own photos.
But that's okay! I found another great recipe (I think I tried to make these last year but with brownies instead of cookies to not-so-great results) and a cute gingerbread decorating idea.

Am I obsessed with gingerbread? I seem to have mentioned them almost everyday so far....

Your recipe for today is a combination of flavours that I love:
the Chocolate-Peppermint Cookie.

You will need:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• 8 large candy canes or 30 peppermint candies, crushed
• 2 pounds white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add egg, then yolk, beating well after each addition. Beat in peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour
2. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out circles, and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Roll and cut scraps once. Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes (again, a step I tend to skip but by all means try it! I'm just impatient). Repeat with remaining disk.
3. Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer parchment, with cookies, to wire racks, and let cool. (Undecorated cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.)
4. Sift crushed candy, and separate larger pieces from dust, reserving both. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Remove from heat. Dunk cookies into melted chocolate. Using a fork, turn to coat, let excess drip off, and gently scrape bottom against edge of bowl. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of either candy pieces or dust on top. Repeat, sprinkling half the cookies with pieces and the rest with dust. Refrigerate until set, up to 3 hours. Decorated cookies are best served the same day.

(All copyright Martha Stewart - I'm lazy so I literally copied and pasted the recipe from the website.)

And finally...a different and very cute idea for gingerbread cookies!

Have a wonderful Friday! I'm off to dinner tonight with some friends from work and today is my official last day of classes for 2009. Hurray! Now I just have to get through 4 exams and I'm on Holiday.