Warning: This post has little to do with Emilia. Those of you who are huge fans of the under 3 foot crowd - sorry to disappoint.
Saturday I co-hosted a baby shower for one of my bffs, Tracy. Tracy got the surprise of a lifetime when, over the summer, she learned that no, she was in fact, NOT done having kids and that baby #3 was on the way. Sadly, yes SADLY, T is of the 'don't-find-out-what-you're-having' crew which makes gift giving a real challenge... but we amused ourselves anyway with the thought of her giving birth to a 'girlie girl' - one who only wants pink and frills and ribbons and bows. HA!
Anyway, at the shower my friend Emily suggested that I use this blog to sometimes include recipes I've made/love/tweaked. My friends know I love to cook. Baking, not so much, but definitely cooking. I come by it honestly as both sides of my family have produced fabulous cooks, including my Dad who's classically trained. Well, I figured I'd give it a shot. So I introduce to you...
Peppermint Bark Cookies (because really, at holidaytime, is there anything better than bark?)
My mom and I have been known to scour local purveyors of bark to find the best ones. Last year we settled on World Market's bark, but this year they seem to have changed the recipe. The gold standard remains the bark at William-Sonoma. Then I came across a recipe in this month's Bon Appetit magazine, tweaked it a bit for my own purposes and gave it away at T's shower on Saturday. It was a hit!
can you tell i took this pic with my old point-and-shoot? sometimes it's just a little easier.
Peppermint Bark Cookies
Nonstick spray (aka PAM)
2 c. ap flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. room temp butter
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (i used peppermint for more peppermintyness)
1 egg yolk
6 oz. bittersweet/semisweet chocolate (i used half each)
1/2 c. finely chopped red & white stripped hard peppermint candies (here's where you have to be picky - Brachs candies were no good - gotta get GOOD peppermints - otherwise it tastes kind of like toothpaste).
Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 13x9x2 inch metal baking pan with spray, line with parchment and then spray again. Whisk flour & salt together. Beat butter in large bowl until creamy, then add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 min. Beat in extract and then egg yolk. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just to blend.
Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared pan. Then moisten fingertips to press dough into an even layer in pan. Pierce dough with fork all over.
Bake cookie base until light golden brown and slightly puffed, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; immediately sprinkle chocolate all over and let stand until softened. Use small offset spatula to spread chocolate over top of cookie in thin even layer. immediately sprinkle chopped peppermint candies over. Let cool completely, lift cookie from pan and cut into irregular pieces. Inhale most of bark in one sitting.
(I also modified it and made a batch with Heath bar pieces - even more delicious!)
Perhaps I'll post about my attempt at making my annual Christmas cake.... hmmm...
4 comments:
delish. kind of wanna try some immed!!
that's so great that you're surrounded by cooks. i can still taste those meatballs you made!
What a great idea!! Can't wait to see all the yummy inspirations!! BTW, your orzo salad that you made for playgroup awhile ago is a total hit with Zoe!! (Kirk, not so much - not a cold pasta fan; maybe I should serve it warm a few times!)
amy - serve it warm - am not a fan of cold pasta either and that's the only way i like it! anne - totally made those same meatballs for this party! :)
so glad you are doing this...I love peppermint bark...may have to try...:)
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