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Minty Cocoa Snowballs

Servings 3 -3 1/2 dozen (approx.) see note

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 Tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa I used Double Dutch Dark Cocoa
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup salted butter 2 sticks
  • 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 Tablespoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips or 1/2 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar for rolling

Instructions

  1. Whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
  2. Beat butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until softened. Add confectioner's sugar, vanilla, the Tablespoon of water and peppermint extract and beat until well combined.
  3. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until there are no dry streaks and it looks creamy. This may take a couple of minutes. It may seem like it's too dry, but the butter will eventually combine with the dry ingredients and form a stiff but creamy looking mixture.
  4. Stir in 1 cup of mint baking chips. (Or, 1/2 cup mint chips and 1/2 cup finely ground pecans.)
  5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour or until dough is easy to handle.
  6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  7. Roll into one inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
  8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are set and bottoms are lightly browned. (This is difficult to tell in a chocolate cookie depending on how dark your cocoa is. I baked mine for about 14 minutes and could see just a hint of browning around the bottoms.
  9. Place about 1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Roll warm cookies in sugar and place on a rack to cool. (I used a fork and spoon to toss them around in the sugar.) Add more sugar to bowl as needed. The first coating of sugar will melt onto the hot cookie.
  10. Once cookies are completely cool, roll them for a second time in confectioner's sugar. Serve.

Recipe Notes

* I made these with and without the nuts and I think I like them equally. When I used the 1/2 cup finely ground nuts and 1/2 cup mint chips, I also added 1 Tablespoon of water to the nut version when I added the extracts. As you might expect, the version with the nuts is has the ground nut texture, while the one without seems mintier but there's still texture from the chips.

*For yield, when I made them with the nuts, I got about 35 cookies. When I made it with only the mint chips, I got about 44 cookies. The chips are bulkier than the nuts and therefore add a little more volume.

Adapted from Russian Teacakes, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, Christmas Cookies Edition 1992

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