Carol's Cookie

A few weeks ago (Nov. 14) Allie over at Allie Oops Sweet Happy Life dedicated a mug rug design to Carol from Attic Window. She said she was grateful to Carol for helping her get started on a project and so dedicated this pattern to her.

I told Carol, who I have never met yet we live in the same area, that I, too, was grateful to her for all of the help she has given me over these two years of blogging. If I have a question I can ask her and she helps. Little things like this can mean a lot when you're ready to toss the computer out the window. I decided I would create a cookie for Carol and set to thinking of what sort of cookie to invent.

This weekend it came to me in a brilliant flash. I make candy peppermint patties at Christmastime. I recently made 200 of them.

Well, this weekend I was preparing for Charlie and Cecilia's weekend here by making cookies to freeze for decorating when they get here. And suddenly it hit me. I'll make a cookie version of the peppermint pattie!

I started with a basic shortbread recipe. Everyone has one of those....sugar, flour, butter.

Then I melted 1 cup of chocolate chips, added 2 tablespoons of solid Crisco to the chips (this gives them that pretty sheen and prevents that 'gray crawl' that happens to chocolate. I added the peppermint flavoring to the chocolate after it was melted. I used peppermint oil instead of extract simply because it's what I have. It's very powerful so start with a little and work your way into how much minty taste you want. I melted the chocolate and shortening in the microwave and after it was melted I added the peppermint.

Then, I just dropped a cookie into the chocolate and fished it out with a fork and put it carefully on a parchment covered cookie sheet. I put them in the refrigerator to set.

Voila! A very yummy cookie version of peppermint patties! I fed the other half of this one to Patient Husband, who doesn't eat baked goods much, and he said, "Wow! What are these?"
"Carol's Cookie," I said.