Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Its so hard for me to pick a favorite accompaniment for chocolate. I am hopelessly devoted to peanut butter and chocolate, but my old friend, peppermint and chocolate, sometimes rears it's head in my face and I have to silence it. When I saw these cookies, I knew they would be perfect. The dense and chocolatey crinkle cookie is divine on its own. But adding peppermint extract? Sign me up!

As you can imagine, these cookies are great. The peppermint is very prevalent and, as always, works so well with the dense chocolate of the cookie. I made these extra large and they were great on a cold night with a glass of ice-cold milk!

Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Bakers Royale 

1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons spooned and leveled bleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons peppermint extract
1 cup sugar

in a medium bowl, beat together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 15 seconds more and stir; set aside. (I had to do another minute in the microwave because my chocolate wasn't quite melted yet)

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together 2 1/2 cups of the sugar, the oil, butter and corn syrup to blend. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and peppermint extract. Then on low, beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat in on low speed. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight (the longer the better).

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment (or a silipat). Take out about one-quarter of the dough at a time to shape. Roll the dough into 2 inch balls. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar into one bowl and the confectioners' sugar in another bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball lightly in granulated sugar first, then very heavily in the confectioners' sugar (apparently rolling them in granulated sugar first helps the confectioners' sugar to stay on the surface better and not soak in!).

Arrange cookies 2 inches apart on the foil. For crisp cookies, bake 12 to 14 minutes. For a chewier cookie, bake 10-12 minutes.