Cocoa Tassies With Peppermint Frosting Recipes

PEPPERMINT S'MORE TASSIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place cookie mix, cracker crumbs, butter and egg in a large bowl; beat until well mixed. Shape into 36 balls; press onto bottoms and up the sides of greased miniature muffin cups., Bake 9-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 30 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks., Meanwhile, place chocolate chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Stir in extract. Let stand 15 minutes or until cooled. Spoon 2 teaspoons chocolate mixture into each cup., Place marshmallow creme in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power 15 seconds or just until softened. Spoon a dollop of marshmallow cream onto each cup; sprinkle with candies.

PEPPERMINT SCHNAPPS HOT COCOA SNOWFLAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs, vanilla and espresso powder. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half., Preheat oven to 350°. Roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Cut with floured 3-in. snowflake cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For icing, in a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, shortening, schnapps and enough water to reach a spreading consistency. If desired, add 4 drops food coloring to the inside a of pastry bag fitted with a small star tip. Decorate cookies as desired. Let stand at room temperature until frosting is dry and firm.

PEPPERMINT HOT COCOA

Steps:

• In a large mug or glass, combine cocoa mix with 1 cup of hot water, and stir to dissolve. Add syrup and mix well. Top with marshmallows and sip away!

PEPPERMINT FROSTED CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Switch to high speed and beat in the milk, then the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be sticky and tacky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
• Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
• Scoop and roll dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each, into balls. Arrange 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheets. The cookie dough is certainly sticky, so wipe your hands clean after every few balls of dough you shape.
• Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren't really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
• Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, heavy cream/milk, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. Beat in a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. I usually add a little less than 1/8 teaspoon. And, if desired, beat in another drop of peppermint extract.
• Top each cookie with frosting. Garnish frosting with crushed candy canes. Frosting doesn't dry completely, but will set after several hours. Carefully stacking frosted cookies is fine after that.
• Cover and store cookies at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

PEPPERMINT BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Beat butter in a bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy; gradually add confectioners' sugar and milk and beat until smooth. Add peppermint extract and food coloring and beat on high speed until fluffy.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PEPPERMINT FROSTING

Steps:

• Make the cake: Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease an 8-by-8-inch square or 9-inch round light-colored metal baking pan with oil.
• In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and eggs. Use a whisk or an electric mixer to beat the mixture until foamy and slightly lighter in texture and color, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, vanilla and salt, and whisk until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
• Whisk in the cocoa powder until combined. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and whisk until combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir the espresso powder into the hot water, then add the mixture to the bowl. Whisk until incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter a few times to release any large air bubbles. Bake until puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan set on a rack for about 45 minutes.
• While the cake bakes, clean the mixing bowl and make the frosting: Add the butter to the bowl and mix on medium-high with an electric mixer until smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to low, and slowly add the confectioners' sugar. Mix until the sugar is moistened, then add 2 teaspoons of the cream, the vanilla extract, 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and salt. Turn the speed up to medium-high, and whip until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes, adding a bit more cream a teaspoon at a time, if necessary, to make a smooth and light frosting. Taste the frosting, and add a few more drops of peppermint extract if desired. The frosting can be kept at room temperature while the cake finishes baking and cooling.
• Top the cooled cake with an even layer of frosting, then use the tip of a toothpick to dot the frosting with a few small dots of gel food coloring, if using. Use a spoon or offset spatula to swirl the food coloring into the frosting to create candy cane-like stripes - just a few swipes will do the trick. If you mix it in too much, the frosting will turn pink. Top the cake with sprinkles and shaved chocolate, if desired. Store leftover cake loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

COCOA TASSIES WITH PEPPERMINT FROSTING

Steps:

• Tassies:.
• In a medium bowl, sir together flour, sugar, and cocoa powder.
• Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
• In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and the cold water.
• Gradually stir egg yolk mixture into flour mixture.
• Gently knead the dough just until a ball forms.
• If necessary, cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Divide dough into 36 pieces.
• Press dough pieces onto bottoms and up sides of 1-3/4-inch muffin cups.
• Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until shells are firm.
• Cool in muffin cups for 5 minutes.
• Remove shells from muffin cups; cool completely.
• Peppermint Filling:.
• In a large bowl, combine butter, marshmallow creme and peppermint extract.
• Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
• Gradually beat in 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar.
• Beat in 1 tablespoon milk.
• Beat in 1 cup powdered sugar.
• Using a wooden spoon, stir in 1 cup powdered sugar.
• If necessary, stir in enough additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make a filling of piping consistency.
• Using a pastry bag fitted with an open star tip, pipe Peppermint Cream Filling into shells.
• Sprinkle filling with crushed peppermint candies.
• TO STORE: Layer unfilled shells between pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover.
• Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
• Thaw shells, if frozen. Fill as directed in Step 3.