Chocolate Peppermint Chews

Baking cookies is my favorite holiday chore, but after a couple of hours spent measuring, mixing and rolling, my interest wanes a bit. To make my work easier, I came up with a cookie that is a cinch to whip up, looks festive and tastes great.

My Chocolate Peppermint Chews use a devil’s food cake mix and a few other ingredients for home-baked holiday treats that disappear fast. The cake batter is made extra chocolaty with the addition of chocolate morsels, and is flavored with a bit of peppermint extract. The peppermint flavor is further enhanced with a drizzle of mint glaze and crushed peppermint candies.

Let your Viking stand mixer do the work of mixing the dough, and decrease your baking time by a few minutes by using the Viking convection setting on your oven, and then watch these special holiday cookies disappear.

Cookies

• 1 18.25-ounce devil’s food cake mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 cup mini or regular semisweet chocolate chips or mint chocolate chips

Combine first 4 ingredients, and beat at medium with an electric mixer until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan about 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

To finish the cookies

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 drops peppermint extract
• 4 teaspoons water
• 1 cup crushed peppermint candies.

Combine the sugar, extract and water in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Pour into a zip-top plastic sandwich bag. Seal and cut off a small piece at one of the corners. Drizzle over the cookies and sprinkle immediately with the crushed peppermint candies.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.