Double Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies

One dozen of these 

Double Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies

will be given away!  

Just share the All Things Libby post

on Facebook to be entered into the drawing!

Happy Monday and Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap Recipe Post Day!  

My excitement for Christmas cookies has been elevated this year with my participation in the 

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  

Thanks to Lindsay at Love and Olive Oil and Julie at The Little Kitchen

for coordinating this awesome swap and networking event.

So excited to make a connection with the people behind these awesome blogs.  

And, I want to thank to my dear friend Holly and her blog-reading prowess, 

as she turned me on to this event and it has been such a blast.   

All I had to do was submit my name and then 

received the names of 3 bloggers from around the country while 3 other bloggers received my name, 

all for us to ship off 1 dozen cookies to each other.  

I can't wait to tell you about the cookies I received!   

The first ones that were received and devoured were the Gooey Butter Cookies 

from Linz at Itz Linz based in St. Louis, MO.  

These cookies were so good, my kids and I were fighting over them. 

They were powdery and flavorful with a soft gooey center.  

I can't wait to see the recipe because they might just need to be whipped up pronto.  

The second box to arrive was some awesome 

Coconut Mac-Nut Biscotti 

from Amber at Loves Food, Loves to Eat out of Seattle, WA. 

I loved the coconut flavor of these when dunked in my coffee.  

Note to self, take time to enjoy biscotti more often!  

Finally, amazingly soft and perfectly spiced Snickerdoodles 

arrived from Shalon & Sam

at Palmer and Brown in New York.  

It was so fun to be the recipient of such a great variety of cookies from coast to coast.  

Now, onto my cookie!

As much as I create my own recipes for meals, cookies and baked goods are less of my forte, 

but that won't stop me from joining in the fun!

Brainstorming my cookie didn't take long. 

Peppermint is my absolute favorite holiday flavor, hands down. 

I started researching ideas and came across a pudding cookie. 

That was a brand new idea to me, 

so certainly a great place to start and build from there. 

After my first feeble attempt at the cookies, 

good flavor but almost no texture, 

I resorted to Kraft Recipes for their pudding cookie recipe

as the starting point.  

I knew I wanted peppermint extract and chips, as well as cocoa powder 

to be part of this creation. 

And then figured that some extra chocolate, in the form of chips, 

wouldn't hurt either. 

Thanks for following along this far, 

let's get to the recipe! 

Two stick of softened butter and 1 cup of brown sugar were the first two ingredients

in this cookie party. 

After being sufficiently mixed, 

two eggs and 1/4 tsp peppermint extract were added 

to complete the wet ingredients. 

Then, the dry ingredients were measured and mixed….

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 package of cream cheese pudding 

1/3 cup cocoa powder. 

After being gently combined, 

they were added to the mixing bowl. 

Mixed well and the final touches were added…

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cups crushed peppermint candy

were all mixed together. 

Using a medium scoop, 

1 dozen cookie dough balls were placed on a baking pan

and popped into a 350 F oven

for just about 10 minutes. 

I hate over-cooked cookies, 

so always error on the side of chewy!  

Once baked, some additional crushed peppermint candies 

were sprinkled on top. 

I can't say enough good things about these…

amazing texture and flavors, 

but don't trust my word, 

whip up a batch for yourself!  

RECIPE:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 30 minutes

Makes: 3 dozen

Ingredients:

2 stick of softened butter

1 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 package of cream cheese pudding 

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 cups crushed peppermint candy

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Cream the butter and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, pudding and cocoa powder. 

Then, add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar. 

Finally, fold in the chocolate chips and peppermint candy. 

Drop slightly larger than tablespoon balls of dough on baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes. 

Sprinkle with additional peppermint candy immediately after removing from oven. 

Cool and serve.