Peppermint Piece Cookies

And we're back! No, I hadn't forgotten about you, just got sidetracked by life a little bit. Sorry! Time to get myself together. Also, no pics today. Totally forgot until the last step!

I don't know if you've seen the recent commercials for the "Pieces" for some of your favorite candy bars. Hershey now makes Reese's Pieces (the classic), Almond Joy Pieces, Hershey Dark Chocolate Pieces and York Peppermint Patty Pieces. It is from this final type that the inspiration for these cookies came from. CVS was having a sale on all four types and I had coupons, so I picked some up today. Currently, they come in 10 or 10.5 oz bags, depending on the type you buy (except Reese's, which comes in lots of sizes).

Peppermint Piece Cookies

 Ingredients:
1 cup (2 full sticks) butter softened, or alternately 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and 1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 10oz pack of York Peppermint Patty Pieces (between 1 1/2 to 2 cups)

Tools:
2 mixing bowls
Electric mixer
Large spoon
Spatula
Small spoon
2 cookie sheets


Turn the oven to 375 degrees.

In one bowl, combine butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and eggs. It should be pretty well mixed using the electric mixer, you should see no egg or butter once mixed.

In a second bowl, add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well using the large spoon.

Add the flour mixture into the sugar mixture slowly. Add small parts of the flour then mix using the electric mixer before adding more. Otherwise you end up with flour everywhere!

Add the vanilla extract, peppermint extract and mix using the electric mixer. Add the peppermint pieces and mix in using the spatula.

Put the cookies onto the cookie sheets and bake for 8 minutes. Allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for about 3 minutes before transferring them to a plate or container of some sort.


When I made these, I added only 2 cups of flour and they broke very easily. 2 and a half cups should work much better, but you may want to go up to 3 cups if you prefer. They taste amazing by the way! The peppermint is there, but it doesn't overwhelm the entire cookie.