IknowIknowIknowIknow…we hate Starbucks. In most cases, I’d much rather tour the small, cozy coffee shops that dot this gorgeous city of Chicago, of which there are many. I’d rather sit with a latte made with one of their homemade nut milks in a gorgeous ceramic mug, reading another heartbreaking memoir and listening to their lo-fi playlist.
And I am but a millennial who grew up as the Starbucks seasonal beverages took hold of our collective admiration, therefore, I am a sucker for a peppermint mocha latte. A sucker! Whew. Feels good to admit it.
This cookie is inspired by my guilty pleasure latte. They didn’t keep me from getting zero peppermint mocha lattes this season, but I do think they helped.
Day 6 in the books! Have you made any cookies yet? Do let me know. Love you <3
PEPPERMINT MOCHA SHORTBREAD
Makes 18 cookies
Cookie:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder (if clumpy like mine, sifted!)
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
Ganache:
4 oz chopped chocolate (I prefer using a 60-70% bar, but any semisweet will do)
½ cup heavy cream
¾ teaspoon espresso powder
⅓ cup crushed peppermints (I like the way the blender makes some powdery bits and some bigger bits, but you can also hand chop them or do whatever you like)
Flaky sea salt, to taste
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Line a 9” x 9” pan with parchment paper.
Make the cookies:
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add the butter and both sugars. You could do this just as easily by hand, but I have a pretty purple mixer, so I used it here. On low, barely combine the butter and sugars. Mine took about 3 minutes and one or two scrapes to make sure the butter and sugar were incorporated but not much air is worked into it.
Add all of the dry ingredients at once and mix on low until the mixture starts to come together into little balls of dough. Stop the mixer here, if you're using one, and finish bringing the dough together by hand. There shouldn’t be any dry bits, but it’ll be a semi-crumbly dough.
Press the dough into your prepared pan as evenly as possible. I just use my hands here. Chill this for fifteen in the freezer.
Bake the shortbread for 35-45 minutes or until the top shows no signs of moisture and when you gently press down, it feels set. Not necessarily firm, but it will also feel more like a cookie and not like dough.
Cool in the pan for fifteen minutes before turning out onto a cutting board. I like using the bottom as the top because the bottom is so perfectly level. Use a chef’s knife to cut into cookies. I cut rectangles, but you can do whatever you want! Squares! Hexagons! Triangles! Allow them to cool completely while you make the ganache.
Make the ganache:
In a small mixing bowl, add the chopped chocolate and espresso powder.
In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a rolling boil. This shouldn’t take long, so keep an eye on it or it’ll boil over! Once boiling, turn off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for two minutes.
Stir the now melting chocolate gently with a spatula until the whole mixture is homogeneous. Your shortbread is probably cool or close to it by now, so it’s time to dip! Have your peppermints and flaky salt ready.
Dip the top (which used to be the bottom) of each cookie in the ganache. I used my hands, but you use small tongs or even a fork I suppose. I like trying to dip about halfway down the shortbread and then when I flip the cookie over, create a little swirl of ganache. Don’t stress too much about this though because you’re about to coat these in peppermints.
Once all the cookies are coated, let it rain with peppermint bits. Be generous here! I wish I was even more generous in my batch. Use every last bit of peppermint. Then go back and sprinkle a pinch of flaky salt over top of the peppermint. This is optional, but highly suggested.
These freeze very well and keep well wrapped for four or five days.
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