Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Recipe

Happy Friday! I hope all of my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and good luck to those of you hitting the Black Friday sales today! One year I may decide to brave the stores, but for now I am content to stay home in my P.J.s. 😉

Today I am sharing one of my favorite holiday treats with you- these yummy chocolate peppermint shortbread bites. I am a HUGE fan of chocolate and peppermint together and these cookies just taste like Christmas!

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Bites

Author: Jenn

Recipe type: Cookie

Serves: 24 cookies

These chocolate peppermint shortbread bites are sure to be a holiday favorite!

Ingredients

1 cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup butter

Chocolate Ganache

6 ounces semisweet or milk chocolate,chopped
½ cup whipping cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and cocoa powder. Using a pastry blender {or your hands!}, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling together {this may take a little while}. Roll into a ball kneading until smooth.
On a floured surface, roll out dough into approximately ½ inch thickness. Use a small rectangular cookie cutter or slice into 1 inch x 2 inch rectangles. Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until just firm in the center. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
In a medium saucepan, bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes and then stir until smooth. Cool for 15 minutes before using.
Place 6 peppermint candies into a Ziploc bag and crush into small pieces.
Drizzle the chocolate ganache over the tops of the cookies and then sprinkle with the peppermints.

The recipe makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. The plain cookies can be frozen in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper for up to 3 months. Thaw when ready to use and then decorate with the ganache and peppermint.