Have been longing for a moist, dark chocolate cookie. Last Christmas, I made Chocolate Peppermint cookies for my daughter and her husband. A huge hit.

I plan to freeze the cookies and force myself to eat just one a day.

Last night, I mixed cookie dough and chilled it overnight. Before hiking this morning, I baked the cookies. Easy. Packed one cookie for lunch on the trail. A vegan, Karen does not eat eggs or butter.

Today Karen and I hiked 11.7 miles with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain (and loss). Was more tired after the hike than I thought. Left my camera in Karen's car. Oops. Tomorrow I will post about today's hike with pictures after I get my camera back.

Meanwhile, here's the recipe.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Makes about 25 cookies.

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ to 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (to taste)
1 cup all-purpose flour (spoon and leveled)
½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup regular or mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the sugars and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg, vanilla and peppermint extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until well combined.

3. On low speed, mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Beat in chocolate chips on high speed.

4. Chilling the dough is mandatory for three hours or up to three days. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. I chill it overnight.

5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. If cookie dough is chilled for longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This makes the cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop and roll balls of dough- about 1.5 tablespoons of dough each- into balls and places 2” apart on cookie sheet. Balls should be about 1-1/4” in diameter.

7. Flatten balls initially with your hand. With a spatula, flatten balls evenly to ¼” thick.

8. Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes. The baked cookies will look extremely soft in the centers when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cook 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.