RED VELVET PEPPERMINT BARK COOKIES
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Ingredients
3c. + 1 tbsp. All-purpose unbleached flour, sifted
1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. Kosher salt
¼ tsp. Ground nutmeg
1/2 c. Unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. Lard, at room temperature*
½ tsp. Espresso powder (or instant coffee crystals)
1+ tbsp. Red food coloring (the additional for deeper red color, as desired)
1 c. Granulated sugar, divided, the additional for sprinkling
1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
⅓ c. Unsweetened cocoa powder (best quality available i)
1 c. Peppermint bark, crushed (milk or dark, as preferred ii)
½ c. White chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chips, as preferred)
1 Large egg
1 c. Sour cream
2 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
*. For Kosher, substitute ½ c. vegetable shortening for the lard.
Preparation
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, lard, and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg, espresso powder, and beat well.
• Blend in the sour cream, vanilla and food coloring.
• Gradually add (1/2 cup at a time) dry ingredients into creamed mixture, blending well.
Mix in the peppermint bark and chocolate chips until just combined.
• Roll dough into approximately 1-inch smooth balls. (+/- 2 oz.) Place about 2 inches apart, on parchment lined baking sheets, and flatten with heel of hand until about ½” thick.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until brown around the edges, and tender but firm at the center.
• After 3-4 minutes remove from baking sheets, and cool completely on racks.
• Make the glaze, drizzling each cookie generously with glaze.
For the Glaze:
Ingredients
1(+) c. Confectioner’s sugar (a/k/a powdered or icing sugar)
1-2 tbsp. Cold water
1 tbsp. Almond extract
Preparation
• In a small bowl, place the sugar, and stream in the water, whisking continuously, until it is a slightly pasty consistency.
• Whisk in the extract.
• Whisk until smooth, and easily coats a spoon completely, drying to a shell in a minute or two. Use more sugar to achieve the correct consistency.
Red Velvet Cake is such a Southern celebratory staple that I decided to mate it with a sour cream traditional cookie for Christmas 2022. All the marvelous ingredients - when quality - garner a tender, flavorful, sensational holiday cookie.
Peppermint bark (dark chocolate) has long been a favorite of mine, and putting it in a Red Velvet cookie seemed to me a perfect – and inescapable – stroke of decadence. (Be sure to use a good quality peppermint bark: it does make a difference!)
The glaze is actually an icing hybrid, and the final delicious touch to these ravishing cookies! (For the December holidays, I decorate with green and red decorating sugar (Illustrated). Blue decorating sugar would provide positively a BANG! for the 4th of July!
i. My personal preference is Divine Cocoa, found here https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Cocoa-Powder-4-4-Ounce/dp/B00FH9VY4U
ii. It was a skosh on the expensive side, but I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark.
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