Secret Santa's Peppermint Chip Cookies

When Dylan came home with his Secret Santa assignment, he declared: "I'm going to bake him cookies. Red ones. Because red is his favorite color." I explained that would require food coloring - or beets - so he opted to make them peppermint.

Riley's comment made me laugh - "you know that peppermint is green, right?"

But Dylan was adamant. He retorted, "The candies are red...and white!"

I love his note: "Happy Holly Days." That actually makes sense.

1 C butter, softened

½ C organic granulated sugar

1½ C organic coconut sugar

2 eggs

1 t peppermint extract
1 t pure vanilla extract

2¾ C white whole wheat flour

1t baking soda

1½ t baking powder

2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl until lightened and fluffy. Add eggs and extracts and beat for another minute or two. Fold in baking soda, baking powder, and flour with a stiff spatula until just moistened. Stir in chocolate chips until well distributed.

Spoon heaping tablespoons of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Move the parchment paper with the cookies still on top to a wire cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper before serving.

Enjoy!

Here's my happy lil' Cookie Elf...I only hope his Secret Santa recipient enjoys them as much as we did.

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