The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap - Triple Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

YOU GET A COOKIE!  AND YOU GET A COOKIE!  AND YOU GET A COOKIE!!  That's pretty much what you feel when you have three different batches of cookies shipped to your house.  Yes folks, I once again participated in the 4th Annual Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  Which meant three different people got to feel this way from me and three different people made ME feel this way :)  Isn't Christmas fun?

Christmas is mostly about the cooking baking.  Am I right or am I right?  But Christmas is also about giving back, whether its through donations to a local charity or partaking in a fundraiser.  Which is another reason why I LOVE doing this cookie swap.  Each participant must donate $4 to Cookies to Kid's Cancer in order to have cookies sent to you and then our brand partners, OXO, Dixie Crystals, Brownie Brittle, and California Olive Ranch would MATCH the donations.  This year?  We had 566 participants.  Which meant that IN TOTAL, we raised over $12k for Cookies for Kids Cancer!  How amazing is that??

Now since we all know that calories don't count during the holidays, I got cookies from these amazing bloggers:
Christmas Cake Batter Cookies from Currently Coveting (my husband's favorite)
Cinnamon Pinwheel Bites from Confessions of a Foodie (my favorite - because OMG cinnamon.)
Everything Butterscotch Bars from The Food Driven Life (my bestie's favorite)

These lovely ladies received my no-calorie cookies:
The Spiffy Cookie
from Captain's Daughter to Army Mom
The Skinny Chick Can Bake

We all know that fall is all about pumpkin.  But Christmas is where peppermint reigns!  Once you get past Thanksgiving, all those pumpkin things turn into peppermint.  Peppermint shakes.  Peppermint lattes.  Peppermint pie.  Peppermint cookies.  When I was going over what to bake for the cookie swap with my family and friends, I took a poll and these cookies were the unanimous winner.  I think the peppermint and the fact that it's Christmas time made people biased.  (Next year, I may do something crazy and make piña colada cookies just to shake people up. haha)  Since chocolate is totally acceptable at any moment, any day, any time of the year, these make for the perfect Christmas cookie - chocolate and peppermint!  What could possibly go wrong??

Triple Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
adapted from Andes Mints

2 c. + 2 Tbsp. All Purpose Flour
½ c. Hot Cocoa Mix
½ tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt

1 c. Unsalted Butter, melted
1 c. Brown Sugar, firmly packed
½ c. Granulated Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 – 10 oz. package Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
½ c. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used mini chips but full-size works fine)
½ c. White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, hot cocoa mix, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, use a mixer on medium speed to beat your melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy.
Beat in your eggs, one at a time.
Slowly mix in your flour mixture until well combined.
Stir in your peppermint chips, chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a non-stick cookie sheet (or one lined with parchment paper), placing cookies two inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Let rest on your baking sheet for a minute and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yields around 48 cookies.