christmas food gifts: part 2

this is a fantastic food gift. it makes a lot, it's in bar form so it's not messy, and there aren't too many who would turn down two kinds of chocolate and peppermint on a cookie. also, everyone at work liked them so, that's proof, right?

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped red-and-white striped hard peppermint candies or candy canes (about 3 oz - i beat up 6 medium sized candy canes to get this amount)
2 oz. high-quality white chocolate (i used white chocolate chips, cause that's all they had at the grocery store)

preheat oven to 350. spray 13x9x2 inch baking pan with nonstick spray. line bottom of pan with long strip of 9 inch wide parchment paper, leaving overhang on both short sides of pan.

whisk flour and salt in medium bowl. using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamed, about 2 minutes. gradually beating sugar. continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bow, about 3 minutes. beat in vanilla, then egg yolk. gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just to blend.

drop dough by tablespoonfuls into prepared baking pan, spacing evenly. using moistened fingertips, press dough to form even layer over bottom of pan. pierce dough all over with fork.

bake cookie base until light golden brown and slightly puffed and edges begin to come away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes. place pan on rack; immediately sprinkle bittersweet chocolate over. let stand until chocolate softens - about 3 minutes. using small offset spatula, spread bittersweet chocolate over top of cookie in thin even layer. immediately sprinkle chopped peppermint candies over.

stir white chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water - (with 2 tablespoons cream) - until melted and smooth. remove from over water. using fork, drizzle white chocolate all over cookies. chill until white chocolate is set - about 30 minutes. (make sure to make the white chocolate right before you use it or it will thicken up too much to drizzle)

using paper overhang as aid, lift cookie from pan and transfer to work surface. using large knife, cut cookie into irregular pieces (i just cut them in squares.)


**i got this recipe from my mom who got it from someone else, i'm not sure who the original source is, so i apologize.