Chocolate Mint Softies

Total Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 ounces squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract (if you can't find it, use vanilla)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups flour (packed down)
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecan pieces
• frosting
• 2 ounces squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
• 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cream (about) or 2 teaspoons milk (about)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees, rack in the middle position.
• 2 line cookie sheets with foil and spray with cooking spray. leave little "ears" of foil sticking up on the sides, large enough to grab later.
• 3 unwrap squares of chocolate and break them apart. put them in a small microwave safe bowl, melt them for 90 seconds on high. stir them until they're smooth and set aside to cool while you mix up your cookie dough.
• 4 combine butter and sugars together. beat on medium speed until smooth. (less than a minute).
• 5 add baking soda and salt, resume beating on medium for another minute, or until incorporated.
• 6 add egg and beat on medium until the batter is smooth (another minute).
• 7 add the peppermint and chocolate extracts, and mix for about 30 seconds.
• 8 shut off the mixer and scrape the bowl. then add melted chocolate and mix again for another minute on medium speed.
• 9 shut off mixer and scrape down bowl again. at low speed, mix in half of the flour. once incorporated, mix in sour cream.
• 10 scrape down bowl again, add the rest of the flour and beat until fully incorporated.
• 11 stir bowl with a spoon a few times. mix in pecan pieces by hand.
• 12 use a teaspoon to spoon the dough onto the foil-lined cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a sheet. (if dough is too sticky, chill for half an hour and try again.).
• 13 bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until they rise and are firm.
• 14 slide the foil from the cookie sheets and onto a wire rack. let the cookies cool on the rack while the next sheet is baking. when the next sheet is ready, pull them onto the counter/table and slide the new foil onto the rack. keep alternating until all dough is baked.
• 15 when all the cookies are cool, set them out on wax paper for frosting.
• 16 frosting.
• 17 put broken chocoalte squares into a microwave safe bowl. melt on high for 90 seconds. stir until smooth and set aside.
• 18 when chocolate is cool, mix in the butter. then stir in the powdered sugar.
• 19 mix in the vanilla extract and the cream. beat the frosting until it's of spreading consistency. (this is no-fail frosting, if it's too thick add more cream, too thin, add more powdered sugar).
• 20 frost your cookies and leave them on the waxed paper until the frosting has hardened.
• 21 when the frosting has hardened, arrange the cookies on a pretty platter. they store well in a covered container, when separated by wax paper.
• 22 if you don't have time to frost, coat the cookies with powdered sugar while they're still warm. do a second sprinkling once cool.