Capture the spirit of the season with these intensely chocolaty disks crowned with crushed peppermints. Once you get baking, you’ll be rewarded with a kitchen that smells like the holidays.

Peppermint Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa pow

der, preferably Dutch-processed

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 packed cup dark brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put chocolate and 1/4 cup cocoa powder in a small heatproof bowl. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat until bubbly, and pour over the chocolate. Without stirring, let the mixture sit so the residual heat can melt the chocolate while you whip the eggs and sugar.

Put the eggs, both sugars and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high speed until the sugars have begun to dissolve, 6-8 minutes.

Stir the chocolate mixture until smooth. If any solid pieces remain, you can microwave the mixture in 10-second bursts until everything is melted.

With the mixer on low speed, add the peppermint extract and the chocolate mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, then add the flour and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa, and mix on low until a few streaks of flour and cocoa remain. Use the spatula to finish folding in the dry ingredients.

Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop 12 balls of batter onto the prepared sheets and bake. After 10 minutes, take the sheets out of the oven and bang them once on the counter to create a craggy surface and dense texture. Sprinkle a bit of crushed peppermint candy in the center of each cookie and return to the oven for another 2 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheets. The cookies will keep for four days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Total time: 40 minutes, makes 12 cookies.

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