Every year we leave Santa a plateful of cookies and some carrots for his reindeer.  And every year there is at least 1 or 2 cookies missing from the plate on Christmas morning.  Do you think Santa gets tired of eating the same cut out sugar cookies he’s had at the Arch house for the past 16 years or does he look forward to them?  I have to ask, because this year, I want to leave Santa a plateful of these – Chewy Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies.

This recipe has been in my recipe box for years.  I don’t make them very often and I’m beginning to wonder why?  Actually, I know why.  It’s because they are gone faster than you can say “Chewy Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies” 3 times in a row without messing up.  Yes, they are that good.  So if I made them more often, I think the awesomeness of these cookies wouldn’t be there. 

It all starts with a chocolate cake mix.  Can’t get much simpler than that.  Just add butter, vanilla, eggs and some Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips (these make this recipe).   If you don’t like peppermint, the original recipe calls for semisweet chocolate chips and they are just as good.   We are not a nut in our cookie family, but if you are, knock yourself out and add some of those too. 

A key point to this recipe is to not over bake the cookie.  When baked just right, they are delectable and chewy and make for the perfect combination you want in any cookie.  If you under bake them, they won’t hold together.  If you over bake them, they become very good hockey pucks.  Take my word for it.

So when Santa arrives at our house this year and after he’s unloaded his gifts, I’m hoping he will be pleasantly surprised to see a different type of cookie waiting for him. That is, if there are any left by the time he gets here.

Chewy Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Yield: 5 dozen small cookies, 2 1/2 dozen large cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 - 12 minutes

Total Time: 25 - 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 devil’s food cake mix
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat half of the dry cake mix, the butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth. It is important that you only put in half the cake mix right away. If you don’t, it will be much harder to combine the rest of the ingredients.
3. Stir in remaining cake mix, baking chips and nuts if you desire.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet either lined with parchment paper or a nonstick mat.
5. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until edges are set (the centers will be soft).
6. Cool for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker - I found it on the back of a Betty Crocker SuperMoist devil's food cake mix box