Chocolate Peppermint Kisses Food

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Wrap foil securely around pan. In a small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth and cool slightly. Repeat with white baking chips., In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream, flour and extract. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until blended. Remove 2 cups batter to a small bowl; stir in cooled chocolate chips until blended. Pour over crust. Stir peppermint chips and cooled white chips into remaining batter; gently spoon over chocolate layer. Place springform pan in a larger baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan., Bake until center is just set and top appears dull, 75-85 minutes. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool cheesecake on a wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen sides from pan with a knife; remove foil. Cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight, covering when completely cooled. , Remove rim from pan. For ganache, place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Let stand 3 minutes. Spread over cheesecake. If desired, garnish with whipped cream and additional peppermint crunch baking chips or kisses.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla. On a low speed beat in the flour mixture a little at a time. Gently mix in chocolate chips.
• On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart. Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 to10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Cool completely.
• For the glaze: In a small bowl mix together the sugar; mint extract and water until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium resealable plastic bag and snip off the corner. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Let cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes.

CHOCOLATE-PEPPERMINT MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two very large baking sheets with parchment paper or foil; set aside.
• For meringue: Add salt, vinegar, and peppermint extract to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight) and sugar is nearly dissolved.
• Transfer meringue to a decorating bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 1-inch kisses 1 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake all of the meringue kisses at the same time on separate oven racks for 7 minutes. Turn off oven; let meringues dry in oven with door closed for 1 hour. Lift meringues off paper or foil. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely.
• In a small saucepan, combine chocolate pieces and shortening. Cook and stir over low heat just until melted. Remove from heat. Spread crushed candy in a shallow dish. Dip bottoms of meringues in chocolate, then dip in crushed candies. Place on waxed paper and let stand until chocolate is set. Makes about 192 meringue kisses.
• Tip: To crush the peppermint candies, place the unwrapped candies in a resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Using a meat mallet, pound lightly to crush the candies.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT KISSES

Steps:

• Beat egg whites and salt at a high speed until stiff but not dry.
• Add sugar gradually.
• Beat 5 minutes longer or until very stiff.
• Fold in vanilla, chocolate chips and crushed peppermint candy.
• Drop from teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 250 degrees about 45 minutes.