Day 277 - Day 6 of the 12 Days of Cookies - Chocolate Peppermint Frosted Cookies

Too much weight gain over the Thanksgiving holiday makes Lynne a not so happy camper.
I haven't been too diligent about updating my Weigh-In page because I've just been lazy.
It had been staying pretty consistent, fluctuating between 119 and 121 lbs.
This week, an entirely different story.
I've hit bottom and I'm not happy about it.
Most people looking at me would say I'm "thin" or at the weight I probably should be.
But to me, my body does not feel the way it's supposed to, and at this point, I'm very uncomfortable with it.
And yes, this is coming from a girl (ok, I am a woman now) who, when she got married over 21 years ago, was underweight at 98 lbs.
Ah yes, it was an amazing time in my life, being able to eat anything without gaining any weight.
And I know, I've had three children, but that's no excuse.
Point blank, I haven't taken care of myself and it's catching up to me.
Long story short, I stood on the scale this morning and it said 123.
If I remember correctly, when I started this blog my weigh was at 124.  So, according to our scale, I'm still a pound less than when I started.
But I did say our scale.
I took about a 3 mile brisk walk with the dog at lunch time and then decided to join Mr. 365 and our son for a trip to the local gym.
We worked out, and then the boys decided they were going to weigh themselves.  I was going to pass, but then at the last minute, changed my mind.
I guess at this point, I'm glad I did because there's no hiding it now.
The gym scale said 126.5, and there was no teetering, either.
I know, some of you are probably thinking I'm making WAY too big a deal about 126.5 lbs. and I know you could be also be thinking, "What I'd GIVE to be 126.5 lbs!!!!"  because I've heard that, too.
When I started this blog, I made a conscious decision to share with all of you things about my cooking/baking, and my life and to be completely honest about both.
This is it, folks.  I'm putting it out there and I'm exposing my feelings.
I have a HUGE desire to throw out all of the cookies that are in the fridge, and I've already done that with some of them, but I know I need to do this in moderation, eating healthier, exercising, and snacking only on "good-for-my-body" stuff.
So, here goes.
I'll still be tasting what I bake because I have to rate it, but only one bite, one cookie, and if it's dinner, a smaller sized portion with a bigger salad.
I am SOOOOOOOO NOT looking forward to this because I LOVE to eat and yes, I LOVE to gorge myself on really.   good.   FOOD.
So join me, won't you, as I begin this next journey?  Don't worry, I'm not going to go changing the blog to be all healthy and all.  I think that would push me over the edge.
Just to let you know that there may be some days where I'm not so happy and go off on a rant, just wanted to warn you all.  ;-)
I do that sometimes now when I'm hormonal, so it actually wouldn't be that much different.
Ok, thank you for listening.  I really needed to vent.
I'm excited and motivated now, even thinking about taking before and after pictures, but...I don't know.

Now onto some REALLY delicious cookies...

I used my Fannie Farmer Cookbook for the chocolate refrigerator cookie recipe then added the frosting and crushed candies.  It is the cookbook's Thirteenth Edition, p.626; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.


Chocolate Peppermint Frosted Cookies - makes about 65 cookies

1/4 pound butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted

Cream the butter and vanilla together.

Beat in both the brown and granulated sugars.

Beat in the melted chocolate and the egg until thoroughly combined.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, cream of tartar and salt.
Add to butter mixture and combine well.
Put half of the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap.

Shape into a roll about 2-inches in diameter.
Wrap completely in plastic wrap, twisting the ends, and place into refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
*Dough will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator and can be frozen.  This makes it convenient to have dough on hand for those cookie emergencies that may come up this time of year.*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove roll from the refreigerator and roll on counter if needed to help reshape into a rounded roll.  I say "rounded" because the bottom had flattened as it sat in the chiller.
Using a sharp knife, slice into rounds 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick

Place dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 minutes or until set.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Cool completely before frosting.

I used half of the Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe and added 1/2 teaspoon of Peppermint Extract to it.

I frosted the cookies using about 1/2-1 teaspoon of icing for each, depending on the cookie size.
Then I sprinkled crushed peppermint candies on top of each.
You could even make them sandwich cookies by using two cookies.  Spread the frosting on one, cover it with another cookie and then roll it in the crushed peppermints so that the candy sticks to the outside edge of the frosting!
I didn't do that because I don't like when the frosting squirts out the middle of my cookie.  I'm kind of particular that way.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these Chocolate Peppermint Frosted Cookies earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
I have to say that the one that I ate was quite delicious!
It was just chocolatey enough, not too strong in the peppermint department, and had a nice crunch with the crushed candies.
They make a festive holiday cookie!

Thank you for reading!  I love you and you absolutely ROCK!!  I am very grateful that you've found me!  XOXO

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!