White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs cold
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups Ghirardelli Peppermint Chunks
1 cup miniature pretzels, crushed
Crushed Peppermint Candies
Miniature Pretzels
Flaky Finishing Salt

DIRECTIONS
Using a paddle attachment, further soften butter until lighter in texture.
Cream together granulated and brown sugar, until pale in color. Scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add vanilla extract, and mix to incorporate.
Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Scrape bowl between additions.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. To ensure even distribution of baking soda and salt.
Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl, and pulse until barely incorporated.
Again, scrape the sides of the bowl, and be sure to lift the ingredients from the bottom.
Add remaining flour, and pulse until just mixed. There will probably be some flour still visible.
Again, scrape the sides of the bowl, and be sure to lift the ingredients from the bottom.
Add peppermint chunks, and crushed pretzels, and mix until incorporated.
It's okay if the paddle crushes the pretzels and chunks, the broken pieces are more evenly distributed.
Using a cookie scoop, (I used a #40 scoop, which is about 1.75 Tbsp), scoop your dough.
Place balls of dough on a cookie sheet, and scoop the entire batch.
Roll the top half of the dough in the crushed peppermint candies, and top with a miniature pretzel.
Refrigerate dough for at least half an hour, up to a day. Then bake.
Preheat oven to 375° F; at least 30 minutes before you begin to bake.
Place dough on cookie sheet, at least 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until edges are lightly golden brown.
Top cookies with flaky finishing salt.

This is legitimately my new favorite cookie. I first discovered the flavor combination when I mistakenly thought my niece's favorite thing was white chocolate and peppermint- (she likes it when it's on top of very thick dark chocolate)… so I grabbed a bag of these at Costco, and then quickly became obsessed with them. My favorite flavor of Perk Energy is even inspired by those White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Crisps. So when I was making chocolate chip cookies as a request from my grandma, I figured why the heck not? I grabbed a bag of Ghirardelli Peppermint Chunks from the freezer, crushed some pretzel until I had a cup, decided they didn't look quite festive enough, and bam! my new favorite holiday cookie was born. I took them to work the next day to test on some of our clients, and by the double fisting action that went on, I knew they were winners.

White Chocolate-Gingerbread Blondies

adapted from Martha Stewart
INGREDIENTS
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
10 ounces white chocolate

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape.

I am secretly an old man due to my unnatural love of all things gingerbread. I could definitely live off of gingerbread. Nothing makes my heart as happy as gingerbread cookies. So, when I saw that Martha had a recipe for gingerbread blondies, I had to jump on that train. Although I despise all things white chocolate, I used a bag of white chocolate chips in the blondies, because I had a bag, and I might as well use them now. My bars kind of exploded over the sides while in the oven, so I think I'll reserve some of the batter next time. And there will definitely be a next time, because these were amazing.