Peppermint Mocha Cookies: Dinner Is Served

Last night's dinner was a flop. On paper, it looked great. On my plate? Not so much. And I didn't see it coming-- orange marmalade, rosemary, gruyere... these are all fabulous flavors. I guess the sum just wasn't as good as it's parts. C'est la vie!

But I'm not discouraged for two reasons. First, making flops is just a part of life. I am not any more successful in the kitchen than anyone else, but I tend to cook more than the average bear. That means better chance of making something totally awesome or totally gross solely based on numbers. It's a statistics thing. (Somewhere the Booze Hound is smiling because statistics totally get him geeked. As do Patriot wins. Go Pats!)

So when the dreaded dinner flop occurs, we have a decision to make: is it completely inedible and warrants a back-up meal, like grilled cheese or frozen pizza? Or can we choke down enough of it to say we've eaten dinner and then gorge on dessert? The first rarely happens unless a recipe is burned or completely bolluxed up... in other words, Food Hound Error. But the second scenario of a dessert-heavy dinner? Ring-a-ding-ding!

In an effort to be able to cook and bake the rich foods we love and still forge elite fitness at CrossFit Ktown, we have really curtailed the regular dessert routine. Usually we either have some dark chocolate or go without. Oh yeah, and wine counts :) But 'tis the season to be merry, and 'tis the season to be baking, so I usually have some sort of delectable baked good lurking on the counter this time of year. And this particular baked good was so lovely, we froze our entire flopped dinner (pork roast) for its future fate in Cuban sandwiches, and elected to eat dessert for dinner.

That's right. We ate cookies for dinner. And washed them down with wine. If I'm gonna go, what a way to go!

The coffee, chocolate and mint flavors in these cookies are redolent of a Starbucks Peppermint Cafe Mocha. But the bonus is that you can make them at home and you don't have to speak Starbucks. Grande means large, Starbucks, not medium-- get it right!

The only change from the original recipe is that I roll them in sugar before baking instead of topping them with crushed peppermints after baking. Both add crunch, it's just a matter of preference... and the fact that I didn't have peppermints on hand :) And make sure to use a good quality chocolate, since you're drizzling it on top.

If you're the Booze Hound, you ignore my explicit instructions on how to drizzle properly. This would be the result: