Earlier this week, several hundred food bloggers posted their recipes for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. These lovely little cookies are the ones I made and shipped out as part of the swap. The recipe, though, is coming a little late. I’ve been a little distracted.

My father-in-law passed away at the beginning of the month after a three-week battle with brain cancer. It was a shock to the whole family and we’ve been spending a lot of our time together. The cookies I received from the swap came in the days leading up the funeral and have been such a nice comfort. It’s hard not to smile when you’re eating cookies.

These, in particular, are really fun. There’s a peppermint patty hidden inside each chocolate cookie. My taste-testers really enjoyed them – I hope the bloggers that got them did too!

Double Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint Creme
(from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Dec 2011)
Makes 2 dozen

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 egg
24 miniature peppermint patties

Using an electric mixer, beat the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, salt and baking soda on low speed. Beat in butter, then the egg. Turn the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and flatted into a disk; seal. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Like 2 large cookie sheets with parchment. Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, evenly encase each peppermint patty with dough. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until just firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and let cool slightly. Transfer the cookies on the parchment to a rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.