Chocolate-Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

As I'm sure is very apparent by now, I'm a big fan of chocolate. 'Big fan' may be a gross understatement, but I'm reasonably certain it's in my DNA... in fact, whenever someone in my family is jonesing for some chocolate, we're often lovingly teased that our Hellman-side is showing. Obviously it's not shocking at a woman is down with chocolate, but even more than just straight chocolate, I think the person who first decided to combine chocolate and peanut butter should be given as many accolades as possible. It's a magical combination!

Chocolate-Candy Cane Cookies

Hello! I know I promised lots of recipes over Thanksgiving, but somehow that week moved very fast and by the next time I had a second to look up and breathe, final were done. Crazy! I'm now just under 7 months away from graduating, which is very exciting. But you're not really reading this to hear about my adventures in nursing, you're here for delicious recipes, so I'll get to it.

I spent the entire first week of my break baking and going to dinner parties... rough life, I know :) I discovered these cookies last year when I first started procrastinating for school by looking at cooking websites and blogs, and they've been a huge hit. The chocolate cookies aren't so sweet that they're cloying or make your teeth hurt, and the peppermint frosting adds a punch of sweet. Plus, it's like a dessert breath mint!

Day 1 of Hiberantion: Chocolate & Mint Chip Brownies

As I was driving home from the gym last night in near-blizzard conditions, I had the good sense to stop at the grocery store so I wouldn't have to go outside in the near future (the wind chill at 1pm today was -15º... definitely not going out if I don't have to!). Unfortunately I hadn't made a list, so what I came home with was an Amy's Frozen pizza, beer and a combo of dark chocolate and mint chips (they were on sale). While the pizza and beer got me through last night's football game, it didn't get be very far into hibernation food, although the chocolate and mint chips did give me an idea of where to head. So, back out I went today, with the will power to at least make myself go to the gym before the grocery store - if I'm already out, might as well preemptively work off these brownies.

A week ago I was thrilled when my apartment was finally free of Christmas confections -- no more cookies, bars, chocolate covered {insert any word}, and things of that nature to tempt my intentions of eating better. A week... that's how long it took before I was really, truly craving chocolate and these brownies have always hit the spot. I originally set out to make chocolate cookies with the chocolate mint chips in them (I wanted to use my new 3-level cooling racks I got for Christmas), but kept coming up empty when it came to a simple chocolate cookie recipe. After searching through my cookbooks and several internet sites, I decided to just make them into brownies- which was absolutely the right choice!