Jesse Szewczyk Makes Peppermint Bark Cookies

[bright music] Mmm.

This is exactly the kind of cookie I like to eat.

Hi, I'm Jesse Szewczyk, and I'm really excited

because DoorDash has invited me to cook

one of the recipes featured

in the Bon Appetit holiday issue, which is really cool,

because it's actually my recipe

for a peppermint bark cookie. [bright music]

A reality of holiday baking

is that it is a crazy time of the year.

There is holiday plans, travel plans, parties pop up,

and getting grocery delivery is a great way to save time.

And thanks to our friends at DoorDash,

that's exactly what I did today.

As a BA food editor, it feels like my whole life

honestly revolves around grocery ordering.

So I'll admit I took this opportunity

to order a whole week's worth of groceries.

But I'll just show you what I got for the cookie recipe.

[bright music]

I've got all my groceries ready to go, so let's get baking.

First thing I'm gonna do is preheat the oven.

And you're gonna wanna line a baking sheet

with either non-stick mats, or a parchment paper,

and then we can prep the toppings.

So we're gonna start with the candy canes.

And you're just gonna crush them.

I especially like ones that have really red saturated hues.

So our Dasher did a really great job.

I think these are really beautiful.

I like how there's big chunks intermixed

with kind of like the dusty small ones.

So this is just a white chocolate bar.

You're gonna try to think of the shape

of the cookie at the end,

and make a piece that's gonna nestle perfectly on top.

And don't be too precious with this.

Almost the more interesting they are,

the cooler your cookies will turn out.

So the next step is we're gonna brown the butter.

This takes a while, maybe four to six minutes.

Just be patient and stir it every now and then.

Next, you're gonna add your brown sugar,

and your granulated sugar, a splash of water.

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We're gonna go in with vanilla extract,

peppermint extract, and then an egg.

You're just gonna whisk this all together

and this will be completely emulsified, really glossy,

really elastic when it's done.

And this is perfect. [bell dinging]

Next we're gonna go in with all the dry ingredients.

We're gonna start with cocoa powder,

which I admit I'm kind of particular about.

This recipe calls for Dutch processed cocoa powder,

and I'm really happy that our Dasher

was able to go to my favorite grocery store

and get my favorite brand.

This just has a much richer cocoa flavor.

Some flour, some salt,

baking soda and baking powder.

And you'll mix those up.

At this point, just let this sit uncovered

for 15 minutes at room temperature.

We'll come back and it's gonna firm up

and be perfectly scoopable.

I have a cookie scoop.

It's about two tablespoons, which is the perfect size.

I always roll them into balls.

And you wanna space them about two inches apart,

'cause they're gonna melt, they're gonna grow,

and you don't want them to grow into each other.

So this sheet is ready to go.

I'm gonna pop this into the oven.

So about eight to 10 minutes is perfect.

These look great.

They might feel a bit soft and under baked,

but just trust me,

this cooling is part of the baking process.

They're gonna firm up and be perfectly fudgy.

While they're still warm.

we're gonna go ahead and plunge the white chocolate

right in their bellies.

Kind of nestle it in there.

You just press it so it sticks.

And it's part of the fun is just mix and matching shapes.

You don't want them to look perfect.

I remember someone in the test kitchen

was very into isosceles triangles for this recipe.

And the isosceles triangle,

and it's like that, I think.

So we're gonna pop these back into the oven

for just 30 seconds.

We want to melt the top of the chocolate just enough,

so when you go in with the peppermint candies,

it sticks on like glue.

I think these look great. I'm really happy with them.

These cookies cooled for about 30 minutes in the fridge.

As you can see, they honestly look just like the cookies

in the holiday issue.

We could shoot this. I'd be happy with it.

I think the only thing that would make me happier

is eating them, so I'm gonna give it a try.

I'm really excited for this.

You can feel how soft and fudgy it is.

Mm.

The chocolate's set up perfectly,

but it's not so snappy and dense

like regular peppermint bark.

It's super easy to make,

made even easier by the grocery delivery,

thanks to DoorDash.

You can shop this and other exclusive recipes

from the BA issue on DoorDash.

Thank you so much for baking with me, and happy holidays.

[bright music]