Chocolate Mint Surprise Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

A little bag of mint hersheys kisses
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter thats been softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups AP flour
1 cup of mini chocolate chips
2 big candy canes
1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips
6 teaspoons shortening
Green and red food coloring

Heat your oven to 375 and unwrap your candies.

Step 1:

Bring out your handy dandy stand mixer.

Step 2:

Put your butter in the mixer and it'll warm up faster if its cut into little peices, giving it more surface area.

Step 3:

Get your almond extract brown and white sugars measured out.

Step 4:

Mix, mix, mix! Until it's all together nicely, about 2 minutes, to make sure you can stick your CLEAN finger in it and if it isn't grainy you're good to go.

Step 5:

While the mixer is going unwrap the candy canes and beat the heck out of them with a rolling pin while they sit inbetween two sealed plastic bags.

Step 6:

Until you get them fairly finely ground. I thought that was a little chunky so I put a mortar and pestle to it but you don't have to.

Step 7:

Add all of your flour in and mix slowly so your kitchen doesn't end up white.

Step 8:

It'll look pretty firm but don't worry about it, thats how its supposed to be.

Step 9:

Get your mini chocolate chips measured out and your broken candy canes ready.

Step 10:

Mix it for about 30 seconds on slow so you don't totally crush everything, finish it off with a wooden spoon if you need to.

Step 11:

Take about a teaspoon of dough out and put it in your hand then stick a mint kiss right in the middle.

Roll it around to wrap the dough all the way around the kiss.

Step 12:

Place it on your silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet and place the rest about two inches apart.

Step 13:

Put them in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They'll be done when you poke the top and its set.

Let them cool on the sheet for two minutes then move them off to a wire rack. If you only have one cookie sheet that you like just run it under cold water and it'll be good to go again in seconds.

Step 14:

To make the drizzle get a double boiler together but if you're like I am you have to make your own.

Get a small pot and put about an inch of water in the bottom, then go to find a bowl that will fit on top of the pot nicely.

Step 15:

Put your white chocolate chips and shortening in the bowl and turn the heat onto medium, make sure to keep stirring so it doesn't burn.

Step 16:

Melted white chocolate chips and shortening:

Step 17:

Split the melted chocolate into three cups, one for red, one for green and one for white. Add a bit of green to one cup and a bit of red to the other sup until you find a shade that you like.

Step 18:

Place the rack of cookies over a cookie sheet because its going to get a little messy. Put a seperate fork into each chocolate color then start flinging the different colors all over the cookies, one at a time.

Step 19:

This recipe makes about three dozen cookies but it can be increased easily if need be.