I love to bake, baking is my favorite especially this time of year.

I was watching Home & Family on Hallmark channel, I honestly never watch this show but it happened to be on while I was busy doing something else.

But this tidbit on the show caught my attention, the guy was baking naughty and nice cookies. So I had to do it, but I did them gluten-free, my gluten issue has gotten a bit worse but I was going to ignore it for the holidays per my usual self. It, however, will not let me ignore it damn it.

After checking out the recipe I noted that I had every ingredient except for black cocoa (not dark cocoa). After scouring the internet for some (between shipping costs and the upped price of this stuff I had given up on even making them). I had a lightbulb moment, they don’t happen often, but when they do they are good ones. We had this great little shop in Downtown Fredericksburg and then one day I saw they were gone and I panicked, my daughter calmed me and let me know they moved. All was well.

Thank heavens because this fantastic little shop came through in a big way. I have baked for a really really long time and never heard of Black Cocoa and have I been missing out. Think of the cookie part of an oreo, yes and oreo. I have just found my new favorite ingredients. Stop into Pa Dutch Food & Candy Company located at 2356 Plank Road (9.24 mi)Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 for the absolutely BEST selection of teas, spices, baking stuff (including some great decorating sugars. https://www.facebook.com/PaDutchFoodCandyCompany/ Plus they had Black Cocoa – my heroes.

So my recipe which is totally inspired by the Home & Family show on Hallmark turned out pretty amazing….although it needed some tweaking one possibly because of the gluten-free flour I used – I only use the King Arthurs – Gluten-Free Measure for Measure. While you can still tell that something might be GF it is not prominent and I have gotten multiple baked good past the sleuths in my family so I call that a win.

Here is my version of the Naughty and Nice Cookies:

For the Peppermint Sprinkle Cookie

8 oz butter
14 oz sugar
1 1⁄2 t salt
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1⁄2 t peppermint extract (3 drops of Young Living Peppermint Oil) it worked it was all I had.
15 oz flour
1 1⁄2 t baking powder,
I used a cute red, white and green sugar on mine that I found at the PA Dutch Food & Candy Company

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, peppermint, and vanilla
2. Mix in salt, flour and baking powder. dry ingredients
3. I threw the whole thing in the fridge but it took forever and a day to soften, so next time I am just baking right after mixing them up.
4. Rolled into imperfect balls and then I rolled them in the cute sugar
5. Bake 350 degrees for about 11-12 minutes (until the top starts to crackle and barely brown on the edges)

Ingredients for Lump of Coal Cookies – in their recipe it called for crushed up Oreos, I left these out mostly because I didn’t have them, but after getting these mixed up the dough was tough so those cookies would have made it too tough to roll. I also edited my flour below to 8 oz as 12 was way too much for this with the cocoa powder. I actually had to add milk to my final recipe the first go-round so now I am reducing the flour to hopefully fix that.

8 oz butter
7 oz sugar
7 oz brown sugar
1 1⁄2 t salt
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
12 oz black cocoa (not dark cocoa, but BLACK)
3⁄4 t baking soda
3⁄4 t baking powder
8 oz flour
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
black sanding sugar (I made my own on this because I forgot to buy it at the shop).

Directions:
1. Cream butter, sugars, & salt
2. Add eggs and vanilla
3. Add in cocoa powder
4. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda together
5. Then mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
6. Fold in chocolate chips
7. Form into balls
8. Roll dough balls in black sanding sugar
9. Bake 350 about 12 minutes

Are these not the cutest….well I think they are and the coal ones taste so good. I am in love with these recipes. I am so giving these out……or eating them all. Peace, Love and Happiness