Chocolate Mint Star Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
• 3/4 cups whipping cream
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract, depending on how minty you want your filling

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan heat butter until melted; stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let stand for 15 minutes to cool slightly. Sift flour and cocoa powder together, set aside.

2. When butter mixture has cooled, pour into a mixer; add egg and flour and cocoa mixture. Stir until it forms a ball. Divide into two halves. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes, or until it's easy to handle.

3. While dough is chilling, make the filling. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan heat cream over medium heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate pieces. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Cool chocolate mixture to room temperature (about 20 minutes).

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch star shape cookie cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until edges are firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5. Once cookies are cooled, spread about 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate filling mixture onto the bottoms of half of the cookies. Top with the other half of the cookies, bottoms on top of the filling, making a sandwich. You can either leave the cookies as is, or you can use the remaining chocolate filling to make dot accents on the tops of the cookies. Use a pastry bag with a small tip, or cut a small hole in one corner of a zip top bag. Pipe patterns on the cookies.