It’s already that time of year again: the holiday season. It’s the time of year when the invites to holiday parties begin to overload your calendar, especially since the world has been at a halt for some time now. 

If you were not aware, there are indeed rules, and one thing happens to be at the top of my guest rule book: Never show up empty-handed. The next is to cook for the crowd. When in doubt, it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Baking both gluten free and non-gluten free is helpful to others because it’s never fun when you show up to a holiday party with maybe only one item to spend your evening devouring. I may or may not be speaking from experience, but it doesn’t hurt to help the intolerant crowd of friends. 

It’s accommodating, considerate and pleasing to those who have intolerances or allergies. That is why I chose this recipe: the versatility of the ingredients. It’s an easy recipe — plus, who doesn’t have a sweet tooth for cookies?

For this year’s holiday season, maybe kick it up a notch with some scrumptious, gluten-free peppermint dark chocolate cookies. 

There’s something about mixing peppermint and chocolate together; you cannot help but be happy. It’s refreshing, and the peppermint and chocolate go together like Oreos and milk. Catch my drift? 

This recipe can also be catered to my dairy-free friends by substituting dairy-free butter, and it can be made vegan with an egg replacer, making it available for all to enjoy. For this recipe, though, we will stick to just gluten-free dark chocolate peppermint cookies. Let’s get baking.

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups gluten-free, all-purpose baking flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill brand)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar 

3/4 cup cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 cups gluten-free dark chocolate chips (Nestle Toll House is yummy)

1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy canes

2 eggs 

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease the baking tray with butter. 
3. In one large bowl, combine dry ingredients: gluten-free flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Whisk together.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients: eggs, peppermint extract and butter. Whisk together. 
5. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Set aside.
6. Roughly crush peppermint candy canes in a bowl with your hand and spoon.
7. Once crushed (leave some chunks), add the candy canes and the chocolate chips to the rest of the ingredients and stir.
8. Portion the dough into small-sized dough balls — the smaller the better, as the dough spreads when baking. 
9. Add to the greased baking tray. 
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before storing them. 
11. Taste test one or two (or three) before sharing. 

Reach Sierra Grimm at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUram5.