Dear Spring,

You’re a great season.  In fact, you’re my favorite season of all.  Something about the orange blossoms dotting my neighborhood, and the barely warm evening sun just makes me want to squeeze you with gratitude.

Great job with all the tulips.  Excellent work with all the sweet peas.  Don’t even get me started on the asparagus…. wow!

There’s just a few things I thought you might consider… just in the interest of being the best season ever, and kicking every other season right in the backside.

First, your color palette.  Have you ever considered switching it up?  All the pastels remind me of bad baby shower party games.  Plus, you’re edgier than that Spring.  Show those other seasons what’s what.  Have you considered a fresh neon palate?  It might work wonders for your image.

Second,  can you please work on making purple the new grey this season?

Lastly,  every year when you come to town, I end up in the candy aisle at the grocery store buying giant bags of chocolate egg-shaped candies.  After I’ve mistakenly make these chocolate goodies a meal, I’m forced the throw the remainder in the trash and pour dish soap on them, keeping myself from sleep-eating them in the middle of the night.  While this may seem like more of a personal issue, your attention to this matter would still be much appreciated.

Also Spring, I made you meringues.

Stay Sweet,

Joy the Baker

Meringues are a super easy way to show Spring that you’re glad it’s come to town… or you could write Spring a letter like I did.

With only three egg whites, a bit of granulated sugar and some flavoring, you’ll be able to make a sheet full of three different types of tiny meringues:  chocolate, vanilla and raspberry. All you’ll need now is some small, clear gift bags, some pretty ribbon and you’ll have precious Easter gifts on lock-down.  Sweet, right!?

This recipe makes vanilla meringues with a dash of vanilla extract, chocolate meringues with unsweetened cocoa powder, and raspberry meringues with dehydrated raspberry powder (made from freeze dried and super ground raspberries).  Feel free to play around with almond or coffee meringues using extracts too!

Spring Easter Meringues

Print this recipe!

• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dehydrated raspberry powder

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; secure corners with masking tape. Fit three pastry bags with a small open-star tip or round tips (such as Ateco #22).  If you don’t have three pastry bags you can use just one bag and wash and dry it between flavors.   Set aside.
2. Make meringues: Put egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir gently until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Transfer bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
4. Divide egg whites between three clean bowls.  In one bowl mix in vanilla extract.  In second bowl, mix in cocoa powder.  In third bowl mix in raspberry powder.  Stir all until well combined.
5. Fill each bag with separate meringue flavors. Pipe small (3/4-inch-high) star shapes or round shapes (depending on your tip) onto prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake cookies until crisp but not brown, about 1 hour 40 minutes.  Turn the oven off and let the meringues cool in the oven.  Transfer from pans to an airtight container for storage.

Here’s what I love most about my blog and its readers:

- I can sit at my lap top in awe of my split ends until I figure out something clever to say to you about cookies.

-You’ll indulge me if all I want to talk about is how I’m a smitten kitten.

-You’ll understand when I tell you that I made these peppermint cookies mostly so I could eat the cookie dough cold from the fridge.

- You, dear and darling reader, have made me a millionaire. Well, a millionaire in blog hits. I just realized that I’m well over a million hits on Joy the Baker. Rock and Roll, right? Thanks to you and all of your clicks, I’m feelin’ like a rock star. Bless you and Thanks.

- Here’s how it works- I made some cookie dough. I baked some cookies. I took pictures of them. I threw the dough in the fridge. I drank some whiskey. I pulled the dough out of the fridge. I made more cookies. I ate them. I had company. We ate them. Sorta. Then we forgot about them and remembered the whiskey. That’s how the whole thing works and you like me for it.

Q: How awesome are you? A: So totally awesome.

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. In some words: chocolatey, chewy and bright with peppermint.

What I love about these cookies is that there loaded with all sorts of chocolate. There’s the cocoa powder which intensely flavors the whole cookie, then there’s the milk chocolate chips and semi sweet chocolate chips. How many different kinds of chocolate do you need in a cookie? As much as possible. You might even try throwing white chocolate chips in these beauties.

chocolate + peppermint = one fine holiday cookie

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Print this recipe!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt (go for 1 1/4 teaspoons if you really like salt)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 teaspoons pure peppermint extract

2 large eggs

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups storebought chocolate chips or chunks (I used a mixture of milk chocolate and semi sweet chocolate chips)

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda and keep close at hand.

Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well blended. Beat in the peppermint. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate pieces. (The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen. If you’d like, you can freeze rounded tablespoons of dough, ready for baking. There’s no need to defrost before baking – just add another minute or two to the baking time.)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.

Bake the cookies – one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point – for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are set around the edges; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that’s just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully, using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.