Italian Hot Chocolate and Peppermint Cookies

It's that time of year again, where the smell of peppermint evokes memories of Christmas' past, of candy canes hanging on the tree.
I personally love peppermint, especially candy canes! When I saw this recipe, I thought what could be better: cookies + candy = Christmas heaven!

So when my sister and her friend arrived last Thursday, I was eager to try out this recipe on them; to see whether they tasted as good as they sounded: they did. They were super soft and really minty, which I surprised about.

Now the only ingredient that gives the cookies their peppermint taste, are actual crushed candy canes. So if you don't fancy using the recipe I used, you could just add crushed candy cane to your cookies dough and bake as normal. The Americans actually use candy cane chips, which we can't find here, but candy canes work nicely too.

I'm not going to copy the recipe down here because since I took it from another blog, It wouldn't feel right. But here's the link if you want to try. 
http://www.momontimeout.com/2013/12/soft-chewy-chocolate-peppermint-cookies/

Also what better accompaniment to cookies than hot chocolate? And thick Italian hot chocolate too! I found the perfect recipe to recreate memories of our recent wedding and holiday in Italy, where we sat by the square, all cosy in our winter jackets, sipping on thick cioccolata calda. 
The mystery ingredient Italian hot chocolate thickness is cornflour, but don't worry, you can't taste it. This recipe is perfect since it's really quick to make and not complicated at all. 
Again, since I took it from another blog, here's the link instead: http://www.bellalimento.com/2012/01/11/how-to-make-italian-hot-chocolate/


Enjoy!