
If you've been looking for a chocolate sugar cookie that doesn't wimp out, delivering the dark chocolate hit you crave, this is the one for you. The thin coating of melted bittersweet chocolate, along with a festive sprinkle of crushed candy canes, only enhances the depth of flavor inherent in the cookie's deep brown color.
•If you want a real hit of peppermint, replace the vanilla in the Buttery Sugar Cookie dough recipe with 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract.
•For the cleanest edges, keep freezing or chilling the dough between the sheets of wax paper whenever it gets soft, and freeze or chill the cut-out cookies before baking them.
•To melt chocolate successfully: Keep chocolate from coming in contact with even the smallest amount of water. Chop the chocolate first, then put it in a dry metal bowl and set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until it is smooth. Alternatively, you can heat it in a microwave-safe bowl. Put the chopped chocolate in the bowl and microwave it at 50% power at 30-second intervals, checking it and stirring it, each time, until it is smooth.
•Cookies keep in an airtight container in single layers, separated by wax paper, in a cool place, 5 days.

