Theodora Elucubrare

So I did not do too well on the baking a new thing thing. But I did make something: brought to you by insomnia and La clemenza di Tito, chocolate mint thumbdrops. They're really easy; the part that took the longest was rolling the dough into balls.

For the cookies:
1 cup 2 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (maybe a little more would be appropriate; the cookies could stand to be a little sweeter)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the filling:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
3 tablespoons butter
scant (or not; surprisingly enough, the mint isn't that strong) 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Sift flour and cocoa power in a bowl. Cream sugar and butter, then add vanilla and salt and beat until smooth, then add the flour mixture. Mix until a dough forms. (they say a minute; this is a lie.) Chill the dough until firm enough to roll into balls. (mine was firm enough without chilling.) Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, them make a depression with a floured thumb. Bake 8-9 minutes, until the tops look dry.

Filling: Melt chocolate and butter together. Take off heat and stir in mint. Wait until the mixture is just above room temperature and slightly thick. Spoon it into a small bag and cut one corner to pipe it into the cookies. Wait until the chocolate mixture sets (a while) and eat.

They're pretty good; the cookies aren't that interesting, and I think I might have baked them a minute too long. The filling makes them much better - which is the point, and yet I'd appreciate a better cookie. If I do it again, I think I'll use the cookie from the chocolate pepper cookies. If I do use the same recipe, it definitely needs more sugar, and maybe slightly sweeter chocolate for the filling.

(And so, Tritogenia, I honor you as both mistress of crafts and patroness of learning; I'm totally getting ready to write my paper!)