I finally caved and started listening to Christmas music just in time to kick off my holiday baking. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to listen to anything else while baking in December. I may or may not have been shamefully attempting to sing along with Mariah Carey. You know you do it too, fess up. It mostly goes okay until she hits those notes that no one but her can seemingly hit, or at least once upon a time. I’m not sure I’ve heard her sing like that since the early 90’s.

Next to the music, what better way to ring in holiday baking than with chocolate and peppermint, or more specifically… candy canes! Being the baking supply hoarder that I sometimes am, I had a stash of candy canes from last year just waiting to be used for something completely awesome.

These are so simple to whip up and are sure to be a huge hit. I can’t even explain how fast they vanished here. Between the Mr and the kids, they were devoured. In all fairness, I did make a reduced batch because what with the month of sweets ahead I didn’t want a huge amount of cookies around.

Truth be told, I’d never added a candy cane to my hot chocolate before I set out to take these pictures but it’s my new favorite way to enjoy it at home. Forget the minty Dunkin Donuts variety that is screamingly awful, this is downright perfect.

Today I’m taking part Katrina’s month long cookie extravaganza! So head on over to find the recipe and share some love.