Holiday Cookie Bake-Off: Have you entered yet?

Have you entered yet? Our Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off is happening now, and we want to know about your favorite holiday cookies. Every year we get hundreds of entries and thousands of votes cast, so get your recipes up quickly!

To participate, submit your recipe at latimes.com/bakeoff along with a short essay explaining why this cookie is your family’s favorite and a photo (if you have one). Entries must be submitted by midnight Nov. 14.

You, the readers, will vote online for your favorites. Then Food Section staff will test and taste the top 50 vote-getters at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Pasadena to come up with our 10 favorites.

The finalists will be invited to come tour the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen, and will be photographed and featured in a Saturday section article during the holidays.

One of our 10 finalists from last year, Ben Rode, submitted his family’s chocolate peppermint snaps, writing:

“Chocolate? Peppermint? What could be better for the holidays than a mash-up of chocolate and peppermint? Everywhere we have lived — Madrid, Nairobi, Suva [Fiji], SoCal — we’ve given these cookies as Christmas gifts to friends.”

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT SNAPS

Total time: 50 minutes | Makes 4 to 6 dozen cookies

1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 egg
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (8.5 ounces) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler, or in a microwave, stirring every few seconds. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream the butter. Gradually add three-fourths cup sugar, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate. Beat in the egg until combined, then the corn syrup. Beat in the peppermint and vanilla extracts.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture in with the chocolate mixture, then stir in the crushed peppermint candy.

4. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and roll the balls in the remaining one-half cup sugar. Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until the edges are set, 12 to 15 minutes.

5. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Each of 72 cookies: Calories 57; Protein 1 gram; Carbohydrates 9 grams; Fiber 0; Fat 2 grams; Saturated fat 1 gram; Cholesterol 7 mg; Sugar 6 grams; Sodium 28 mg

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