Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl until combined.

3. Combine butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and peppermint extract and mix until thoroughly combined. Mix in half of the dry ingredients until just combined. Mix in remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in peppermint bark pieces, pecans, and crushed candy cane pieces.

4. Place 1 tablespoon-sized balls of dough 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until tops of cookies just begin to set, 10 to 15 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes on the baking sheets before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cook's Notes:

I used homemade Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark (from this site) in this recipe. You can use any kind of peppermint bark you prefer. It's important to chop it into small pieces, about 1/4- to 1/2- inch in size, in order for it to mix well into the dough.

You can reserve pieces of the chopped peppermint bark, pecans, and candy canes to place on top of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven, just for looks. Gently press the pieces in while the cookies are still warm.