Chocolate Cookie Base Variation I: York Peppermint Patty Cookies

I found a fabulous recipe on Allrecipes.com for a chocolate cocoa cookie recipe that I've had fun experimenting with and finding all different ways to jazz them up.  The time of year is right for some minty chocolate goodness, so I decided to start with York Peppermint Patty cookies.

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Ingredients:
1 c butter, softened
1 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c good-quality cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
8-10 1-inch diameter York Peppermint Pattie candies, finely diced

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 350F and grease two cookie sheets with a generous amount of cooking spray.  (The peppermint will melt in the oven and harden the cookies to the sheets if they are not greased well enough).

Cream together the butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until pale tan and fluffy.

Mix together flour, cocoa, soda, and salt, and blend into butter mixture.  Fold in York pieces.  I prefer the pieces to be quite small so that they melt right into the dough and make every bite of cookie taste minty and delicious.  :)

Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes, until puffed up and cracked on top.  Remove cookies from cookie sheet immediately to avoid sticking, and cool on cooling rack.  Then share.