By December, and Christmas approaches with the particular rhythm of a family that has been celebrating for twenty-nine years at the same table with the same food and that will celebrate this year with the same, because the same is the love and the love is the Christmas.
Carrie graduates from Emory in May — five months away, the degree that was started in 2020 and interrupted by Japan and resumed in 2025 and that will be completed in 2026. The degree is the diploma. The diploma is the permission. And the permission is to teach, which Carrie has been doing since Fukuoka and which she will now do with the credential that the world requires and that Carrie considers a formality, because Carrie has been a teacher since the day she stood in front of a classroom in Japan and discovered that the standing was the calling.
Robert built a bookshelf for James and Elise's new house — the Shandon house they finally bought, a 1940s bungalow with a kitchen that James says "needs work" and that Elise says "has potential" and that Robert says "needs shelves." The shelves are walnut. The shelves are the father's gift. The shelves are the home.
I made gingerbread — the December cake, the three-generation smell. The gingerbread filled the house. The house smelled like the parsonage. The parsonage is the gingerbread. And the gingerbread is the December. And the December is the love.
The gingerbread was already in the oven when I started thinking about what else belonged on the December table — something for the hands that reach across twenty-nine years of the same celebration, something that carries the same weight of chocolate and cool mint that feels, in this house, like the season itself. These Minty Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars have become that thing for us: a layered, rich square that I can set beside the gingerbread and watch disappear before the plates are cleared. When James and Elise carry a pan home to their new Shandon kitchen — the one with the walnut shelves and the potential — I want it to be this one.
Minty Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 24 bars
Ingredients
- Chocolate Base Layer:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Mint Cream Cheese Layer:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2–3 drops green food coloring (optional)
- Chocolate Glaze:
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
- Make the chocolate base. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, stir the melted butter and sugar together until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture until just combined. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Make the mint cream cheese layer. In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, peppermint extract, and food coloring if using; beat until fully incorporated. Spread the mint cream cheese mixture evenly over the chocolate base.
- Bake. Bake for 28–32 minutes, until the cream cheese layer is set and just barely golden at the edges and the center no longer jiggles. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with moist crumbs, not wet batter. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, at least 1 hour.
- Make the chocolate glaze. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and butter together, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes, then drizzle or spread over the cooled bars.
- Chill and slice. Refrigerate the finished bars for at least 30 minutes to set the glaze. Use the parchment overhang to lift the slab from the pan, then cut into 24 bars with a sharp knife, wiping the blade clean between cuts.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 75mg