Peppermint Cookies Recipes

PEPPERMINT HOLIDAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat the butter and white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat egg into butter mixture until completely incorporated. Mix flour and salt into the butter mixture until just incorporated. Fold crushed candy canes into the batter, mixing just enough to evenly combine. Roll dough into balls 1 tablespoon at a time; arrange on baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Whisk confectioners' sugar and warm water together in a small bowl until you have a smooth icing. Dip top of each cookie in the icing, Top with additional crushed candy cane, if desired. Set aside to let the icing dry, at least 5 minutes.

PEPPERMINT BAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, then beat in the food coloring and vanilla and peppermint extracts, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the flour mixture in two batches until just combined.
• Spread the dough in the baking dish, pressing it with your hands until flat and even. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
• As soon as the bars come out of the oven, top with the white chocolate chips in a single layer. Let sit 2 minutes to soften, then spread into a thin layer with an offset spatula. Put the red candy melts in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until melted. Transfer to a small resealable plastic bag and snip a corner. Pipe diagonal stripes on top of the white chocolate. Sprinkle with the peppermint candies. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the bars cool completely.
• If the white chocolate is still soft, place the baking dish in the freezer for a few minutes until set. Lift the bars out of the baking dish, peel off the foil and cut into pieces.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla. On a low speed beat in the flour mixture a little at a time. Gently mix in chocolate chips.
• On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart. Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 to10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Cool completely.
• For the glaze: In a small bowl mix together the sugar; mint extract and water until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium resealable plastic bag and snip off the corner. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Let cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes.

PEPPERMINT-CANDY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• With a mixer on medium speed, beat butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until just blended, scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture until combined. Refrigerate dough until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, place peppermints in a resealable plastic bag and finely crush with a meat mallet. Transfer to a shallow bowl and mix with sanding sugar.
• Form rounded teaspoons of dough into balls for small cookies, or rounded tablespoons for larger ones. Roll in crushed-candy mixture to coat. Arrange 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Bake, rotating sheets once, until edges are starting to brown, about 11 minutes for small cookies, 14 minutes for larger ones. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. (Break off any bits of melted candy from edges of cookies, if necessary.) Cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment or waxed paper, up to 1 week.

PEPPERMINT STRIPE COOKIES

Steps:

• Prepare the royal icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine the confectioners' sugar, egg whites and glycerin, if using. Combine on low speed, then raise speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer, and test some of the royal icing on a cookie: If it doesn't spread out to a smooth finish within 10 seconds, it's too thick. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water as needed to thin the mixture, whipping it by hand using the whip attachment. If the royal icing runs off the edge of the cookie, it's too thin, so you'll need to whisk in more sugar to thicken. You should have 1 1/2 cups royal icing.
• Transfer to a small airtight container and refrigerate. It can be left out for 1 or 2 days, but you'll need to refrigerate for longer storage. (The icing will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.)
• Decorate the cookies: Pour the royal icing into a wide bowl. (The icing can be used cold, but it may separate, so it needs to be whisked, and may need to be thinned out with water or thickened with confectioners' sugar.) Holding a cookie by the edges, with the top-side down, dip into the icing, moving the cookie around a bit to make sure the icing coats the whole surface. Gently shake the cookie from side to side to let the excess icing drip off.
• Use a small offset spatula to stop the flow of icing, gently scrape cookie against edge of bowl, and flip the cookie over. Use the spatula to spread the icing to pop any air bubbles, and make sure it goes all the way to the edges. It should quickly smooth out on its own. If not, thin it out a bit until it does. Use your fingers to wipe away any icing on the outside edges. Repeat with all the cookies. Place on a cooling rack set over a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet to dry completely, preferably overnight (or at least 4 hours).
• When dry, set up the cookies on a baking sheet or other flat surface in four rows of five cookies (you may have a few extra cookies), so they are abutting one another with no spaces. Mix the petal dust and luster dust with enough peppermint extract to make a very loose "wash" and, using brushes of different widths, make continuous brushstrokes in a few different widths across the entire surface. If you run out of pigment as you're brushing, dip the brush again, and continue the line, allowing the brush texture to show in places. When dry, rearrange the cookies on a platter so the lines no longer match up. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

STRIPED PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Line 8x4-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving 1 inch of plastic wrap overhanging at 2 opposite sides of pan. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and peppermint extract. On medium-low speed, beat in flour and salt until blended.
• Divide dough in half. Tint half of dough with red food color, kneading with gloved hands until well blended. Press half of plain dough evenly in bottom of pan. Gently press half of red dough evenly over plain dough. Repeat layers with remaining dough. Cover with the plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from loaf pan; unwrap. Cut dough in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. On ungreased cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

PEPPERMINT MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites, vinegar and salt to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while continuing to whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold in 1/3 of the crushed candy canes, reserving the rest. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls, one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.
• Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, or until dry. Cool on baking sheets.

PEPPERMINT BROWNIE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Put chocolate and ¼ cup/21 grams cocoa powder in a small heatproof bowl or glass measuring cup. Melt butter in a skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbly but not browned, and pour over the chocolate. Without stirring, let the mixture sit so the residual heat can melt the chocolate thoroughly while you whip the eggs and sugar.
• Put the eggs, both sugars and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high speed until the mixture is pillowy and the sugars have begun to dissolve, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Stir the chocolate mixture until glossy and smooth. If any solid pieces remain, you can microwave the mixture in 10-second bursts until everything is melted.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the peppermint extract and then the chocolate mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, then add the flour and remaining ¼ cup/21 grams cocoa, and mix on low until a few streaks of flour and cocoa remain. Use the spatula to finish folding in the dry ingredients to avoid overmixing. The dough will be looser than traditional cookie dough but not as thin as brownie batter.
• Use a ¼-cup cookie scoop or measuring cup to scoop 12 (2-ounce) balls of batter onto the prepared sheets and bake. After 10 minutes, take the sheets out of the oven and bang them once on the counter to create a craggy surface and dense texture. Sprinkle a bit of crushed peppermint candy in the center of each cookie and return to the oven for another 2 minutes.
• Let cool completely on the baking sheets. The cookies will keep for 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.