Holiday Cookies
Does anyone else love Holiday Cookies as much as I do? I hope so! Here are six more Holiday Cookies to help you through the season, including Iced Peppermint Cookies and Holiday Sugar Cookie Cups. Enjoy!
TURTLE COOKIE BALLS
This comes from My Food and Family, and begins, "Bite into scrumptious Turtle Cookie Balls. If you like turtle candies, you'll love the caramel, chocolate & nutty flavors of these Turtle Cookie Balls.” Yum!
Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes; Makes 42 servings
To view this online, go to https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/128342/turtle-cookie-balls.
Ingredients
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
70 vanilla wafers, finely crushed (about 2-1/3 cups)
3 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping
4 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into pieces, melted
1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans
Directions
Mix first 3 ingredients until blended.
Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls. Freeze 10 min. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIE CUPS
This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "You may be the head elf in the kitchen, but if you want to get the little helpers involved, try these Holiday Sugar Cookie Cups. These deliciously cheerful treats are made with Betty Crocker™ Sugar Cookie Mix for that classic sugar cookie flavor, transformed into a red and green bite-sized confection. Don't forget to top it off with Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy Frosting. They're festive, fun and an easy way to pass down a holiday-making memory."
Prep Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes; Servings: 36
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 pouch (17.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix
Butter and egg called for on cookie mix pouch for drop cookies
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons red, green and white candy sprinkles
1 container Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting
1-1/2 teaspoons Betty Crocker™ red gel food color
Directions
Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in 1/4 cup candy sprinkles. Shape into 36 (1-1/4-inch) balls. Place in mini muffin cups. Press indentation in center of each with end of wooden spoon.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately repeat indentation into center of each cookie with end of clean wooden spoon to make 1-inch opening, cleaning off end with paper towel when needed. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Loosen edges with small knife if needed. Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
In small bowl, place half of the frosting. Tint red with food color. Place large piping bag fitted with medium star tip on its side. Using large icing spatula, spoon remaining vanilla frosting so it covers half of the length of side of piping bag. Carefully spoon red tinted frosting on top. Insert tip into indentation in each cookie cup. Squeeze bag to fill opening, and pipe about 2 heaping teaspoons per cookie cup. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sprinkles. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Expert Tips
Have only one mini muffin pan? Refrigerate remaining dough while baking first batch. Cool pan about 10 minutes, then bake rest of dough, adding 1 to 2 minutes to bake time.
Color and sprinkles can be customized for holidays or different events—use your imagination!
LEMON MERINGUE COOKIES
This is from Dorie Greenspan at The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Dorie wrote, "Like their inspiration, lemon meringue pie, these cookies have three elements. They’re built on simple, slice-and-bake French shortbread cookies, rich, buttery and flavored with vanilla. The shortbread base is almost classic, except that the cookies are baked in muffin tins, so they’re straight-sided and deeply golden brown. The 'filling' is lemon curd, and the topping is crunchy bits of meringue. You get crumbly, velvety and crackly, sweet and tart in every bite. These cookies were created for an imaginary friend, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the hero of 16 Louise Penny novels, and a man who considers lemon meringue divine."
Yield: 24 cookies; Time: 2 hours
This was featured in "A Lemon Meringue Cookie Good Enough to Be Imaginary", and can be found online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021686-lemon-meringue-cookies.
Note: If you didn't click on the link to the featured article that this cookie recipe came from (or if you did, but didn't read the article), you really should read it. Dorie Greenspan's article is well worth the read; heck, it's worth several reads. Maybe make up a batch of these, then sit back to enjoy both cookies and the article. (Thanks for both, Dorie!)
Ingredients
For the Meringue:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg white, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon distilled vinegar (or lemon juice)
Pinch of fine sea salt
For the Shortbread:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into chunks and brought to room temperature, plus more for greasing the muffin tin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
About 1/3 cup store-bought or homemade lemon curd
Preparation
Make the meringue: Heat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together both sugars.
Working with an electric mixer, beat the egg white, vinegar and salt on medium-high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. Once the sugar is incorporated, beat 2 minutes more; you’ll have stiff, glossy, white peaks. Put the meringue on the baking sheet and spread it 1/4-inch thick. (It will cover only a small part of the sheet.)
Bake the meringue undisturbed for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, prop open the oven door and let it dry for 1 hour. When you’re ready to use it, chop it into pieces about the size of chocolate chips. Precision doesn’t matter.
Make the shortbread: Working with a mixer (use the paddle if it’s a stand mixer), beat the butter, both sugars and the salt on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until smooth but not fluffy. On low speed, beat in the yolks, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the flour in three additions, mixing on low until the dough comes together in large clumps. Turn out the dough and knead it into a ball. Cut the ball in half.
Shape each half into a 6-inch log. Wrap it and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You could also freeze it for up to 2 months; leave it on the counter for 1 hour before baking.)
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 1 or 2 muffin tins with butter (or nonstick baking spray).
Slice each log into 12 rounds (each 1/2-inch thick); drop one into each muffin cup. (If you don’t have enough tins, you can work in batches.)
Bake for 21 to 23 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the rims. Transfer the tin(s) to a rack, cool for 5 minutes, then lift the cookies out and onto racks; cool to room temperature.
Just before serving, top each cookie with lemon curd, then top with ample chunks of meringue, pressing them into the curd. The meringue will keep in a cool, dry place for a few days, and the cookies can be kept at room temperature for about 3 days. But once you top the cookies, they’re best eaten soon after.
CANDY CANE SANDWICH COOKIES
This is from Better Homes & Gardens, and begins, "Turn a favorite holiday flavor into pretty peppermint sandwich cookies and serve them up at a cookie exchange, holiday party, or potluck."
Prep Time: 45 minutes; Chill Time: 1 hour; Bake Time: 8 minutes; Servings: 20; Yield: 20 sandwich cookies
To view this online, go to https://www.bhg.com/recipe/candy-cane-sandwich-cookies/.
Ingredients
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Red paste food coloring
1 recipe Peppermint Filling
Peppermint Filling
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoon milk
Directions
In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.
Divide dough in half. Leave one half plain. Tint the remaining half with desired amount of food coloring. Cover each portion and chill about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape each portion of dough into 1/2-inch balls. Roll together one plain ball and one red ball. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press with the bottom of a sugared glass until about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough, placing balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Transfer to wire racks; cool.
Spread Peppermint Filling on bottoms of half of the cookies, using 2 teaspoons for each cookie. Top with the remaining cookies, bottom sides down.
Peppermint Filling
In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in peppermint extract. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in enough milk to make a filling of piping consistency.
To Store:
Layer sandwich cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
ICED PEPPERMINT COOKIES
This is from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this impressive, yet simple cookie, Melissa wrote, "Flavored with peppermint extract, these zingy shortbread rounds — a visual riff on black and white cookies — have an especially bright, buttery flavor that’s echoed in the icing. The red and white glaze recalls candy canes and Starlight mints, but feel free to play with different colors when decorating these. Or skip the glaze entirely for an easy-to-make minty cookie with a more classic appearance."
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour, plus 1-1/2 hours' chilling and cooling; Total Time: 2-3/4 hours; Yield: 24 to 32 cookies
To view this online, go to https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026316-iced-peppermint-cookies. While you're at it, if you haven't aready signed up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter. Loads of great recipes, guides, and more. (You can also look through their recipes on a daily basis, another plus!)
Ingredients
For the Dough
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more, if you like, for pan
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
For the Royal Icing
3-3/4 cups powdered sugar
3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of fine sea salt or table salt
3 drops peppermint extract, plus more to taste
Food coloring, as needed
Preparation
In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 4 minutes. Beat in egg yolk and peppermint extract. With mixer set on low, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Gather dough into a ball and press it into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (The dough can be made up to 5 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge.)
When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Unwrap the disk of dough out onto a sheet of parchment paper and place another parchment sheet over the top. Roll the dough until it’s 1/4-inch thick then remove the top parchment. Use a floured 2-inch-round cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, spacing at least 1/2 inch apart. Reroll the scraps as needed, creating more cookies.
Bake until the cookie edges and bottoms are brown, rotating the pan once halfway through baking, 13 to 17 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.
Make the royal icing: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the powdered sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and peppermint extract. Whisk on high until stiff and glossy, adding water if needed so that the icing runs off a spoon. Taste and add a little more peppermint if needed. It should be deeply flavored. (The peppermint flavor of these cookies fades over a few days. So if you plan on keeping them for more than a day or two, use a greater amount of peppermint extract.)
To tint, divide the icing into two small bowls. Cover the contents of one bowl — you’ll leave it white — with plastic wrap, as it’ll dry out very quickly. Use a rubber spatula to stir in red coloring into the other until it’s vibrant. Tap the bottoms of the bowls to remove any air bubbles.
Working one at a time, spoon the red icing on one half of the cookie, aiming for a straight line through the center of the circle. Once the icing is dry, spoon the white icing on the blank side of the cookie and let sit to set.
Tip
These are best eaten within a week of baking. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
SHORTBREAD COOKIES
This yumminess is from Ina Garten on the Food Network.
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Inactive Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 20 cookies
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.
TURTLE COOKIE BALLS
This comes from My Food and Family, and begins, "Bite into scrumptious Turtle Cookie Balls. If you like turtle candies, you'll love the caramel, chocolate & nutty flavors of these Turtle Cookie Balls.” Yum!
Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes; Makes 42 servings
To view this online, go to https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/128342/turtle-cookie-balls.
Ingredients
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
70 vanilla wafers, finely crushed (about 2-1/3 cups)
3 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping
4 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into pieces, melted
1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans
Directions
Mix first 3 ingredients until blended.
Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls. Freeze 10 min. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIE CUPS
This is from Betty Crocker, and begins, "You may be the head elf in the kitchen, but if you want to get the little helpers involved, try these Holiday Sugar Cookie Cups. These deliciously cheerful treats are made with Betty Crocker™ Sugar Cookie Mix for that classic sugar cookie flavor, transformed into a red and green bite-sized confection. Don't forget to top it off with Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy Frosting. They're festive, fun and an easy way to pass down a holiday-making memory."
Prep Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes; Servings: 36
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 pouch (17.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix
Butter and egg called for on cookie mix pouch for drop cookies
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons red, green and white candy sprinkles
1 container Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting
1-1/2 teaspoons Betty Crocker™ red gel food color
Directions
Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in 1/4 cup candy sprinkles. Shape into 36 (1-1/4-inch) balls. Place in mini muffin cups. Press indentation in center of each with end of wooden spoon.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately repeat indentation into center of each cookie with end of clean wooden spoon to make 1-inch opening, cleaning off end with paper towel when needed. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Loosen edges with small knife if needed. Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
In small bowl, place half of the frosting. Tint red with food color. Place large piping bag fitted with medium star tip on its side. Using large icing spatula, spoon remaining vanilla frosting so it covers half of the length of side of piping bag. Carefully spoon red tinted frosting on top. Insert tip into indentation in each cookie cup. Squeeze bag to fill opening, and pipe about 2 heaping teaspoons per cookie cup. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sprinkles. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Expert Tips
Have only one mini muffin pan? Refrigerate remaining dough while baking first batch. Cool pan about 10 minutes, then bake rest of dough, adding 1 to 2 minutes to bake time.
Color and sprinkles can be customized for holidays or different events—use your imagination!
LEMON MERINGUE COOKIES
This is from Dorie Greenspan at The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Dorie wrote, "Like their inspiration, lemon meringue pie, these cookies have three elements. They’re built on simple, slice-and-bake French shortbread cookies, rich, buttery and flavored with vanilla. The shortbread base is almost classic, except that the cookies are baked in muffin tins, so they’re straight-sided and deeply golden brown. The 'filling' is lemon curd, and the topping is crunchy bits of meringue. You get crumbly, velvety and crackly, sweet and tart in every bite. These cookies were created for an imaginary friend, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the hero of 16 Louise Penny novels, and a man who considers lemon meringue divine."
Yield: 24 cookies; Time: 2 hours
This was featured in "A Lemon Meringue Cookie Good Enough to Be Imaginary", and can be found online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021686-lemon-meringue-cookies.
Note: If you didn't click on the link to the featured article that this cookie recipe came from (or if you did, but didn't read the article), you really should read it. Dorie Greenspan's article is well worth the read; heck, it's worth several reads. Maybe make up a batch of these, then sit back to enjoy both cookies and the article. (Thanks for both, Dorie!)
Ingredients
For the Meringue:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg white, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon distilled vinegar (or lemon juice)
Pinch of fine sea salt
For the Shortbread:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into chunks and brought to room temperature, plus more for greasing the muffin tin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
About 1/3 cup store-bought or homemade lemon curd
Preparation
Make the meringue: Heat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together both sugars.
Working with an electric mixer, beat the egg white, vinegar and salt on medium-high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. Once the sugar is incorporated, beat 2 minutes more; you’ll have stiff, glossy, white peaks. Put the meringue on the baking sheet and spread it 1/4-inch thick. (It will cover only a small part of the sheet.)
Bake the meringue undisturbed for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, prop open the oven door and let it dry for 1 hour. When you’re ready to use it, chop it into pieces about the size of chocolate chips. Precision doesn’t matter.
Make the shortbread: Working with a mixer (use the paddle if it’s a stand mixer), beat the butter, both sugars and the salt on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until smooth but not fluffy. On low speed, beat in the yolks, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the flour in three additions, mixing on low until the dough comes together in large clumps. Turn out the dough and knead it into a ball. Cut the ball in half.
Shape each half into a 6-inch log. Wrap it and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You could also freeze it for up to 2 months; leave it on the counter for 1 hour before baking.)
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 1 or 2 muffin tins with butter (or nonstick baking spray).
Slice each log into 12 rounds (each 1/2-inch thick); drop one into each muffin cup. (If you don’t have enough tins, you can work in batches.)
Bake for 21 to 23 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the rims. Transfer the tin(s) to a rack, cool for 5 minutes, then lift the cookies out and onto racks; cool to room temperature.
Just before serving, top each cookie with lemon curd, then top with ample chunks of meringue, pressing them into the curd. The meringue will keep in a cool, dry place for a few days, and the cookies can be kept at room temperature for about 3 days. But once you top the cookies, they’re best eaten soon after.
CANDY CANE SANDWICH COOKIES
This is from Better Homes & Gardens, and begins, "Turn a favorite holiday flavor into pretty peppermint sandwich cookies and serve them up at a cookie exchange, holiday party, or potluck."
Prep Time: 45 minutes; Chill Time: 1 hour; Bake Time: 8 minutes; Servings: 20; Yield: 20 sandwich cookies
To view this online, go to https://www.bhg.com/recipe/candy-cane-sandwich-cookies/.
Ingredients
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Red paste food coloring
1 recipe Peppermint Filling
Peppermint Filling
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoon milk
Directions
In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.
Divide dough in half. Leave one half plain. Tint the remaining half with desired amount of food coloring. Cover each portion and chill about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape each portion of dough into 1/2-inch balls. Roll together one plain ball and one red ball. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press with the bottom of a sugared glass until about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough, placing balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Transfer to wire racks; cool.
Spread Peppermint Filling on bottoms of half of the cookies, using 2 teaspoons for each cookie. Top with the remaining cookies, bottom sides down.
Peppermint Filling
In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in peppermint extract. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in enough milk to make a filling of piping consistency.
To Store:
Layer sandwich cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
ICED PEPPERMINT COOKIES
This is from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this impressive, yet simple cookie, Melissa wrote, "Flavored with peppermint extract, these zingy shortbread rounds — a visual riff on black and white cookies — have an especially bright, buttery flavor that’s echoed in the icing. The red and white glaze recalls candy canes and Starlight mints, but feel free to play with different colors when decorating these. Or skip the glaze entirely for an easy-to-make minty cookie with a more classic appearance."
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour, plus 1-1/2 hours' chilling and cooling; Total Time: 2-3/4 hours; Yield: 24 to 32 cookies
To view this online, go to https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026316-iced-peppermint-cookies. While you're at it, if you haven't aready signed up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter. Loads of great recipes, guides, and more. (You can also look through their recipes on a daily basis, another plus!)
Ingredients
For the Dough
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more, if you like, for pan
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
For the Royal Icing
3-3/4 cups powdered sugar
3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of fine sea salt or table salt
3 drops peppermint extract, plus more to taste
Food coloring, as needed
Preparation
In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 4 minutes. Beat in egg yolk and peppermint extract. With mixer set on low, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Gather dough into a ball and press it into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (The dough can be made up to 5 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge.)
When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Unwrap the disk of dough out onto a sheet of parchment paper and place another parchment sheet over the top. Roll the dough until it’s 1/4-inch thick then remove the top parchment. Use a floured 2-inch-round cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, spacing at least 1/2 inch apart. Reroll the scraps as needed, creating more cookies.
Bake until the cookie edges and bottoms are brown, rotating the pan once halfway through baking, 13 to 17 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.
Make the royal icing: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the powdered sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and peppermint extract. Whisk on high until stiff and glossy, adding water if needed so that the icing runs off a spoon. Taste and add a little more peppermint if needed. It should be deeply flavored. (The peppermint flavor of these cookies fades over a few days. So if you plan on keeping them for more than a day or two, use a greater amount of peppermint extract.)
To tint, divide the icing into two small bowls. Cover the contents of one bowl — you’ll leave it white — with plastic wrap, as it’ll dry out very quickly. Use a rubber spatula to stir in red coloring into the other until it’s vibrant. Tap the bottoms of the bowls to remove any air bubbles.
Working one at a time, spoon the red icing on one half of the cookie, aiming for a straight line through the center of the circle. Once the icing is dry, spoon the white icing on the blank side of the cookie and let sit to set.
Tip
These are best eaten within a week of baking. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
SHORTBREAD COOKIES
This yumminess is from Ina Garten on the Food Network.
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Inactive Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 20 cookies
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don't trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it's completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.
Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.
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