Recipes

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Posts: 187

Registered: ‎12-20-2010

Peppermint Snowflake Cookies

‎01-05-2013 06:13 PM

/><br/> <br/> I love recipes that you can easily swap out ingredients for to create something new. That's how it is with the Gingerbread Men recipe I used this year. With all the different flavors of instant pudding on the market-I have a kaboodle of flavor variations for any occasion that I want to make cut out cookies for.<br/> <br/> Along with the Gingerbread instant pudding I snagged this year, Jell-O also offered Candy Cane instant pudding. You'd better believe I grabbed some boxes of that too. I knew just what I wanted to make with it.<br/> <br/> I love adding snowflake cookies to a Christmas cookie tray. Last year I did them in gingerbread-this year I opted for peppermint.<br/> <br/> I used the same recipe as the Gingerbread Men and Reindeer, swapped the brown sugar for granulated sugar, used the Candy Cane instant pudding and to be sure I had enough peppermint flavor, added peppermint extract along with a touch of vanilla.<br/> <br/> I made the dough ahead of time, formed it into a disk, wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. All I had to do on cookie baking day was take it out of the refrigerator and leave it a few minutes on the counter for it to warm up a bit. The scraps rerolled nicely so there was no dough wasted.<br/> <br/> I'm not great at rolling cookies the same thickness so some came out a little thinner-which made them crispy. That's OK with me. The ones I did manage to get 1/8

I used the same Royal Icing to decorate these as I did the Gingerbread cookies.....the only thing I did differently was as soon as I finished piping, I held the cookie over a dish of sugar and used a spoon to sprinkle sugar over the wet icing, then tapped off the excess. It adds a nice sparkle and a sugary crunch once the icing dries.

The flavor? Delicious. The peppermint isn't overpowering.....Bob even liked the flavor and he isn't a fan of mint. My daughter Robin said this was her favorite cookie on the tray this year-she and I both love peppermint.

If you can't locate the Candy Cane instant pudding at your local K-Mart (that seems to be the only store that carries it and the Gingerbread flavor), I would suggest using vanilla instant pudding mix and adding more peppermint extract to the dough to get the peppermint flavor. Some finely crushed peppermint candies would add flavor too.

I hope I can find more reasons to make this cookie recipe during the year....I can't WAIT to play with all the other instant pudding flavors. Valentine's Day will be here before we know it........Hmmmmmmmmm.... /> PEPPERMINT SNOWFLAKE COOKIES (Source: adapted from <a rel=

/><br/> <br/> <br/> PEPPERMINT SNOWFLAKE COOKIES<br/> (Source: adapted from</span> <a rel=

Best of Country Cookies cookbook)

1/2 c. butter (no substitutions), softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. pure peppermint extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. instant Candy Cane pudding mix*

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla and peppermint extract until well mixed.

Combine flour, baking soda and pudding mix; gradually add to the creamed mixture, mixing until well combined. Cover dough and refrigerate until firm enough to roll-preferably overnight.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/8" thickness. Cut with a snowflake cookie cutter or cookie cutter of your choice. Place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake @ 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove to wire racks to cool. Decorate as desired.

The amount of cookies you get from this dough depends on the size cookie cutter you use. I got about 4 dozen cookies using the snowflake cookie cutter I have.

I use Royal Icing recipe found HERE to decorate the cookies, using 8 Tbsp. water and adding 1 tsp. vanilla extract to the batch. I made half the recipe and had more than enough to decorate all the cookies I made. After piping the icing onto the cookie, I held the cookie over a bowl of either colored or plain granulated sugar and sprinkled sugar over the wet icing with a spoon, then tapped off any excess sugar. Allow the icing to completely dry before storing the cookies.

NOTE: If instant Candy Cane pudding is unavailable, substitute instant vanilla pudding mix and increase peppermint extract to 1 1/4-1 1/2 tsp.