After last Christmas I made a vow that I'm going to turn this around and create a holiday that everyone would enjoy. I'm taking it on myself to create activities that will get everyone into the holiday spirit, including a day dedicated to making Christmas cookies. So I'm spending the summer looking for great recipes that are easy enough for children and will bring a smile to everyone else.
I've been on a roll with cookies lately, as I've documented, which is great, but none of them really say "Christmas" to me. They're crowd pleasers, but I knew I needed at least one that was a little more "holiday-y." And then I opened one of our drawers looking for a twist-tie and found a bunch of Sees peppermint sticks. Sure they're from Christmas, but does sugar really go bad? I incorporated the peppermint sticks into the shortbread cookie dough that's been working OH so well for me.
Thatboy tested them when they came out of the oven and told me they were okay, but not very pepperminty. So I decided to make a peppermint glaze and put that on top. After that they passed Thatboy's seal of approval.
Christmas in July Cookies
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 peppermint sticks
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- Preheat oven to 300. Crush 3 peppermint sticks and combine with butter, sugar and 1 tsp vanilla in electric mixer.
- Blend in flour and cornstarch.
- Form dough in 1 inch balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a glass dipped in sugar to press down and flatten balls.
- Bake 25-30 minutes and cool on wire rack.
- Combine confectioners' sugar, milk and remaining vanilla until frosting is smooth. Drizzle on top of cookies.
- Crush remaining peppermint stick sprinkle on top of frosting.
Who wouldn't love Christmas all-year round? Especially if it comes paved with these cookies ;) Yum!
ReplyDeletemartha has a great chocolate cookie recipe that uses crushed peppermint candies. huge hit at my office. let me know if you'd like the recipe. :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE THESE! I couldn't wait til December either. These look sooo yummy!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let you know how much fun I'm having with your site. The recipes are great and I love your humor. It speaks to me :)I found you thru Brianna's site (I'm her Mom) I cooked all week for a girl's trip I took last week using 2 of your recipes. They were a hit so I thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love that you're trying now to come up with the perfect recipes for the holidays. This will definitely help keep the stress down during the holidays - well, at least the recipe stress. Sometimes, we can't avoid the family stress :(
ReplyDeleteNow that's dedication to the family festivities. And the rest of us are going to benefit too, because you'll clearly have the best Christmas cookie recipes around. But girl, how can you stand to bake in the summer? Isn't it too hot to have the oven on for that long?
ReplyDeletei love the christmas in july idea even more when you throw christmas cookies into the mix.
ReplyDeletei second amber - that recipe is yummy.
These look delicious. There is nothing wrong with a dose of Christmas in the middle of July. :)
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas! Peppermint candies in my food, not so much. I think you've got a good outlook on making Christmas more fun for yourself though. Grinches be damned!
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any xmas cookie I wouldn't enjoy eating year round, so I think you should proceed with wild abandon! :) These look great, I love peppermint.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone. I couldn't resist having a christmas sandwich yesterday (turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce). Suppose we're not sickened from having so much Christmas stuff this time of year. I love the look of these cookies though. may just bookmark them to make in a week's time ;o)
ReplyDeleteYummm! Christmas cookies are great ANY time of the year!
ReplyDelete