Peppermint Cookies

Peppermint cookies are a twist on a sugar cookie and a great way to bring in the holidays with the flavor of the season. These cookies are easy to make and can be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters or even as a pinwheel cookie. They are delicious and always a treat for us and for guests!

What is one of your favorite traditions at Christmas? Here one of the many is baking cookies. I mean who doesn't love cookies, right?

These are easy to make and you can roll them out or you can shape them into flat little discs (or any other shape you desire) to bake them. We like to make them as pinwheels, but this is a very flexible cookie!

They have the perfect amount of peppermint, but you can also add crushed candy canes like we did in the picture for extra flavor. This is how we enjoy them and we even have a family member here who didn't want to try them because they don't like peppermint. He ate more then he would like to admit haha! Still cannot get him to try the peppermint whipped cream tho.

Want to know what is even better? You can use this recipe for sugar cookies too, they are an amazing soft baked cookie! You would just use all vanilla extract instead of adding peppermint.

Making the 2 colors is optional. Peppermint extract is clear so we used red food coloring on half of the dough. We did here it to have pinwheels and it wouldn't work if they were all one color. We feel it gives it more of a peppermint candy look to our cookie.

Tips for making peppermint cookies

I use this for sugar cookies and for peppermint cookies. They turn out nice and soft - they are a cookie that won't last long in your house!

Let the butter sit out on the counter to soften. We let our butter sit out at least an hour before making cookies. You want it to be quite soft, but not melted so don't set it against the heater.

You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer, bur I prefer the stand mixer. Mainly because with the pouring shield I can spoon the dry ingredients in slowly without making a mess and with the mixer running. If not using the stand mixer, you can add the dry ingredients in batches. No worries here, they will still be amazing!

In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In the mixing bowl (separate from the flour mix) cream the butter and sugar. Then add the extracts (vanilla and peppermint) and eggs, mixing for about 1 minute after adding.

Slowly add the flour mix to the dough about a cup at a time just until it is incorporated - do not over mix or cookies might turn out a little hard. If you are coloring half of the dough, remove half of it now and add food coloring to the remaining dough just until incorporated. If you are rolling it out, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes now. You can spoon it out to make circles, you can use your hands to shape, roll out for cookie cutters or you can make pinwheels.

Making pinwheel cookies

For pinwheels you will take out half of the dough when it is mixed and then add food coloring to the remaining half. I do 2 rolls here so I divide the dough into 4 sections (2 pink and 2 plain) and put them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

When ready, roll out 1 of each color to about an eighth of an inch to one quarter inch thick and place one layer on top of the other. We put pink on the bottom, but it doesn't matter which one. Roll it as tight as you can lengthwise so you have a long roll. Repeat with the remaining dough for 2 rolls. Put back in the fridge for about 15 minutes so it slices nicely. Then cut slices about a quarter inch thick.

How to know the cookies are done

Bake in oven preheated to 350 for about 9-11 minutes, but this depends on how thick you make them. We also found that using baking mats on your pans help to bake the perfect cookie! To have the softest of cookies, you don't want any brown on them. Once they start to get a little brown on the edges, they are starting to get burnt and they will harden up after they cool down.

So how do we know?

They will start to look a little crackled toward the center when it is time to remove them from the oven. You will also notice that they get a bit bigger then what the started. The edges will look set and your cookie won't look gooey. At that point it is time to remove them.

Allow them to cool on the baking tray for about 2-3 minutes before carefully removing and putting them on a wire rack to cool. If you are familiar with baking sugar cookies, remember these peppermint cookies are very similar to sugar cookies.