Combining pink dough flavored with peppermint and white dough creates a delicious cookie that looks harder to make than it is. Peppermint is part and parcel of Christmas and here’s another way to enjoy it.
Yield: 2 dozen
Active time: 20 minutes
Start to finish: 33/4 hours, including 3 hours to chill dough
11/4 cups white rice flour
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, thinly sliced
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil or pure peppermint extract
3 to 5 drops red food coloring
1. Combine rice flour, confectioners’ sugar, potato starch, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend for 5 seconds. Add butter to the work bowl, and process, using on-and-off pulsing, until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Combine egg and egg yolk in a small cup, and whisk well. Drizzle liquid into the work bowl, and pulse about 10 times, or until stiff dough forms.
3. Remove half of dough from the food processor, and set aside. Add peppermint oil and food coloring to the food processor and process until dough is evenly colored. Wrap each dough in plastic wrap. Press dough into a pancake. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or until firm, or up to 2 days.
4. Roll out each dough separately into a rectangle approximately 1/4-inch thick. Place peppermint dough on top of the white dough, and press together around the edges. Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath as a guide, roll dough into a log shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
6. Cut chilled dough into slices 1/4-inch thick with a sharp serrated knife, and arrange them on the baking sheets.
7. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are brown. Cool cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, and then transfer them with a spatula to cooling racks to cool completely.
Variation
Substitute green food coloring for the red food coloring, and add 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies to the vanilla dough.
Make sure the log is well wrapped in plastic wrap when it’s refrigerated the second time. If it’s not secure, the dough can dry out and be difficult to cut.