Make Ahead
Peppermint Swirls
Prep Time: 1 Hour Start to Finish: 1 Hour 4 dozen cookies
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- ¼ teaspoon red food color
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon until well blended. Stir in flour.
2 Divide dough in half. Stir peppermint extract and food color into one half of dough. Divide red dough and plain dough in half. On generously floured surface, shape each piece of dough into 12-inch-long rope. Place 2 ropes, 1 red and 1 plain, side-by-side; twist ropes together. Repeat with remaining dough.
3 Cut twisted ropes into ½-inch pieces; shape each into ball. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 1 inch apart. In small bowl, place granulated sugar. Dip bottom of glass in granulated sugar, and flatten each ball to about ¼ inch thick.
4 Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.
1 Cookie: Calories 60; Total Fat 4g (Saturated Fat 2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 10mg; Sodium 25mg; Total Carbohydrate 5g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 1g Exchanges: ½ Other Carbohydrate, ½ Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 0
Make-Ahead Magic You can make and freeze these cookies up to 12 months ahead! Place baked, cooled cookies in a freezer-storage container. Cover and freeze up to 12 months. For softer cookies, thaw covered in container at room temperature 1 to 2 hours. For crisper cookies, remove from container to thaw.
