Peppermint Twist Cookies

I apologize for my absence. It has been a very long and trying couple of weeks. My Grandmother had a stroke two days after my last post and I lost her on Friday. Needless to say I have been very busy with my family and trying to keep everything in order as best as possible. I will probably be absent again over the next week as we make final arrangements and host a wake and funeral. Once again I apologize, the timing of this could not be worse. I’ve made it a miniature mission to help everyone prepare for the Holidays and the endless family gatherings and parties that ensue. I had mentioned about a month ago that I got a book full of holiday cookie recipes. Today I’m going to share my favorite. The Peppermint Twist Cookie.

These cookies are a little weird to make. The dough came out very soft and greasy, although I’m sure the humidity that day wasn’t helping. The basic cookie recipe is what this book calls “master cookie mix”. I actually kind of enjoy that because the dough recipe makes 3 cups but you only need 1 1/2 for any given recipe. So one batch of dough can yield two completely different types of cookie.

To make the mix you combine 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter and 1 cup of sugar until its fluffy. Then you beat in 1 egg, 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Mix together 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 tsp of salt and then gradually add it to the mixture until its completely combined.

I used my kitchen aid for this mix which made it a lot easier to combine. This dough comes out resembling cement, however, it was incredibly humid when I was cooking which can make a huge difference in how a recipe turns out. For example we make canoli shells every year. When its humid outside we get about 200-250. If its dry and cold we get 300. If its below freezing and there happens to be a blizzard, we can get up to 400. So mind the weather. I have a feeling this might be easier to do on a dry day.

Once you’ve made the dough take roughly half of it and seal it in an airtight bag or container and refrigerate it for up to a week. You only need half the dough for this recipe. With the other half of the dough, roll small pieces into balls about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Roll the balls out into ropes around 6 inches, then fold in half and twist twice. Place the twists on an ungreased cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper). With the half of the dough I used I got about 30 twists. Put them in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes (mine took 10) until the bottoms just begin to turn golden. Remove them from the cookie sheet and onto a wire rack to cool.

Once cooled (about 10 minutes) combine 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 TBS of milk, and 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract to make an icing. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies and dust with red sugar crystals.

 

 

Some of them came out kind of ugly. The dough was very greasy and stubborn to work with, but they taste amazing. The original recipe calls for up to 1/2 tsp of the peppermint extract, but that came out way too strong. The recipe itself is incredibly easy and it took me a total of 40 minutes from start to finish. Once you get used to the texture of the dough it gets easier to work with and goes by very quickly.

So there you have it! Delicious peppermint cookies! I’ll try to post something else soon, but I don’t know what my week is going to look like yet other than depressing. Just in case I don’t get a chance to post again before hand, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!