Peppermint Spritz Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg yolk and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough in half. Tint 1 portion with food coloring. Using a cookie press fitted with a disk of your choice, press dough 1 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. If desired, sprinkle with colored sugar., Bake until edges are light golden, 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Freeze option: Freeze cooled cookies in freezer containers. To use, thaw before serving.

Steps:

• Glaze: Whisk together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Glaze can be stored at room temperature, with plastic wrap pressed directly on surface, up to 3 days; whisk before using. (Makes 2 cups.)
• Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter with granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolk, flour, salt, peppermint extract, and milk; beat to combine.
• Fill a cookie press with dough and fit with a wreath disk. Press cookies directly onto unlined baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until just golden on edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack; let cool completely.
• Working in batches, add a drop of food coloring to a small amount of glaze (about 1/4 cup); use a toothpick to swirl a tiny bit. Dip tops of cookies in glaze, then turn glaze-sides up and place on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet to catch drips to set. (As you dip, colors will become more combined and no longer look like swirls; change to fresh glaze at this point.) For additional "swirls," dip a toothpick in red glaze and drizzle over cookies. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325˚. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and egg until just combined. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
• Fit a cookie press with a wreath disk; fill with the dough according to the manufacturer's instructions. Press cookies 1 inch apart onto 2 unlined baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies, 1 pan at a time, until crisp and set around the edges, 18 to 22 minutes. Immediately remove the cookies to a rack using an offset spatula and let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
• Once the cookies have cooled, make the icing: Combine the chocolate, heavy cream and butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water). Stir until melted and smooth, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the peppermint extract; let cool 5 minutes.
• Transfer the icing to a resealable plastic bag, snip off a corner and drizzle over the cookies. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Let set, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Prepare the royal icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine the confectioners' sugar, egg whites and glycerin, if using. Combine on low speed, then raise speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer, and test some of the royal icing on a cookie: If it doesn't spread out to a smooth finish within 10 seconds, it's too thick. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water as needed to thin the mixture, whipping it by hand using the whip attachment. If the royal icing runs off the edge of the cookie, it's too thin, so you'll need to whisk in more sugar to thicken. You should have 1 1/2 cups royal icing.
• Transfer to a small airtight container and refrigerate. It can be left out for 1 or 2 days, but you'll need to refrigerate for longer storage. (The icing will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.)
• Decorate the cookies: Pour the royal icing into a wide bowl. (The icing can be used cold, but it may separate, so it needs to be whisked, and may need to be thinned out with water or thickened with confectioners' sugar.) Holding a cookie by the edges, with the top-side down, dip into the icing, moving the cookie around a bit to make sure the icing coats the whole surface. Gently shake the cookie from side to side to let the excess icing drip off.
• Use a small offset spatula to stop the flow of icing, gently scrape cookie against edge of bowl, and flip the cookie over. Use the spatula to spread the icing to pop any air bubbles, and make sure it goes all the way to the edges. It should quickly smooth out on its own. If not, thin it out a bit until it does. Use your fingers to wipe away any icing on the outside edges. Repeat with all the cookies. Place on a cooling rack set over a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet to dry completely, preferably overnight (or at least 4 hours).
• When dry, set up the cookies on a baking sheet or other flat surface in four rows of five cookies (you may have a few extra cookies), so they are abutting one another with no spaces. Mix the petal dust and luster dust with enough peppermint extract to make a very loose "wash" and, using brushes of different widths, make continuous brushstrokes in a few different widths across the entire surface. If you run out of pigment as you're brushing, dip the brush again, and continue the line, allowing the brush texture to show in places. When dry, rearrange the cookies on a platter so the lines no longer match up. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Using a cookie press fitted with a disk of your choice, press dough 1 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-12 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle crushed candies over cookies. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Steps:

• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. The dough will be very stiff and crumbly at this point alost like a shortbread. Don't worry, you are adding liquid in the next steps.
• Divide the dough in half and add chocolate and vanilla to 1 half and incorporate with hands. Add egg yolk, peppermint extract, and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with hands. (If you like you can add a drop or two of red food coloring to make the dough a pppermint pink.) Cover both with plastic and chill for approximately 5-10 minutes.
• Roll out doughs separately to approximately 1/4-inch thickness. Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate and press together around the edges. Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath, roll dough into log. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 2 hours or more. (I let my logs cool for 6 hours and they were very easy to slice.).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place cookies 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs. Stir in vanilla extract and peppermint extract. Dissolve baking soda in hot water and mix into the batter.
• Combine flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl. Add to the batter gradually; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop spoonfuls of batter onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 1 minute; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
• Beat in sugar and baking powder until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
• Beat in egg and peppermint extract until combined.
• Beat in as much of flour as you can with the mixer.
• Stir in any remaining flour.
• Pack un-chilled dough into cookie press fitted with an ½ inch star plate.
• Force dough through press to form 3 ½ to 4 inch long sticks about 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• If desired, bend into candy-cane shapes.
• Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are firm but not brown.
• Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
• In a small heavy saucepan, melt white chocolate and shortening over low heat, stirring frequently.
• Dip one end of each stick into melted white chocolate, letting excess drip off.
• Place on waxed paper.
• Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy.
• Let stand until set.
• To store: Place cookies in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container.
• Store at room temp for up to 3 days.