PEPPERMINT SHORTBREAD COOKIESÂ are little bites of Christmas-y heaven! Melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies are studded with peppermint candy pieces and then covered in powdered sugar.
If you only make ONE holiday cookie this year, you need to make it this one. This cookie is such a tender little bite of yumminess. Have you ever had snowballs aka Mexican Wedding Cakes? Well, this cookie is sort of a version of that cookies. Snowballs have LONG been my very favorite holiday cookie. When I saw Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips in Target the other day…well, the wheels started turning and I knew blending them into a shortbread type cookie would result in a winning combination! And I was absolutely right!
Now, the reason why my cookies came out looking more like “buttons” instead of “balls” is that I didn’t chill the batter. If you prefer a more ball-like cookie, then just chill the dough for about an hour before shaping them. For me, it didn’t really matter what shape they came out looking like! Either way, they taste amazing!
Can you believe this is the first cookie I’ve made this season? (What a great recipe to start off my baking with!) Oh my…I’d better get baking! Normally I bake about 10 different kinds of Christmas cookies each year. How about you? Are you planning on baking cookies this holiday season? Are you an avid holiday cookie baker, or just an avid cookie eater?
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar divided
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup Andes® Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment.
- In large mixing bowl, with electric mixer, combine the butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. (about 3 - 5 minutes)
- Add in flour and salt and mix until combined. Stir in chips.
- You can chill the dough for about an hour, if you want a more ball-like shape to the cookies, or you can just go ahead and portion into 1" balls without chilling. If you don't chill the dough, your cookies will be flatter, like in the above photos.
- You can place the cookies about an 1 1/2" apart on the prepared cookies sheets, as they will not spread much.
- Bake in preheated oven for 9 -10 min, or until set, watching carefully so bottoms do not burn.
- Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet without removing them for about 10 minutes so they don't fall apart.
- While still warm "roll" in 1 cup powdered sugar and place on wire rack to cool completely.
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