PEPERMINT COOKIES

This weekend was parade weekend... It was Christmas Parade city here. Our local (Cocoa) parade is usually REALLY crowded, so we opted to go to the beachside one (Cocoa Beach). It was a ton of fun! Down here, they throw candy at the kids, mostly mints and mini candy canes which is great, but leaves us with the dilema of what to do with the broken candy canes... COOKIES!!!! So this is what we did....

3 cups all purpose flour (more or less, as needed)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
food coloring (optional)
1 cup CRUSHED peppermint candy


Whisk together flour and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and Peppermint candy

Combine until ingredients are well blended.

With mixer on lowest speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture until all ingredients are combined (about 45 seconds - do not overmix). Divide dough into 3 or 4 portions and flatten into a disk shape. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days - freeze if keeping for a longer time).

Remove cookie dough from refrigerator 20-30 minutes before rolling out. If you attempt to roll out the dough while it is still too cold, it will crack along the edges and appear dry. If the dough becomes too soft sitting out, return it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Transfer dough to a clean work surface which has been lightly dusted with flour. A silicone baking mat may be used to roll out the cookies, or they can be rolled between sheets of wax or parchment paper. Roll out 1/8 to 1/4-inch thickness. We like to use a silicone fondant rolling pin fitted with spacer rings to roll dough to an even thickness (available in craft stores and department stores in the cake decorating section).

Dip cookie cutters in flour before each cut and tap off the excess. To avoid a floury edge, the cutters may alternatively be wiped lightly with cake release or oil, or sprayed with Pam. Cut into desired shapes. If cookies are cut on parchment paper, they may be cut directly on the cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 350°F and bake for 8-16 minutes, depending upon the size of the cookies. Smaller, thinner cookies will take less time to bake, while larger, thicker cookies will take longer. It doesn't pay to walk away from the oven while baking cookies. A digital timer is a useful aid for cookie making. Set the timer to go off 2 minutes before you expect the cookies to be done, and stand close by during the final few minutes of baking. Avoid opening the oven door to peek very often as this will also affect baking time