It is that time of year where my oldest daughter starts feeling festive and asks me to make “those soft Christmas cookies with the peppermint candy that you let us crush and put on top”. This Peppermint Sugar Cookie recipe with peppermint glaze is not only visually pretty with its festive crushed peppermint topping, but it also delivers on taste with its buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture and cool peppermint glaze.
Whether you’re baking for the holidays, a cookie exchange, or just because, these cookies are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! Classic sugar cookies also make their appearance in our Christmas season, but these are just a delicious way to add a peppermint twist to your Christmas cookie recipes round up.
This peppermint sugar cookie recipe is a favorite for 3 reasons:
- Because of how simple it is. The cookie dough gets mixed in one bowl and the creamy peppermint frosting comes together so easy too. You don’t need cookie cutters for this recipe, they bake into such beautiful fluffy round shapes using only a cookie scoop.
- They never fail. I’ve made these countless times and you know how sometimes a batch of cookies fails for unknown reasons, I’ve never had this recipe fail.
- They are soft and delicious. The cookies really have such a soft delicate bite, paired with the hint of peppermint in the glaze and crunch of the crushed candy canes on top, it’s just so good.
Peppermint Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 cup soft butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp cream of tarter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Candy cane pieces
Instructions:
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and both sugars with the paddle attachment.
- Then add vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract on medium speed.
- When that’s smooth, add your flour mixture.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper or those silicone baking sheets.
- Use the smallest cookie scoop to form balls and then place dough balls on your tray, don’t flatten.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes.
- Cool.
Glaze ingredients:
2 tbls melted butter
1/4 cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
Glaze Instructions:
- Whisk until nice and smooth, this can be done with a hand whisk or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, it takes a bit of work to get it smooth.
- Put that in a piping bag or Ziplock bag and spread on the cookies, or use a spoon to scoop about half a tablespoon on each cookie.
- Crush peppermint candy or sticks with a rolling pin, and sprinkle onto the glaze before it dries.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
Top tips for making the best Christmas peppermint cookies:
- Use butter and eggs at room temperature for the best baking results.
- Using the best quality ingredients always make a big difference in baking cookies.
- Do not over work the dough.
- If you’re not a peppermint fan just scale back or omit the peppermint extract and or candy cane, just make sure to replace the extract with a different one, like almond.
- Use a cookie scoop to get nice uniform cookies.
- Make sure not to overbake your cookies. This may seem like an easy concept, but a lot of time people think their cookies need just “one or two more minutes”. Cookies continue to bake on the sheet after they are removed from the oven.
Variations for this peppermint sugar cookie recipe:
One of the best thing about these peppermint cookies is that they are so easy to customize to make them the perfect soft sugar cookies for your holiday theme like Halloween, Easter and even baby or bridal showers. You only need to switch out the extracts to completely change these into a different flavor. Almond extract would be AMAZING in place of peppermint for seasons other than Christmas.
FAQ’s:
Do I need to chill the dough for peppermint meltaway cookies?
Nope! While the dough is extremely sticky, it doesn’t need to be chilled. Just let the dough rest for 5 or so minutes so it’s easier to handle. If you WANT to mix the dough a day ahead of time you certainly can. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out, and just let it come to almost room temperature again before you make the dough balls, so it is easier to make scoops with.
How do I store these cookies?
These cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. The cookies keep well up to four or five days, they do not dry out easily at all! I love a cookie that retains freshness for a couple days!
Can I freeze them?
Yes, you can freeze the cookie dough or the baked cookies. It would be super convenient to shape the dough into cookie dough balls and place on a cookie sheet, freeze, then toss into a bag or container frozen and freeze again for an easy grab and bake option! You could also bake the cookies and freeze those, but I wouldn’t recommend glazing and topping with peppermint candy until they are thawed and ready to be enjoyed.
Other recipes you will enjoy:
White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
Equipment
- kitchenaid mixer
- cookie scoop
- cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 1 cup soft butter
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp cream of tarter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Candy cane pieces
Glaze ingredients:
- 2 tbls melted butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp peppermint extract optional
Instructions
Instructions:
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate large bowl.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter and both sugars with the paddle attachment.
- Then add vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract on medium speed.
- When that’s smooth, add your flour mixture.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper or those silicone baking sheets.
- Use the smallest cookie scoop to form balls and then place dough balls on your tray, don’t flatten.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes.
- Cool.
Glaze Instructions:
- Whisk until nice and smooth, this can be done with a hand whisk or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, it takes a bit of work to get it smooth.
- Put that in a piping bag or Ziplock bag and spread on the cookies, or use a spoon to scoop about half a tablespoon on each cookie.
- Crush peppermint candy or sticks with a rolling pin, and sprinkle onto the glaze before it dries.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
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