Aren’t these little guys adorbs? I love em. They were tasty and fun to make. I love rolling out cookies and decorating them. I found the recipe on one of my favorite baking blogs, Dozen Flours. All the the baked items I have tried from there have turned out so well. You should check out some of her recipes!
These little babies would be perfect for Valentine’s day, if you go for the heart shape. Too bad I'm posting them the day after Valentine's day. You can use any type of cookie cutter shape you'd like though. This is the best sugar cookie recipe I've tried, so I'll definitely be using it any time I need to make some sugar cookies. I ended up making two batches of these because I loved em so much. They all turned out cute and yummy :)
Makes 16-20 cookies.
Ingredients:
Cookies- can be stored in an airtight container, ziploc bag, or frozen and saved for later
- 2 sticks (1 c) of unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 c white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 3 c all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (or regular salt if you don’t have kosher)
Icing- can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days
- 1/2 stick (1/4 c) unsalted butter, softened
- 2-3 c powdered sugar
- 1/4 c cold milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- crushed peppermint candies (I used a bag of peppermint baking chips)
- pink food coloring (optional)
Feel free to skip through the picture demonstration to get straight to the listed directions.
First, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-low speed until creamy supremey.
Dump in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Continue mixing until the dough comes together, scraping down the sides if necessary.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and form into a ball. If the dough is sticky then you can do this on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
While the dough is refrigerating, you can go ahead and make the frosting. Start by beating 1/2 c of butter in a mixing bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add the milk, vanilla extract, peppermint extract and 1 c of the powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. If you don't like peppermint then you can omit the 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract and use 1 tsp of vanilla extract instead. Using the peppermint extract does not make the flavor overly powerful and I would recommend it!
Add the remaining powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down the sides between each addition. Beat well after each addition (around 2 minutes). Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting thickens and appears spreadable. You don't want it to be too runny.
Add the pink food coloring if you are using it. Thoroughly mix it into the frosting. Add more coloring until a desired color is reached. Once the frosting is thoroughly mixed, place in an airtight container (or in a bowl covered with plastic wrap) and set aside. *Be sure to leave the icing out at room temperature. Refrigerating it will cause it to harden.
Remove the ball of dough from the fridge. Break in half. Slightly flatten one half with your hands and place between two pieces of parchment paper.
Roll the dough out between the parchment paper until the dough is 1/4 in thick. Do the same with the other half of the dough. Place these onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove one sheet of rolled dough from the refrigerator. Cut out desired shapes and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake for 8-12 minutes or until cookies are slightly firm to the touch. All of my batches took 8 minutes. I would recommend checking the firmess of the cookies at 6 minutes and then once a minute after that. You don't want them to brown.
Once the cookies have been removed from the oven, let them sit in the pan for 1 minute. Then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Be careful because they are super fragile right out of the oven! Allow to cool completely.
Plop a dollop of frosting onto the base cookie and spread slightly.
Then press a cookie frame over the top and sprinkle with crushed peppermint.
Wa-la!
Directions:
- Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs. With the mixer on medium-low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl if needed during mixing.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the icing. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add 1 c of the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat 3-5 minutes on medium speed or until smooth. Gradually add remaining powdered sugar, 1 c at a time, beating well after each addition (around 2 minutes). The icing should be a thick enough consistency to spread. Use less sugar or more milk if necessary. Thoroughly mix in pink food coloring until desired color is reached. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide the dough in half and place each half between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Place the sheets of dough on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and cut out desired shapes. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
- To assemble, spread a dollop of frosting onto each base cookie. Top with a cookie frame. Garnish with crushed peppermint.
Suggestions:
- You could make cookie sandwiches with the frosting in the middle if you don’t have/aren’t using cookie frames.
- Leave some cookies plain, others sandwiched together with frosting in the middle, and the rest topped with only frosting and crushed peppermint.
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