Put Some Pep (or Peppermint) in Your Holidays!

I love peppermint in any form: Flavored coffee, candy, cakes, and cookies. Because of that, I want to share one of all-time favorite recipes for Peppermint Bark Cookies, straight from the Betty Crocker cookbook.  Here it is! Make double and share it with a friend:

•  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 6 peppermint candy canes, crushed - or more to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat butter, vegetable shortening, light brown sugar, and white sugar in a separate large bowl until creamy. Beat eggs, vanilla and peppermint extracts, and red food coloring into butter mixture until smooth. Gradually beat dry ingredients into wet ingredients until dough is smooth. Fold white chocolate chips and crushed candy canes into dough.
3. Pinch off 1-tablespoon-sized pieces of dough, roll into balls, and place on ungreased baking sheets. Lightly flatten cookies with the bottom of a drinking glass.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are set but not browned, 9 to 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing to finish cooling on wire racks.

Kitchen-Friendly View

Footnotes

• Cook's Note:
• For the more-adventurous baker, when cookies are cooled, melt 1 1/2 to 2 cups white chocolate morsels by placing in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water and stirring until all the morsels are melted. Add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract, mixing well, before dipping half of each cookie in the melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper and sprinkle with more crushed candy cane. Let white chocolate harden. This gives them the more festive look.

Merry Christmas!