Peppermint Swirl Sugar Cookies

We try really hard to make these cookies look effortless and hope we're fooling you. This is the first time we've made a recipe using 2 different colors of dough. If you've done something like this before, you probably know what to do. We had a tough time figuring out what to do with the white and red dough and you'll see from the pictures, we just kind of made a creation. But the end result was yummy! Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe. If you don't have one, we provided one for you!  We hope you like the peppermint cookies because we did!  Expect at least one more on the blog in the next week weeks!







Ingredients:

• 1 batch of cookie dough (recipe below)
• 1-2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract
• 3 drops red food coloring

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, knead peppermint extract into sugar cookie dough.  We did this with the electric mixer once about 2/3 of the flour had been added
2. Once well combined, place half of the dough into a separate bowl
3. Add red food coloring to one half of the cook dough.  We used the electric mixer to combine together

4. Refrigerate dough for about 45 minutes
5. Divide the dough into halves (you should have 4 pieces, two white and two red)
6. Roll out each piece and stack them on top of each other
7. Break them into sections and roll them into logs.  Put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for about 2 hours

8. Remove dough from fridge and slice into 1/4 inch slices
9. Place on baking sheet in a 350 preheated oven, and bake for 8-10 minutes

10. Remove from oven and allow to sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes
11. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool before serving
    

Recipe from: Simple Bites

Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla
3. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt
4. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight)

What are you baking today? Mari & Kait