It’s 8 days before Christmas and my dreams are in cookies. After this recipe, tonight I hope to drift off to powdered sugar capped mountains filled with giant versions of these peppermint cookies. My dad loves candy canes, but more specifically his favorite are the green and red striped peppermint ones. He says they aren’t ripe until they have both the green and red stripes (I think it might be his favorite too because they look extra festive with both bold colors). In my dreamy candy world, you can be sure that ripe candy canes grow everywhere like weeds.

8^th day before Christmas – Peppermint Snowballs

These cookies have a dough that comes together quickly but make sure to set aside time to fill them. The recipe was found in Taste of Home Magazine’s Christmas Cookie edition. We learned after a few cookies with leaks that the trick is a deep bowl being made before filling. I used my index finger to create the bowl into the desired size and the palm of my other hand to smooth it out to avoid extra rolling after enclosing the filling. If I were to make these again, I would add a little extra peppermint to the filling for more explosion of flavor.

Dough Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tbsp. whole milk
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 Tbsp. finely crushed peppermint candies or candy canes

Topping Ingredients:

• ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 6 Tbsp. finely crushed peppermint candy or candy canes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually add flour and continue to mix until blended and an additional 30 seconds.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.

Make filling by beating cream cheese and whole milk; stir in confectioners’ sugar and candy cane pieces

We want to hear from you! What is your favorite type of candy cane? Would it be tasty in this cookie?

Make the balls into a bowl and fill each with 1/8 tsp. of the filling before closing the opening and placing on an ungreased baking sheet (we use parchment paper to make for easier cleanup and removal).

Bake for 12-14 minutes.

While they are baking, combine the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl.

Wait for 2 minutes after the cookies are removed from the oven and roll in the topping. Make sure the cookies are still warm to ensure the topping sticks to the cookies.

 

Make sure to check out our original post on the 12 Days of Cookies to learn more about it and follow Take-2-Create for updates on all upcoming treats and crafts!