Gift Giving

It was really interesting to hear what you all had to say on Christmas cards! Overall it was a great response—I appreciate you sharing your thoughts because I wasn’t sure if I was the only one with the Christmas letter bug still in me. Cheers to snail mail!

And it’s a new week..you all should know what that means—time for Christmas Countdown. And it’s week 11, which means not long till Christmas!

This week’s recipe is extra special because I donated these cookies to Tina’s Blogger Bake Sale. I raised $45—so no doubt, these would be a stunning & delicious addition to your holiday cookie platters!

Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

From "Southern Living" magazine

Yield: Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  butter, softened
• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  large egg
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 3/4  teaspoon  red food coloring paste
• Parchment paper

Preparation

1. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended, scraping bowl as needed.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll 1 portion of dough into a 12- x 8-inch rectangle on a piece of lightly floured plastic wrap.
4. Knead food coloring paste into remaining portion of dough while wearing rubber gloves. Roll tinted dough into a rectangle as directed in Step 3. Invert untinted dough onto tinted dough; peel off plastic wrap. Cut dough in half lengthwise, forming 2 (12- x 4-inch) rectangles. Roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, starting at 1 long side, using bottom piece of plastic wrap as a guide. Wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze 4 hours or up to 1 month.
5. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut ends off each dough log, and discard. Cut dough into 1/4-inch-thick pieces, and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
6. Bake at 350° for 6 to 7 minutes or until puffed and set; cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).

 
7. Place Peppermint Frosting in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic freezer bag. Snip 1 corner of bag to make a small hole. Pipe about 2 tsp. frosting onto half of cookies; top with remaining cookies, gently pressing to form a sandwich.
Peppermint Frosting

Yield: Makes 1 3/4 cups

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1  (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 2  cups  powdered sugar
• 1  tablespoon  milk
• 1/8  teaspoon  peppermint extract

Preparation

1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium, and gradually add milk and peppermint extract, beating until smooth. 

RECIPE NOTE: I gave these out in my annual “Gift of Goodies” bags to friends and they claimed they are the best cookies I’ve made so far—add these to your list!

**Check out the awesome giveaway here—hurry ends Sunday!**

Check back tomorrow for a bonus swirled cookie recipe!

Do you prefer making cookies from scratch or jazzing up a cookie mix instead?

For me, it really depends on if I only have an hour to bake, or if I have all afternoon! But I always think from-scratch cookies have a special touch to them!