Peppermint Meltaways

You know those soft sugar cookies with the soft frosting you can always find in the grocery store bakery? I have always loved those! Bailey likes them too but of course she calls them pink cookies because our grocery store almost always has them with pink frosting no matter the current holiday season.

I've always thought those cookies would be out of this world with some peppermint frosting so when I saw these cookies on Pinterest I pinned them right away.

Then I pinned about 100 other cookies to the same board and they were lost in the shuffle until Yaya chose them for her cookie swap at Christmas. I was thrilled to try them out!

These have the same texture as the soft sugar cookies from the grocery store, but they're not as overly sweet. They're actually just the right amount of sweet for me. There's peppermint extract in both the cookies and the frosting and crushed peppermints sprinkled on top giving them an extra punch of peppermint flavor, but I think I could still up the peppermint extract in the frosting just the tiniest bit. These are an excellent holiday cookie that I'm sure to make again next year.

Peppermint Meltaways

Source: Silver Boxes

For the Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

For the Frosting:
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp peppermint extract (I would probably go with 1/2 tsp next time but it's up to you)

Crushed candy canes or peppermints to sprinkle on top.

To make the cookies begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat or spray with vegetable oil spray.

Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar in a small bowl with your hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the extract and mix until combined.

Add the flour and cornstarch and mix until just combined.

Roll into 1-inch balls and place about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. (These are pretty small cookies. Making 1-inch balls I wound up with about 3 dozen cookies the approximate size of a silver dollar and because they have no leavening agent such as baking powder or baking soda they don't expand much.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom, if you wait until the tops begin to brown they will be overcooked. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

To make the frosting beat the butter in a small bowl until fluffy.

Add the powdered sugar, milk, and peppermint extract and beat on low until smooth. If you wanted to you could add a drop of red food coloring to make some pretty pink frosting.

Spread the frosting onto the cooled cookies and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies. Store in an airtight container.