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Sugar Cookies

PEPPERMINT SUGAR COOKIES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

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Holiday Cookies

Cookies are always a hit this time of year and these Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are no exception. I was inspired by these Key Lime Sugar Cookies but wanted to put a winter twist on them. I essentially subbed the lime flavor for peppermint, tweaked the cookie recipe itself slightly, and opted for a cream cheese frosting. For that peppermint flavor, the recipe includes crushed candy canes as well as peppermint extract. (*I crushed my candy canes by putting them in a large zip lock bag and gently smashing them with a hammer.) Let’s get into the full details on how to make these peppermint sugar cookies…

Sugar cookies covered in cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with bits of candy cane.

Peppermint Sugar Cookies

Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting. Let’s start with the dry ingredients – whisk them together to ensure you don’t have any clumps of baking soda or corn starch. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat the heck out of that butter and sugar together until it is light in both color and texture. Don’t forget to scrape the sides of the bowl periodically. Now add in the egg and peppermint extract. Finally, you want to gradually stir in the dry ingredients and half of the crushed candy cane pieces. Save the other half of the candy for decorating the cookies. Now the part everyone hates, chill the dough for an hour. Yes, you could make these straight away without chilling but they absolutely turn out better if you take the time to chill the dough. Once chilled, form the dough into 1″ balls, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees F for 14-16 minutes. Exact time will vary based on your individual oven.

Sugar cookie covered in cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with bits of candy cane.

Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

Yes, you could eat the cookies as is. However, peppermint sugar cookies WITH cream cheese frosting is what really puts this recipe over the top. While your cookies are cooling, you can make the peppermint cream cheese frosting. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and peppermint extract together. Gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Don’t add it all at once as the powdered sugar and easily puff up out of the bowl, making a huge mess. Spread the frosting over the cookies and sprinkle on the candy cane pieces reserved from the cookie recipe to decorate. FYI, this frosting would also be incredible on chocolate cake/cupcakes.

Sugar cookies covered in cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with bits of candy cane.

Peppermint Sugar Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting

Classic sugar cookies with a festive peppermint twist.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 30 Cookies

Ingredients
  

Cookies

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 5 oz crushed candy cane, divided (This is 12 candy canes)

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 4 oz unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar

Instructions
 

Cookies

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, corn starch, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light in color. Scrape sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Mix in egg and peppermint extract.
  • Gradually add in flour mixture and half of the crushed candy canes. Again, scrape the bowl periodically. Mix until just combined.
  • Chill dough 1 hour.
  • Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Roll cookie dough into 1” balls then place on parchment covered cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
  • Bake 14-16 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and peppermint extract until fully combined.
  • Gradually stir in powdered sugar.
  • Spread frosting over cooled cookies and top with remaining crushed candy cane pieces.
Keyword Christmas Cookies, Cookies, Cream Cheese Frosting, Peppermint, Peppermint Sugar Cookies, Sugar Cookies

Lemon Iced Ginger Cookies

Peppermint Cocoa Cookies

Oatmeal Cherry Cookies

KEY LIME SUGAR COOKIES

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I used to make sugar cookies on the regular. I would do thick, soft, cut-out style cookies and then spend hours decorating them. If I’m honest, I made them in order to escape life’s stress. I was in a miserable, unhealthy relationship. Staying focused on the baking and decorating kept my mind at peace. I felt like I was in a situation that I couldn’t escape physically so I would do so mentally. Some people exercise to escape stress, some people turn to drugs or alcohol… I turned to baking. I did ultimately end that toxic relationship, got therapy and moved on to much happier times. It would be easy to resent those years but that would only keep me locked into the misery. Instead, I think of it as one of the most important life lessons I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t be in the incredible marriage I’m in today if I hadn’t experienced my past. I probably wouldn’t be as thankful as I am for the healthy, loving and supportive relationship I have with my husband.

My love for sugar cookies is still strong but I don’t spend hours baking and decorating unless I’m motivated to do so out of joy. “Escape baking” is a thing of my past.  Instead, I choose easier, less time-consuming recipes to satisfy a sugar cookie craving. With summer comes bright citrus – lemon and lime season. When I was looking to make some sugar cookies, I saw key limes sitting on my counter and knew I need to incorporate them. This recipe is easy to make, you don’t even need to chill the dough. Perfect for when you don’t want to wait all day to have a homemade cookie.

Tips:

  • If you can’t find key limes, go ahead and use regular limes or you could even swap out for lemon if you prefer.
  • I made the icing somewhat thick so I could manipulate it on the cookies. If you prefer a lighter icing, reduce the amount of powdered sugar.

Key Lime Sugar Cookies

A vibrant take on a classic cookie.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 30 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons key lime zest
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the icing

  • 2 Tablespoons fresh key lime juice
  • 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda then set aside.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lime zest until light in color. Add in egg, vanilla and salt and beat to combine. Gradually add in flour mixture, stopping to scrape the bowl periodically.
  • Roll cookie dough into 1” balls then place on parchment covered cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
  • Bake 15-17 minutes or until edges are slightly golden. Let cookies cool completely before adding icing.

For the icing

  • For the icing: pour lime juice into a small bowl. Gradually whisk powdered sugar into lime juice until fully incorporated and smooth (no lumps). Spoon icing onto cookies as desired.
Keyword Cookies, Dessert, Easy Cookies, Easy Recipe, Homemade Cookies, Key Lime, Key Lime Cookies, Key Lime Dessert, Lime

Stir-n-Drop Sugar Cookies

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Stir-n-Drop Sugar Cookies - Slice of Honey BlogI used to spend hours baking and decorating cut out sugar cookies. It was like therapy for me, a way to tune out the rest of the world for a while. I still enjoy making sugar cookies but I just don’t have time for the detailed work that goes into decorating those cut out cookies. As I was sifting through my grandmother’s recipe box I came across this great recipe. As with most of her recipes, the original source is unknown. However, the internet is a great tool and I did find the modernized version of this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. Following the recipe directly left me with slightly burned cookies so I altered the baking time a bit and the second batch turned out slightly soft – just the way I like them! The original recipe also makes some pretty small cookies so I also changed the amount of dough used for each serving.

Stir-n-Drop Sugar Cookies - Slice of Honey BlogStir-n-Drop Sugar Cookies - Slice of Honey Blog

Tips

  • If you aren’t a fan of lemon flavor, feel free to leave the zest out or swap it for another citrus flavor (lime, orange or maybe even grapefruit).
  • It is really easy to customize these cookies for holidays by changing up the color of your decorative sugar.

Stir-n-Drop Sugar Cookies - Slice of Honey Blog

Makes 2 dozen cookies

2 eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon

¾ cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Additional colored sugars for decorating

Heat oven to 400*F. In a large bowl, beat eggs with oil, vanilla, zest and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture. Drop dough by the tablespoon full onto parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Grease the bottom of a glass with butter or cooking spray. Dip glass into colored sugar then gently press on ball of dough until dough is ¼-inch thick. Repeat on each ball of dough. Bake 5-6 minutes or until edges of cookies start to turn golden brown. Transfer cookies from cookie sheet to cooling rack and let cool completely before eating.

Stir-n-Drop Sugar Cookies - Slice of Honey Blog