Description
Soft, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies topped with smooth vanilla icing and decorated with peppermint candy stripes for a sparkling snowflake effect.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 ¾ cups (345g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- 2–3 TBSP milk (only as needed, for dough consistency)
- 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar (for icing)
- 1–2 TBSP milk (for icing)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (for icing)
- ¼ tsp peppermint extract (for icing)
- Optional: a few drops white gel coloring (for brightness)
- Red gel icing (for decoration)
- Green gel icing (for decoration)
- Crushed peppermint candies or sanding sugar (for decoration)
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy (2 minutes).
- Mix in egg, vanilla, and peppermint.
- Add dry ingredients to wet, mixing until dough forms.
- If dough seems crumbly, add 1 TBSP milk at a time until smooth.
- Divide dough in half, shape into discs, wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼-inch thickness.
- Use snowflake cookie cutters to cut shapes.
- Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8–10 minutes, just until edges are pale not brown.
- Cool completely before icing.
- Stir icing ingredients until smooth and spoonable.
- Pipe or spread icing over cookies.
- Immediately decorate with thin lines of red and green gel icing.
- Using a toothpick, drag lightly outward from the center to create snowflake patterns.
- Finish with a sprinkle of crushed peppermint or sparkling sugar.
Notes
- Ensure butter is softened for easier mixing.
- Chilling the dough helps maintain the cookie shape while baking.
- Adjust milk in icing for desired consistency.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 50mg
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 20mg