Description
Holiday cookie enthusiasts will adore these Minty Snowball Cookies, a festive treat blending cool peppermint with buttery shortbread. Delicate powdered sugar coating and refreshing mint flavor make these cookies a delightful winter dessert you’ll savor with each bite.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480 ml) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (135 g) mini chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar (plus extra for coating)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- Green or red sanding sugar (optional, for a festive touch)
Instructions
- Preparation: Gather mixing bowl, parchment-lined baking sheet, measuring tools, and electric mixer for efficient cookie crafting.
- Creaming: Whip butter and powdered sugar until transformed into a pale, fluffy mixture, creating a silky foundation for the dough.
- Flavor Infusion: Blend vanilla and peppermint extracts thoroughly, ensuring aromatic essence permeates the entire mixture.
- Dough Formation: Integrate flour and salt, gently folding until a cohesive dough emerges, avoiding excessive mixing that could compromise texture.
- Chocolate Integration: Fold mini chocolate chips throughout the dough, guaranteeing a consistent chocolate experience in each morsel.
- Oven Preparation: Heat oven to 350F (175C), allowing complete temperature stabilization before baking commences.
- Cookie Shaping: Craft uniform 1-inch spheres with gentle, consistent pressure, maintaining smooth, symmetric cookie shapes.
- Baking Process: Arrange cookie balls on prepared sheet, maintaining slight separation to prevent merging during baking.
- Baking and Cooling: Bake 10-12 minutes until set but not browned, then rest for 5 minutes to stabilize structure.
- First Sugar Coating: While warm, delicately roll cookies in powdered sugar, creating an initial light dusting.
- Optional Decoration: Optionally incorporate green or red sanding sugar for festive visual appeal.
- Final Sugar Coating: After complete cooling, execute a second powdered sugar roll for a luxurious, snow-like finish.
- Storage: Preserve cookies in an airtight container, maintaining freshness for up to one week at room temperature.
Notes
Customize Texture Carefully: Avoid overmixing dough to prevent dense, tough cookies; mix ingredients just until combined for a light, crumbly texture.
Manage Mint Intensity: Adjust peppermint extract quantity based on personal preference; start with less and gradually increase for balanced flavor without overwhelming mintiness.
Achieve Perfect Shape: Use consistent, gentle pressure when forming cookie balls to ensure uniform size and smooth exterior, which helps cookies bake evenly and look professional.
Temperature Control Matters: Allow cookies to cool slightly before first powdered sugar coating to help sugar adhere better and create a smooth, even layer without clumping.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 25
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 50 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg