Peppermint Swirl Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring.( I highly recommend the gel variety. You can buy it at any craft store. It is much brighter and you can use less)
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
• 3 tablespoons milk
• DIRECTIONS
• Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
• Cream butter and sugar together in another large bowl. Add egg, vanilla, milk and beat until incorporated. Gradually add the dry mixture, beating until combined. Remove half of the mixture from the bowl. Add red food coloring,and peppermint extract, beating until fully combined. You may have to knead the colored dough a bit to get it mixed thoroughly. On a sheet of waxed paper, roll out dough to form a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat this step with the other half of uncolored dough with no food coloring.
• Now very carefully, slide the red dough on top of the white dough and slide the parchment paper out. Trim edges if uneven and patch if necessary. Roll dough into a log, creating a swirl effect. NOTE: do not worry if the dough starts to tear a little when you are rolling it. This is normal. Simply mend it with your fingers as you go along.
• 
  
• Now place a generous amount of sprinkles in a shallow dish and roll the cookie dough log firmly over the sprinkles until they stick and its covered. Wrap tightly with saran wrap and place the dough back in the refrigerator and let chill for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Slice the dough into 1/2-inch slices and place on a parchment lined sheet tray about 1-inch apart. Bake fo2 10-15 minuets depending on how thick you sliced the cookies.

Peppermint-pinwheels.html  Here is the link to the blog, showing step by step photos.

Cardamom Honey Cutouts

13-1/2 oz. (3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for rolling 
1 tsp. ground cardamom 
1/2 tsp. table salt 
1/4 tsp. baking soda 
8 oz. (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
1/4 cup honey 
1 large egg 
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 

---

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cardamom, salt, and baking soda. Whisk until well blended.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended and slightly fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and the beater. Add the honey, egg, and vanilla. Continue mixing on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the dough is well blended and comes together in moist clumps, 30 to 60 seconds.
Divide the dough roughly in half. On a piece of plastic wrap, shape each dough half into a smooth 5-inch disk. Wrap well in the plastic. Refrigerate until chilled and firm enough to roll out, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Bake the cookies:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Line two or more cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners. Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough on a floured work surface to about 3/16 inch thick. Dust with additional flour as needed. Choose one or more cookie cutters of any shape that are about 2-1/2 inches wide and cut out shapes. Arrange the cookies about 1 inch apart on the lined cookie sheets. Gather the scraps and gently press together. Re-roll and cut. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies’ edges develop a 1/4-inchwide light-brown rim, 11 to 13 minutes (rotate the sheet halfway through baking for even browning). Let the cookies cool on the sheet for about 10 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

The plastic-wrapped dough may be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.

'3' Ingredient Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies are SO simple, and relatively low in calories!


'3' Ingredient Pumpkin Cookies

18.25 oz. Spice Cake Mix
15 oz. 100% Pure Pumpkin
1/2 Cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat Oven to 350 degreees.
Mix wet ingredients well, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Drop about 2 Tbl. per cookie onto your cookie sheet (I used the middle sized Pampered Chief cookie scoop). *The cookie will bake just as it looks like on your cookie sheet it doesn't flatten out much during cooking.*
Bake for 15 minutes.

Using the mid size PC cookie scoop will yield 3 dozen cookies. 80 cal. per cookie.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been on the hunt for a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and this one is my new fav!! if you like salted chocolate, sprinkle a little sea salt on top after baking!

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
*I only used all purpose flour for my recipe*

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds chocolate chips
*I've been loving the ghirardelli mini's or milk chocolate chips*



Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add eggs. Stir in vanilla. Reduce to low speed and add dry ingredients slowly, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 24-36 hours (DON"T SKIP THIS STEP). Another thing I like to do is scoop cookies into balls, put on a cookie sheet and freeze until hard. Then put in a ziplok container or baggie to keep in the freezer to have ready for a quick and easy treat.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.