Signature Bake: Cookies for Santa
Cookies: Grace's Marble Butter Cookies & Iced Peppermint Candy Cookies

Marble Butter Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer, using paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar. Whip approximately 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs with vanilla. Add beaten egg/vanilla mixture to butter/sugar mixture. Beat until combined. Slowly add flour.

2. Melt chocolate. Add to ½ of the cookie dough, and mix well until incorporated.

3. Pinching a piece of vanilla dough, and a piece of chocolate dough, form dough into balls approximately 1 ½” in diameter.

4. Place on cookie sheet lined with Silpat liner approximately 2 “ apart. Bake at 3500 for 14-16 minutes, until very lightly golden on bottoms.

Peppermint Candy Cookies:

Ingredients:

For the Cookie Dough:

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• I teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Royal Icing:

• ¼ cup meringue powder
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 7 tablespoons water
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
• Red gel food color
• White gel food color

Directions:

For the cookie dough:

1. Combine flour and baking powder; set aside. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy – approximately 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, beat another minute. Slowly add flour mixture. Once combined, form a ball, and refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Roll dough out to ¼ inch thick. Cut out circles 1 ½ in diameter. Bake at 3500 8-10 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.

For the Royal icing:

3. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, Sift powdered sugar and meringue in bowl. Gradually add water. Then add in corn syrup. Add in peppermint extract at the very end. Mix until until foamy and combined. Beat for 5 minutes on medium low. Increase to medium high and continue beating until icing is stiff and glossy and stiff
peaks form. Tint ¼ red; tint remainder white.

4. Ice cookies to resemble peppermint starlight candies. Place in cellophane bags, tie ends with twine, then trim and fan out so cookies resemble wrapped candy.