Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Peppermint sandwich cookies - vanilla cookies filled with a creamy wintry peppermint buttercream and rolled in Swedish pearl sugar. 

These peppermint sandwich cookies are a wonderful holiday dessert. When you are baking your holiday cookies, there's always room for peppermint! 

Of course, I love my recipe for chocolate and peppermint cookies, but peppermint pairs so well with vanilla too. 

As we kick off Christmas Sweets Week and switch into Christmas baking mode, I'm sharing this recipe for these peppermint sandwich cookies. They are filled with a soft minty frosting and dipped in Swedish pearl sugar. 

Bring these to a holiday cookie exchange and watch them disappear. After all, it's like having two cookies in one! I'm pretty sure Santa loves them too. 

Ingredient Notes:

For these cookies, you will need mostly ingredients that you already have on hand, such as all-purpose flour, sugar (granulated and powdered), salt, vanilla, baking powder, butter, shortening, and peppermint extract. 

The only ingredient that I used that you may have to order is Swedish pearl sugar for decorating the edges of the frosting. You could also substitute crushed candy canes or peppermint candies, or you could simply skip the decoration altogether. You could also add some pale pink or green food coloring to the frosting if you like. 

This cookies require just a little more work, mostly because you have to mix both the dough and the filling. 

Tips for Making these Cookies:

While you do not need to refrigerate the dough before baking, note that the cookies spread quite a bit while baking. Be sure to bake them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place them about 2 inches apart. 

Also, watch the cookies closely for when they begin to get brown. I baked these cookies for just nine minutes so that they would stay a little soft, making it easier to press the filling in between without cracking. 

To get uniform-sized cookies, I highly recommend using a scale to weigh the dough as you divide it into balls. 

To flatten the cookies before baking, use a see-through juice glass dipped in granulated sugar. It makes it easier to judge how much to press down because you can see the cookie spread under the glass. 

To make the filling, you combine melted butter, shortening, and confectioners sugar, along with vanilla and peppermint extract. If you use peppermint oil, use about 1/4 teaspoon as it is much stronger than extract. 

The filling is actually pretty easy to handle. You just roll it into a ball with your hands and then flatten it a bit before sandwiching it between the two cookies. 

Welcome to #ChristmasSweetsWeek!! We have 12 bloggers sharing over 30 recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings this holiday season. There are some giftable recipes, breakfast recipes, and delicious dessert recipes. Make sure to follow #ChristmasSweetsWeek on social media to see all of our delicious sweets.

Monday’s Recipes

• Brandy Alexander with Ice Cream from Art of Natural Living
• Easy Eggnog Bread Recipe from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Grinch Christmas Kiss Cookies from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Holiday Rum Balls from Palatable Pastime
• Honey Apple Baked Brie from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peppermint Sandwich Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Santa Munch Christmas Popcorn from Blogghetti
• Snowman Truffles from Sweet Beginnings

We will be pinning all recipes to the #ChristmasSweetsWeek Pinterest board. Follow it to see all the delicious recipes!

Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Yield: About 24 sandwich cookies

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 1 H & 30 MCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 40 M

Peppermint sandwich cookies - vanilla cookies filled with a creamy wintry peppermint buttercream and rolled in Swedish pearl sugar.

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough

• 227 grams (8 ounces/1 cup) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 198 grams (7 ounces/1 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 241 grams (8 1/2 / 2 cups) unbleached all purpose flour (preferably King Arthur)

For the Filling

• 112 grams (4 ounces/1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 71 grams (2 1/2 ounces/6 tablespoons) vegetable shortening
• 425 grams (15 ounces/3 3/4 cups) powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• About 3/4 cup Swedish pearl sugar for rolling the edges

Instructions

To Make and Bake the Cookie Dough

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 to 3 half sheet pans with parchment paper (see note below).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla and the flour and pulse a few times so the flour doesn't fly out of the bowl. Then, mix on low until the flour is combined.
4. Form the dough into 1 inch balls, 1/2 ounce each. Place the balls on the lined parchment paper 2 to 2 1/2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a juice glass in sugar and press down on the dough ball until the dough is 1/4 inch thick and about 1 1/2 inches across (the final cookies will spread to about 3 inches in diameter). You can work in batches, filling up a baking sheet and forming more dough balls while the first sheet bakes.
5. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, until the cookies are just barely turning golden at the edges.
6. Cool the cookies on the pan on a rack.

To Make the Filling and Form the Cookies

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a sauce pan until it starts to bubble. Cook it until the butter looks clear and there is a whitish foam on top. Do not let it brown.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, add the butter, shortening, powdered sugar, and salt. Beat until the mixture comes together. Beat in the vanilla and peppermint extract.
3. Take a slightly heaping tablespoon of the filling and roll it into a ball and then flatten it in your hand into a disk. Place the disk on the bottom side of one of the cookies, top it with another cookie, and, if need be, gently press the cookies together so that the filling reaches the edge.
4. Roll the edge of the cookie in a bowl of Swedish pearl sugar (or crushed candy canes) to decorate.
5. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

While you are baking these cookies, you can re-use the baking sheets and the parchment paper. Just be sure that the pan is fully cooled. To cool a sheet pan, I let it cool on a rack and then when it is warm (not hot), I move it to my granite countertop, which instantly cools the pan.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

213.82

Fat (grams)

11.64

Sat. Fat (grams)

6.41

Carbs (grams)

26.99

Fiber (grams)

0.22

Net carbs

26.77

Sugar (grams)

20.55

Protein (grams)

0.92

Sodium (milligrams)

120

Cholesterol (grams)

24.3

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2022/11/peppermint-sandwich-cookies.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

cookies, Christmas cookies, peppermint

Dessert

American

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Recipe adapted from SIFT Magazine, Holiday 2018 (no longer in print)