I’m proud of these. I mashed them together from three different recipes as well as my own imaginings and unvented something special. They freeze nicely, so they can be made well ahead of the busy times that are coming in the next weeks.
Cookie Ingredients
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp each salt and baking soda
Beat butter and sugar til fluffy beat in egg and peppermint. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture in two batches. Divide in half and shape into two rolls about 3 cm thick. Chill for half an hour at least. When firm, cut with a sharp knife in 5mm slices. Bake at 180 C (350 F) for 9 min, til firm to the touch and just barely golden.
Before glazing the cookies, crush 1/2-1 c candy canes. We put them in a heavy-duty Ziplock bag and hit them with a soup ladle. It might be a job you enjoy as much as my son does. :)
Hard Glaze
1/3 c meringue powder
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 c icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
green food colouring
1/3-1/2 c cold water
Combine dry ingredients. Add 1/3 c water and vanilla and beat on low speed. It will seem hard and lumpy, but keep going. Add water 1 TB at a time til it’s the consistency of honey.
Once the cookies are cool, pour glaze into a small bowl. Dip the cookies into the glaze and place them glaze side up on waxed paper. You may need to spread it with a knife to smooth the surface. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes before the glaze hardens – don’t try to glaze all the cookies and then do the sprinkling.
These can be frozen. When storing, make sure there’s a layer of waxed paper between the layers of cookies to keep them pretty. Depending on the size of your rolls, a single batch will make more than 75 of these sweet morsels.