Peppermint Snow Ball Cookies

I picked these cookies out of Gooseberry Patch’s “Garfield… Recipes with Cattitude!” cookbook because they remind me a lot of the butterball cookies that my mom always made at Christmas. (I’m not really sure why we decided those are Christmas cookies. These are more Christmas-y with the peppermint addition. But I guess it means there’s not always powdered sugar- and butter-filled cookies sitting around the house. Which is good. Most of the time.)

Anyway. Here’s the cookbook. But you probably want the recipe.

Start with around 30 peppermint candies. Put them in a zip-top bag.

And whack them with your meat tenderizer. Or rolling pin. Or hammer. Whatever is handy.

You want them to be finely crushed when you’re finished. Just beware, your bag will spring some leaks and you’ll have peppermint dust all over your counter.

Mix about half of your crushed candy with 1/4 cup powdered sugar in a shallow bowl and set it aside. You’ll need it later.

In your electric mixer, combine 1 cup softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the rest of the crushed candy, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar. Mix it all together.

Then mix in 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

I ended up with dough that looked like this. I realized that I used one stick of butter, instead of one cup of butter. Someday I will remember that one stick of butter = 1/2 cup, not 1 full cup. Someday.

While I was waiting for that second stick of butter to soften, I made some homemade dog biscuits. Why not?

When you have used the appropriate amount of butter, your finished cookie dough should look more like this.

Shape the dough into one-inch balls, and bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 325 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.

Take the cookies out of the oven when they are set, but the outside is not browned. While still hot, roll them around in the candy-sugar mixture you prepared earlier.

Once the cookies are completely cool, give them another roll in the candy-sugar mixture so they get nice and coated with the powdery stuff.

These cookies are very similar to our family’s butterball cookies. Our butterballs are a little more melt-in-your-mouth than these cookies. That’s probably because the only ingredients in the butterballs are powdered sugar and butter. And a few walnuts. (Seriously? I can’t believe I haven’t blogged that recipe yet… Guess what I’ll be doing in the next couple of weeks!)

These cookies are definitely going to become a Christmas staple around here. I love the mint flavor!

Enjoy the sugary goodness!

If you are missing your friends and family this year, plan a virtual cookie baking party! Indiana Farm Bureau has some great tips for you here.

{Affiliate links were used in this post. That dang cat was expensive!}