These minty cookies are definitely going to get you in the mood for candy canes and sugar plums. They take a little extra
time, but they are really good.
Peppermint Snowballs
makes about 48
For the filling:
2 Tb. cream cheese, softened
1 Tb. milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tb. finely crushed peppermint candy or candy canes
1 drop red food coloring
For the dough:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the topping:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 Tb. finely crushed candy cane
For the filling, combine cream cheese and milk in a small bowl. Stir in sugar, candy and food coloring; mix well. Set aside.
For the dough, preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy; add vanilla. Stir in flour; knead until well mixed. Set aside 1/2 cup of dough; shape remaining dough into 1-inch balls. Make a deep well in the center of each ball with the handle of a wooden spoon. Fill with 1/4 tsp. filling. (I recommend making the well as big as you can and puting is as much filling as possible.) Use reserved dough to cover filling by placing a small flat disc of dough over the hole. Reshape if necessary into smooth balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake about 12 minutes (mine took about 18 minutes).
Make the topping by combining the powdered sugar with the crushed candy. Roll warm (not hot) cookies in the topping mixture. Set on wire racks to cool completely.
This is a great recipe for sharing, so make a couple of batches and pass them around to the neighbors.