Peppermint Glazed Butter Cookies
The best Christmas cookies, these tender butter cookies have a light peppermint glaze and are topped with peppermint butter mints. They are everything soft, and lovely, and delicious, and perfect for those cookie exchanges, Christmas cookie parties, and more.
You will be making these on repeat all Christmas season. And packaging them up for neighbors too.
Serve with Homemade Hot Chocolate a the perfect post sledding or skiing treat.
Why We Love Butter Cookies
- Soft: These soft and chewy cookies are so tender and yummy. As long as they do not get overcooked, they are the perfect cookie consistency.
- Buttery: With an entire cup of butter in the recipe, it is no wonder these butter cookies are buttery. But man are they delicious.
- Easy to Make: No special equipment needed to make these cookies, molds, cutters, etc. The kids love getting in on this one because they are simple and delicious.
- Festive: The crushed up peppermint butter mints make these fun and festive for the holiday. You can also use fun sprinkles.
- Stores Well: You can put these in an airtight container for 3-5 days, or up to 2 months if you put them in the freezer. Making them great for making ahead for all the holiday parties.
What You Need to Make Peppermint Glazed Butter Cookies
These cookies are eazy peazy and ingredients are easy to find:
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups flour all purpose
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk or more to preferred consistency
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2-4 drops Peppermint extract
- Crushed peppermint butter mints
Recommended Equipment
How to Make Butter Cookies with Peppermint Glaze
Making these cookies is really simple, no need to chill anything, or make anything ahead, it is simply a matter of creaming the ingredients together, and baking at the right temp for the right time. Here’s how to do it:
Step One: Mix up Cookies
The first step is to use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and sugar. Pro Tip: make sure butter is at room temperature to make this step super easy. Once it is creamed together, you will add an egg, and mix, then your baking powder and salt.
Step Two: Mix In Flour Slowly
Once you have everything mixed, you are going to slowly add your flour, 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring between to incorporate it. This is a really beautifully soft dough, so you will have a nice consistency, like play dough once everything is stirred in.
Once it is all mixed, simply divide it into 12 equal pieces, and roll them into balls. Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking tray, and then use your hand to flatten them down some. They will puff while cooking, so you need to push them down a little.
Make sure the oven is pre-heated, and put them in for about 12 minutes. They won’t look done. But they are!
Step Three: Let Cookies Cool
When the cook time is up, the cookies should be set, but not browned on any visible parts. You will want to remove them from the oven, and let them cool on the pan for about 2 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack to allow them to finish cooling.
They will be slightly browned on the bottom, but no where else. If you overcook them they will taste dry instead of rich and buttery. Pro tip: Since not all ovens heat the same, keep an eye on the cookies after about 9 minutes to insure you do not over cook them.
Step Four: Make Glaze and Glaze The Christmas Cookies
While the cookies cool, you can take the time to whip up your peppermint glaze. I like a very subtle peppermint flavor for this glaze, so it doesn’t hit you over the head too strong. Even my non-peppermint-loving kid liked these cookies because it was sweet and a little minty, but not too much.
So adjust the flavor of your glaze by adding one drop of peppermint oil at a time. Tasting between drops to get the desired flavor.
When the cookies are cool and the glaze is made, simply dip the top of each cooking into the glaze, and then let the glaze gently drip off. Place the cookies on a parchment lined sheet to allow the glaze to set.
Step Five: Garnish
While you can certainly eat these cookies with just the glaze, they look so much more festive and fun for Christmas cookies with a little garnish of peppermint. I first tried candy canes or crushed peppermints, but found the texture was too hard, and I did not like eating it.
Instead, I opted for crushing some peppermint butter mints, and adding them on top. They are soft, and buttery, making them the perfect addition to this soft and buttery Christmas cookie.
Variations
This recipe is so perfect for Christmas, and I love it, but I am a huge fan of peppermint. If you aren’t there are lots of other ways you can make this cookie recipe your own:
- Citrus: Instead of a peppermint glaze and crushed peppermint, try lemon or orange in the glaze, and zest on top. Beautiful, light, and refreshing.
- Sprinkles: Skip the peppermint oil and use vanilla only, then add your favorite festive sprinkles to the top of these butter cookies so you get a cute cookie without the peppermint.
- Cinnamon: A sprinkle of cinnamon in the glaze and as the garnish make these warm and spicy, and great for holiday snacking.
Tips and Tricks
Making this recipe is Eazy Peazy, but here are a few tips for getting perfect results every time:
- Ingredients: Room temp Butter is a big one for getting beautiful cookies, as it creams together with the sugar more easily. Also use high quality ingredients for the best results!
- Pre-heat Oven: Pre-heat oven completely before you put the cookies in. This recipe has been tested to insure the time is right, but if your oven isn’t totally pre-heated it could take longer to get the cookies set, and this could result in a drier cookie!
- Use Kitchen Tools: Equal sized cookies bake better. So, while I eye-balled the dough to get roughly the same size cookies, using a simple $10 kitchen scale, can result in even more perfect cookies.
- Don’t Rush The Process: Cool cookies completely before glazing. If you try to glaze while the cookies are still warm, the glaze will be runnier, and the cookies might crumble.
- Make Them Pretty: Garnish. We eat with our eyes before we eat with our tongues, so make those cookies fun and festive with garnish.
Make Ahead and Storage
How to make this recipe ahead of time: You can make the dough ahead and freeze it. Or the cookies can be made ahead and stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
They bake well from frozen. Just add a minute or so to the cook time.
The finished cookies can also be frozen in an airtight container to be shared at a later time. Simply let cool completely, then place in an airtight container and freeze. Defrost on the counter when ready to serve.
Other Great Recipes for Christmas Cookies:
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Toffee Pecan Christmas Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Matcha Shortbread Cookies
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Peppermint Glazed Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups flour all purpose
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk or more to preferred consistency
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2-4 drops Peppermint extract
- Crushed peppermint butter mints
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
- Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add egg, and continue to mix until well combined.
- Add 1/2 cup flour to the mixture, as well as the baking powder and salt. Stir until combined.
- Continue adding flour, slowly 1/2 cup at a time, and continuing to mix until all the flour is added and combined.
- Use a cookie scoop (large, about 3 Tbs) to measure dough, then roll them into balls and slightly flatten with your palm and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Give room between cookies.
- Bake at 375˚F for 11-12 minutes until the center is set, and they are cooked through, bottom is brown, but edges are not. They will be light in color. Let the cookies sit for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely before glazing.
- Make the icing by whisking the powdered sugar with the salt and cream until smooth. Stir in a few drops of peppermint extract, until desired flavor is reached.
- Once the cookies are cool, glaze them by dipping the tops of the cookies into the glaze, and lifting them out, letting some of the excess drip off. Set on parchment lined cookie baking sheet to let glaze set.
- While glaze is still wet, sprinkle crushed peppermint butter mints over top for garnish.
- Let sit on parchment until dry.
Notes
These cookies can be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days and still stay soft and yummy.
Freeze in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Defrost before serving.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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