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We’re one of those families that tend to have leftover candies once the holidays are over. After years of throwing away leftover candies, I decided that I needed to find a use for them. That’s how these White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Butter Cookies were born.
This is a marriage of 2 different candies – candy cane and white chocolate, although this could easily be made with milk, dark chocolate or a combination of part or all of them. I just happen to love white chocolate and my family always buys me just a little too much around this time of year. So instead of wasting them, I turn them into these delicious morsels. As my family loves these cookies, we now make them long before Christmas so that we can enjoy them during the holidays. And once Christmas is over, we bake up another batch with our leftover candies – but that doesn’t usually happen until early in the new year!
What do these cookies taste like?
These white chocolate dipped peppermint butter cookies are utterly delicious! The base is a rich butter cookie with crushed peppermint-y candy cane added to the dough. Once baked and cooled, they’re dipped in white chocolate and then sprinkled with extra crushed candy canes. The combination of a buttery, melt in your mouth cookie, combined with crunchy and chewy candy cane bits and the white chocolate coating makes for a heavenly combination. Note that I do not use peppermint extract in my cookie dough. Reason is, I love being able to taste the butter in the butter cookie. I’ve found that the addition of peppermint oil masks the rich buttery flavour. However, if you love the flavour of peppermint, then by all means add a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of peppermint oil to your dough, depending on how strong you like your peppermint flavour.
How to crush candy canes
To crush my candy canes, I use a food processor and highly recommend this method. I’ve tried so many methods, ranging from placing candy canes in a heavy duty freezer bag to newspaper covered paper bags, and whacking them with a meat mallet and / or rolling pin, to only have the candy canes puncture the bags. Hence, the food processor is best! When using a food processor, be sure to pulse the machine as opposed to letting it run continuously. Reason is, it’s super easy to turn your candy canes into candy cane dust – which may or may not have happened to me. However, should that ever happen to you, don’t throw your candy cane dust away! Simply add it to a mug of hot chocolate and you’ve got yourself a yummy peppermint hot chocolate drink!
Crush what you need, when you need them
Also, don’t crush your candy canes too far in advance. Candy canes don’t like moisture. Once crushed, if they aren’t used immediately, they clump up. So, process what you need just before you need them. And should you need to process candy canes in two batches, do it. Otherwise, you’ll have to use a spoon to aggressively dig into your clumped up, crushed candy cane, which may then force them to fly out of the bowl, scatter all over the kitchen floor, get stepped on and then tracked all over the house… which may or may not have happened to me.
If you love holiday cookies, be sure to check out my favorite thin and crisp gingerbread cookie recipe here.
I’ll be sharing another cookie recipe next week, using more leftover holiday candies. Be sure to subscribe to my blog so that you don’t miss that recipe!
White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Butter Cookies
This recipe was adapted from the Preppy Kitchen’s Butter Cookie recipe.
Makes 30 cookies
- 2-1/8 cups(255g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup(227g) Butter, Softened
- 1/2 cup(100g) Granulated Sugar
- 1Egg
- 2 tspVanilla
- 1/2 cupCrushed Candy Canes (for the Dough)
- 1 cupWhite Chocolate, Chopped (Milk, Dark or a Combination may be used Instead)
- 1/2 cupCrushed Candy Canes (for Topping)
Instructions:
In a stand mixer, outfitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
Add egg yolks and vanilla. Beat for about a minute until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Add the flour and mix until dough clumps together. Add 1/2 cup of crushed candy canes and mix until the candy cane is evenly distributed. Do not over mix.
Transfer dough from the stand mixer onto a lightly floured working surface. Roll the dough into a log measuring 2” in diameter. Smooth out the ends. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap. To keep the cookies round when sliced, place the cookie log into an empty paper towel cardboard sleeve before placing it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Unwrap and slice the cookies into 1/2 inch thickness.
Place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet 3 inches apart.
Bake for 11-12 minutes until barely golden around the edges.
Remove from the oven. Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before moving them to a baking rack to finish cooling.
Add the chopped white chocolate to a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on the defrost setting in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the mixture is smooth.
Dip half the cookie into the white chocolate and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle crushed candy canes on the chocolate dipped side. Allow chocolate to set – approximately 40 minutes. To set them faster, place them in the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Store cookies in an air-tight container.
