Peppermint Meltaways

Hi everyone! Laura invited me to this blog after spending hours at work discussing the many uses of pumpkin, crock pot recipes, and just generally how much we love food.  Here is my first contribution and, of course, it is a Christmas cookie.  I just made these this evening and they turned out so delicious.  They literally do melt in your mouth and the peppermint makes your taste buds feel extra festive. 

For the cookie...
1 cup softened butter, at lease at room temp.
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch (I know that this is a scary amount of cornstarch, just trust me)

For the frosting...
2 tablespoons softened butter
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Crushed up candy canes for garnish

In a small bowl, mix the butter and confectioners' sugar together until light and well-whipped.  Beat in peppermint extract.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch.  Slowly add it to the butter/sugar mixture and stir well.

The mixture will be very lumpy/tough to stir once you add all of the cornstarch and flour.  I don't have a mixer so I used my hands to knead it out really well and it worked fine.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Remove once the bottoms of the cookies are a light brown.  The tops will remain very light colored and will not look finished to the eye, but as long as the bottom is light brown it's fine.   Immediately place on wire racks to cook. 

To make the frosting add the butter to a small bowl and beat until fluffy.  Add the confectioners' sugar, extract, and milk and stir until smooth.  Once the cookies are cool, frost them and beautify with some crushed candy canes!

And here's a picture of my very happy dog Roma to finish up