Peppermint Meltaway Cookies
These Meltaway cookies are light and delicate; a delightful and not-too-sweet treat for the holiday season. Adapted from Taste of Home.
Servings cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
- ½ cup cornstarch
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
- ¼ cup salted butter at almost room temperature
- 1 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract or both
Serving
- candy canes crushed
Instructions
Cookies
- In a small bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in peppermint extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Frosting
- While dough chills, whip together the cream cheese, butter, and extract until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and whip until smooth and fully incorporated. Refrigerate in an airtight container. As an alternate option (easy!) and what I've done in my photos is simply mix about 2 cups powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon melted butter, ½ teaspoon peppermint extract and enough milk or water to be able to easily pipe out of a zip top bag with the corner snipped off.
Cookie Assembly
- When the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350℉. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 1 ½ teaspoon measuring spoon or cookie scoop, shape the chilled dough into 1-in. balls. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. You can either leave the dough rounded from the cookie scoop for taller rounded cookies, or you can flatten your cookies slightly with a glass like I have for more surface area for frosting.
- Bake at 350℉ for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are just barely turning light brown around the edges. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Once cookies are completely cooled, decorate with prepared frosting and crushed candy canes.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator (if frosted with cream cheese frosting) or at room temperature (ok for buttercream or glace) and consume within 5-7 days.
- If you'd like, add a little red food coloring to your frosting to give it a nice pink tint.
- Meltaways can be finicky. Be sure to measure your ingredients carefully and don't skip steps (like chilling your dough)!
Nutrition
Calories: 89kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 0.5g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 15mg, Sodium: 10mg, Potassium: 6mg, Fiber: 0.1g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 178IU, Calcium: 2mg, Iron: 0.2mg
Calories: 89kcal
Cost: $5
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