I had some time to make some more cookies from my holiday cookie gift idea list.  Both of these recipes come from the Two Peas and Their Pod blog.  I'm not a huge fan of the combination of chocolate and mint - I know I'm weird - but I am a fan of burying candy into cookies!  And what candy, besides candy canes, screams Christmas more than a York Peppermint Patty? The second recipe, while the flavors are very fresh and tropical, the coconut makes it festive and wintery.  These lime coconut cookies taste so good that I'm going to add them to my favorites list as a go-to cookie for any situation.

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa (I just used Toll House Cocoa, and it turned out fine)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
20-30 peppermint patties, small size
Powdered sugar, for decorating the cookies
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat baking mat. 

 2. In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. 
3. With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until flour disappears. Take a golf ball sized ball of dough, roll into a ball, and flatten it into a disc. Place a peppermint patty in the center and wrap the excess dough up and around the patty. Make sure the entire patty is covered. Repeat with remaining dough and place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are set, but still soft in the center. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 3 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely. Dust the cookies with powdered sugar.

Lime Coconut Snowballs


Butter Cookie Dough
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 or 2 tsp grated lime zest, depending on your preference 
3/4 cup superfine sugar (buy or use granulated sugar processed in a food processor for 20 seconds - I didn't do this step, and they still turned out amazing)
1/4 tsp table salt
16 tsp unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into sixteen 1/2-inch pieces, at cool room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp cream cheese , at room temperature

 Lime Glaze
1 Tbsp cream cheese , at room temperature
3 Tbsp lime juice (about the size of a large lime, add more for taste preference)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (6 ounces)
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, pulsed in food processor until finely chopped, about fifteen 1-second
pulses (or mince with a knife)


1. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with flat beater, mix flour, lime zest, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. With mixer running on low, add butter 1 piece at a time; continue to mix until mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet, about 1 minute longer.
2. Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low until dough just begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.
3. Use hands to roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment-lined or Silpat-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake one batch at a time in 375-degree oven until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
4. For the glaze, whisk cream cheese and 2 tablespoons lime juice in medium bowl until combined and no lumps remain. Whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth, adding remaining lime juice as needed
until glaze is thin enough to spread easily.

5. Dip tops of cookies into glaze and scrape away excess, then dip into coconut. Set cookies on parchment-lined baking sheet; let stand until glaze dries and sets, about 20 minutes.