**NOTE 11-8-19**
Our new streamlined website is finally up! Get creative this Holiday Season with our 28 unique sets of Cookie Press Disks & the new Impress! Cookie Press. Learn with our recipe tutorials & decorating blog, with expert advice & troubleshooting tips. The press & all of our disk sets are ready for purchase now! Happy Baking! ~Susie the Disk Designer www.impressbakeware.com
Our products are also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Impress+Bakeware&ref=bl_dp_s_web_0
Read here about our new cookie press and 5 new disk sets: https://creativecookiepress.com/2019/11/05/were-back-meet-our-new-disks-and-press/
Original November 13, 2015 Post:
Let the snow fall and the holiday baking begin! Sweet peppermint candy canes are a favorite flavor of the season, so I took inspiration from their yummy minty-ness. I came up with a delightful peppermint spritz cookie recipe I can’t get enough of. The creamy buttery-ness and cool mint flavors combine deliciously in these easy and beautiful little cookies. Your whole house will smell like candy canes as you bake!
As I often do, I used my basic spritz recipe as a base. I played around until I found just the right mix of vanilla and mint extracts so that the mint came through strong but blended nicely with the butter cookie. The result was better than I had even hoped, and I hope all of you enjoy them as much as my family did!
To make these cookies you will need a cookie press and the Candy Cane cookie press disk from Impress!™ Bakeware’s Christmas Disk Set and Snowflake cookie press disks of your choice from the two Snowflake Disk Dets made by Impress!™. To bake for this blog I chose our four most popular snowflakes – which also happen to be my favorites. I used Snowflakes 2, 3, and 4 from the Snowflakes Disk Set and Snowflake 11 from the Snowflakes Two Disk Set. (Links to these sets are at the bottom of the blog.)
(*NOTE: Our new disks are made of a solid white material, but the designs are exactly the same, and press identically. At the time of our 2019 Re-Opening the SNOWFLAKES sets have been combined into one 8 disk set.)
Let’s bake!
Peppermint Spritz Cookies
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened (not melted)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 Tablespoon peppermint extract
1 egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Red and white sanding sugars, granulated sugar, and red and white decorating icing for decorating.
Gather your ingredients.
Preheat your oven to 400°F
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter very well. Creaming your butter extremely well until it is smooth and literally creamy is the key to great spritz cookies. I like to pretend I’m making frosting and use the “whip” setting.
Add the sugar, then the honey, then the extracts and egg, re-creaming the mixture after each new addition.
Next add the flour mixture slowly, mixing on a slow speed until a soft dough forms. Perfect spritz dough has a slightly stiff texture that is not too sticky.
Pack your dough into your cookie press barrel, using the back of a spoon to press all the air bubbles out. This helps create consistent pressure to press with. Place the disk in the bottom ring and start pressing onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Use a consistent rhythm to keep the shapes a uniform size.
For the candy canes especially, you may find that pressing less than one full “click” (if you have a one-click-per-cookie type press) creates a better shape. The candy canes are prettier if they are small and thin.
It is also true for the snowflakes. For the most delicate shapes with the most detail, press small, well-defined cookies. Sometimes this will mean less than one click per cookie. Just experiment and you will get the hang of it! If some come out wrong, just toss them back in the bowl to be re-pressed.
The easiest way to decorate the snowflakes is simply to sprinkle them with white sanding sugars. You can also use plain granulated sugar. Its very fine texture melts in well and allows the details to show through nicely after baking.
Bake the cookies for 7-9 minutes, checking early as all ovens are different. Spritz cookies are done when they just begin to slightly brown at the edges. To maintain their delicate texture, do not over bake! Let them sit for about two minutes then remove with a thin spatula, keeping it very flat so as not to break the cookies.
You can leave the snowflakes plain, or you can decorate them further with icing and sparkling sanding sugars. Trace the contours of the snowflakes with white icing (decorating icing is best) and then turn them upside-down into the sanding sugars, gently coating all icing. Do not press too hard.
This simple technique is also a great way to decorate the candy canes. Use the grooves in the cookies as a guide to apply stripes of red icing. Then dip the cookies in sanding sugars and use a small decorating brush to remove the excess.
Peppermint Snowflake & Candy Cane Cookies. Enjoy!
The happiest of baking to you all!
~Susie
Disk Designer/Co-Owner at Impress! Bakeware, LLC
“Get creative with your cookie press!”
Follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/impressbakeware/
The Christmas and Snowflakes sets:
https://www.impressbakeware.com/products/christmas-disks
The Snowflakes set: (*NOTE: Our new disks are made of a solid white material, but the designs are exactly the same, and press identically. At the time of our 2019 Re-Opening the SNOWFLAKES sets have been combined into one 8 disk set.)
https://www.impressbakeware.com/products/snowflakes-8-disk-set-for-cookie-presses
**NOTE 11-8-19**
Our new streamlined website is finally up! Get creative this Holiday Season with our 28 unique sets of Cookie Press Disks & the new Impress! Cookie Press. Learn with our recipe tutorials & decorating blog, with expert advice & troubleshooting tips. The press & 12 other disk sets are ready for purchase now, & more will be available as they come in stock! Happy Baking! ~Susie the Disk Designer www.impressbakeware.com
Our products are also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Impress+Bakeware&ref=bl_dp_s_web_0
Read here about our new cookie press and 5 new disk sets: https://creativecookiepress.com/2019/11/05/were-back-meet-our-new-disks-and-press/
creative cookie press 
Where can I get glitter icing
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Hi Susan! Most grocery stores carry tubes of glittery gel icing in their baking sections.
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Actually, since I didn’t use glitter icing in this blog I want to be sure I’m answering your question correctly! Are you asking about glitter gel icing, or sparkling sugars? I want to give you the most helpful answer I can.
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Can this recipe be made ahead and then Frozen? I find it easier for me on big day if I already have my cookie dough done I just take it out a couple of days beforehand and let it thaw in the refrigerator and then let it come to room temperature before I bake.
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Hi Vickie thanks for the question! It can be done but honestly if you can avoid it I don’t recommend it. Spritz dough works best when it’s fresh. I’ve used it from refrigerated but never frozen to be honest. If you do this, make sure you knead the dough to get the temperature even throughout. It softens on the outside leaving the inside cold and hard, and of you try to press an uneven tube of dough they will come out mis-shapen and be very frustrating! Make sure you get your dough back to a good texture before pressing and it should work. They’ll probably be a bit denser than fresh, but that’s the trade-off. Hope that advice helps! ~Susie the Disk Designer
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