White Chocolate Peppermint Drops

This year I had the privilege of participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again! Being a part of the cookie swap is such a fun opportunity because I not only have the chance to meet great new bloggers and try a new cookie recipe, but I also got 3 dozen cookies sent right to my door. (It sounds like a dream, but it was reality.)

Over the last week I was lucky enough to receive cookies from Christine at Cooking with Cakes, Rachel from Never Settle, and JoVonn from The Givens Chronicles. They were all so delicious that I had to give some of them away to prevent myself from eating them all. (I know, I have no self-control.)

cookies from Christine, Rachel and JoVonn

This year I sent cookies to Melissa from Blush + Jelly, Christie from Pepper Lynn and Susan from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen.

After flipping through the December issue of Food Network magazine and seeing a recipe for these white chocolate peppermint drops, I knew I had to make them! They looked so pretty, sounded like they would taste great and seemed easy enough to make.

I followed the recipe exactly closely, substituting vanilla bean paste for extract (I think the paste makes everything taste better). Here is the recipe I used from the magazine:

Ingredients

• 6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons heavy cream
• 2 to 3 drops peppermint extract
• 2 candy canes, roughly crushed

1. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place one-third of the white chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until melted. Set aside to cool slightly. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the melted white chocolate until smooth, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until combined. Beat in half of the remaining chopped white chocolate.

3. Roll heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until the edges are slightly golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

4. Make the glaze: Microwave the remaining chopped white chocolate (you can use the same bowl as before) in 30-second intervals, stirring, until melted; stir in the heavy cream, and peppermint extract to taste. Dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze and return to the rack. Sprinkle with the crushed candy cane and let set, about 1 hour.

The recipe can also be found here.

These cookies did indeed end up being delicious and so easy to bake (and you get to let out some aggression crushing candy canes).

Last year I loved having fun with the cookie packaging so I decided to do something similar. (Read about last year's swap here.) This year I went with a - guess what - candy cane theme since they are crushed on top! This year's packaging:

 

I am so happy I had this chance to meet new bloggers who live all across the US and am looking forward to keeping up with their adventures in the future. Check them out using the links above and also make these cookies when you have time over the holidays. They really were awesome!