Baking Friday - Cookie # 12

Our last cookie.  Our last Baking Friday recipe to share.  We did it!  I didn't always post on time, but we completed our journey.  13 cookies, except since many months I did more than one cookie, we really did more than 13, but who's counting?

Our last cookie is an easy Peppermint Meltaway.

I found this recipe on The Recipe Critic website, and the hostess "declares these the best Christmas cookie ever."  I wouldn't go that far; in fact, I would not make them again in the exact same manner.  I feel like there is too much cornstarch in the dough.  I feel like I can taste the cornstarch, if you will, so I would make these again, but in a different flour to cornstarch ratio.  I will share the ratio that I will try the next time, but I must admit that I haven't done this exact ratio in real life, because it is the day after Christmas.  And with the 3 different kids of fudge, the butterfinger stacks, the toffee, the pecan brittle, the gingerbread men, the sugar cookies, the chocolate krinkles, and 3 oreo balls already on hand, I figure we may have "enough" treats around at the moment!  (And I promise you, we cut back this year!!!  Trust me, we didn't do divinity or Martha Washingtons or peanut butter balls, for example!  See how much we cut back!!!)

As for how these cookies were reviewed, they ran the gamut from "this is the best peppermint meltaway I've ever had!" to "I didn't care for these, and I like peppermint."  The one who did not care for them liked the icing with the peppermint; it was the cookie that she didn't care for much.  I made these one night and served them the next day, and while I do think that they improve with age - mild flavored cookies often do improve with a few days of aging - it is the flour to cornstarch ratio that I think is off and may be what this taste tester was conscious of with the flavor.  These are a very tender cookie - no doubt about that.  They almost melt in your hand before you even get them to your mouth, and cornstarch in a recipe really helps facilitate that.  But I think we can cut back on the cornstarch by about half and still get a nice tender crumb without making the potential cornstarch taste as prominent.  So here is what I would do the next time, but you have the original amounts in the link above to compare.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 - 2 t. peppermint extract
Dash of salt and vanilla
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

I combined the flour and cornstarch on a piece of waxed paper.  In my mixer I creamed the butter and sugar together with the flavorings and salt until light and fluffy.  On a lower speed I added the flour and cornstarch until thoroughly combined.  I then wrapped the dough in plastic and chilled for about an hour.

At the end of an hour or so, I formed the dough into balls about 1-1/2" in size.  Or about like this.

The dough wasn't like a typical chilled dough.  It was a bit sticky, so I had to work quickly in forming the balls.   I have a feeling this may also be due to the level of cornstarch in the dough.  There is a lot of butter as well, so the dough softens pretty quickly once out of the fridge.

I baked them at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes, 11 minutes was just about right for my oven.

I let them cool on the pans completely, and some of them did deflate slightly with cooling.

Once cool, I frosted with cream cheese icing (my standard, but you could use a store-bought or your own favorite) with a bit of peppermint extract added to up the peppermint flavor.  I used a pastry bag cause it is so fast and easy, and then topped each one with crushed up peppermint bits.

Pretty cookie on a tray, no doubt!  And maybe this pic can give you a sense of how tender these are.  I honestly had to handle these very gently or I would have crushed many of the edges.

See how cake like they look on the inside?  I think we can still achieve most of that tenderness but improve the flavor slightly with a little less cornstarch.  At least that is what I will try the next time, cause these are almost a keeper if we can tweak the flavor just a tad.

I hope you try these sometime - maybe even do a peppermint meltaway throwdown and compare the two ratios to see what you like best!

And that, my friends, is our last cookie.  And our last Baking Friday 2014 entry.  Such a journey!

We began the year with these cookies, a strawberry cookie, and the double chocolate mocha drops that are hiding underneath the hearts.

Then we took a trip to Scotland and tried to recreate a couple of childhood favorites from there!

We spent quite a bit of time making Springtime cookies, all based on the same sugar cookie dough with the exception of the biscotti.

I really enjoyed decorating these!

Then for Mother's Day, we made this assortment, including the cheese straw "cookies" that have a nice zip to them!  And I still like the sugar-encrusted, slightly citrusy diamond ones!

Then we explored chocolate chip cookies - 4 different ways, including one with bacon!

What came next?  Oh yes, the 4th of July with old-fashioned, all-American oatmeal, gingerbread and snickerdoodles!

For August, we celebrated a moon holiday - one of those most important "holidays" don't ya know!

And who could forget Mt. Vesuvius day with a mountain of brownies?

We had our peanut butter cookie throwdown.

And we did applesauce streusel bars - that needed more butter!

Our 5th Friday cookie was this multi-layered, almost "cake" with mocha filling between the layers and whipped cream inside the cones.  Fun!

Last month we had Italian Nut cookies and chocolate krinkles.

And that brings us to this month's cookie, cookie # 12, a peppermint meltaway that is a tender taste of Christmas!  Or New Year's, right?

As always, thank you for coming along on this journey with me.  I will post a wrap-up of our journey in another day or so - things I've learned along the way about blogging, about baking, about myself. I hope you stop by one more time for that post.  Thanks again!

Love,
Deb