Sugar cookies with a peppermint twist – this Peppermint Holiday Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe belongs in every kitchen for the holidays. Full of holiday flavor, these soft sugar cookies will be a hit all season long.
If you love peppermint, you’ll also love these Peppermint Kiss Cookies.
We are well into December now – which means that I have already been going crazy with the holiday baking. And what says “Christmas cookies” more than peppermint and sugar cookies?? This Peppermint Holiday Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe has become a favorite over the last few years. The peppermint is not too overwhelming, and the cookies themselves are not overly sweet. But the combination of the cookies and the frosting is perfection for me.
Ingredients in this Peppermint Holiday Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe
For the cookies, you will need:
- Flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- butter
- sugar
- eggs
- peppermint extract
- sour cream
For the frosting, you will need:
- butter
- peppermint extract
- powdered sugar
- salt
- heavy cream
- crushed candy canes
How to make soft Sugar cookies
To make this soft sugar cookie recipe, start by combining the dry ingredients – the flour, baking powder and baking soda and the salt. Then beat the butter until it is smooth. Beat in the sugar, followed by the eggs and peppermint extract. Add in the sour cream. Only beat until combined. Divide the dough into two and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Roll the dough out on a floured workspace. Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut circles with a circle cookie cutter.
Frost the cookie with the peppermint buttercream and top with crushed candy canes.
Tips for making these peppermint soft sugar cookies
This dough will be sticky, especially before being refrigerated. Make sure you refrigerate the cough before trying to roll it out. If you do make the dough the night before, the dough might be too stiff to roll out. Simply let it sit out at room temperature for about 10 minutes before rolling it out to make cookies.
If you don’t have a circle cookie cutter, you can use a jar or a cup with a wide mouth.
I like to cook my cookies on parchment paper or a silpat liner versus right on the cookie sheets.
Do not overbake the cookies. Take them out of the oven before the bottoms start to brown. You do not want these overbaked.
Store the cookies covered in the refrigerator. I like to just keep them on a baking sheet with a lid.
More Peppermint Recipes
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Baked Peppermint Donuts
Peppermint Marshmallow Sauce
Peppermint and Cookie Popcorn
Red Velvet Peppermint Gooey Butter Cookies
Tools Used to Make These Peppermint Holiday Soft Sugar Cookies
A set of circle cookie cutters always comes in handy.
You’ll want parchment paper or a silpat liner for baking.
I think having a stand mixer makes recipes like this so much easier.
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Peppermint Holiday Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
For the frosting:
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- crushed candy canes for decoration
Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking sod and salt in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) beat the butter and sugar until it is fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the sour cream and the peppermint extract, mix well. Gradually start adding the dry ingredients, beating just until combined.
- Divide the mixture in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Lightly flour a workspace, then turn out one half of the dough onto the counter. Roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Dough will be a little bit sticky, so use flour as needed to avoid sticking.
- Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out circles and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies just until set, and still pale, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack or to a piece of waxed paper on the counter to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter in a large bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the peppermint extract. Start adding in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat until completely combined. Add the salt and the cream and beat until light and fluffy.
- Frost each cookie and top with crushed candy canes.
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says
So pretty! Love the flavor for the holidays!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
I have wanted to make Lofthouse-ish type cookies for ages – and love the idea of peppermint! I’ve always talked myself out of similar recipes to this due to the batch size – and difficutlty in halving 3 egg recipes – but gosh, I want.them.now. They look fabulous!
Becca @ Crumbs and Chaos says
LOVE the looks of these 🙂 I can’t get enough peppermint right now!!
kelley {mountain mama cooks} says
The look so soft and fluffy! I need a good soft sugar cookie recipe and these would be great for Christmas!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Beautiful cookies, Deborah! Perfect for the holidays!
patsy says
Not only festive, but perfect for the season! They look like they would be hard to resist!
Laura says
Peppermint is totally the holidays to me too! Love these! Pinning now! How long do they keep?
Deborah says
@Laura, I would guess that they would be good for a couple of days, but the candy canes on top will probably start to bleed. They do stay soft, though, so you might even get them to last a little longer (if you don’t eat them all first!!)
Patty says
Can You freeze these and add the candy later?
Deborah says
I haven’t tried freezing these, so I couldn’t say for sure, but my guess would be that they would freeze just fine.
Chels R. says
Mmm, these look yummy and I love the pink frosting!
Jennifer @ Mother Thyme says
These definitely need to go on my cookie baking list!
Frieda says
I’m a big fan of a soft frosted cookie…these look amazing & 100 x better than the ones in a plastic clam shell container in the grocery store that my kids beg me to buy!
vanillasugarblog says
I’m just getting through my gingerbread kick, then I move on to peppermint.
lol
Rosa says
So pretty and festive!
Cheers,
Rosa
Blog is the New black says
These look great! I just made brownies with peppermint frosting and my husband went nuts!
Cathy @ Noble Pig says
These are darling!!!
Colleen @ What's Baking in the Barbershop?! says
Now these cookies are sure to get me in the holiday spirit! They look heavenly. 🙂
Katrina says
These are so fancy! Love the look of them. Yum!