Peppermint Crisscross Cookies

I do a lot of holiday baking. A lot.

I love baking for friends and family, though. It allows me all the fun of being in the kitchen without having to search out all of my elastic waistband pants.

I also love baking at home. Why, do you ask? Well, it has a lot to do with this handsome piece of apparatus. I don't regularly objectify kitchen pieces, but this one is just asking for it. I mean, look at it. Seriously.

I have its child (the hand-held mixer) at school and it is not nearly as fun to play with.

Anyhoo, for my friends this year I decided to make these peppermint cookies. I actually found them in a Weight Watchers magazine. There is nothing WW about them. Trust me.

They are delicious and a cinch to make. Just pray that your oven doesn't start smoking while preheating like mine did. And that you don't end up waving oven mits frantically in front of the alarm so that it doesn't sound.

Peppermint Crisscross Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup crushed peppermint candies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside. In another bowl, cream the butter with a mixer until fluffy. Add the sugar and combine. Next, add the egg and vanilla, mixing until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture, doing it in two batches. Use either a mixer or a spatula. Fold in the peppermint candies.

Drop tablespoons on a lined or greased baking sheet, placing the dough 2 inches apart. With a fork, press the tines firmly on the top of the cookie to form the crisscross pattern.

Bake for 14-15 minutes until the bottoms are brown and the centers are firm.