Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars (Day 5 of 12 Cookies of Christmas)

Day 5!

If you’ve been around here a bit before, you probably already know that I’m a full time retail slave. For the past 10 years I’ve worked in retail, the first 7 spent playing all day in a toy store, and the last 3 shelving books in a bookstore. 10 years. 10 holiday shopping seasons. 10 years of picking out gifts for other people’s family members while making barely enough money to buy presents for my own. So why do I continue to do it? Because I enjoy it. For the most part. But for those times that I just want to scream and throw myself over our second floor railing at work, I make cookies instead.

These cookies are perfect for relieving holiday stress. Mostly because you get to break things. The recipe calls for both crushed up buttery after-dinner mints and crushed peppermints or candy canes. So when you’re feeling a bit of holiday rage, just throw some mints in a zip-top bag, wrap it in a kitchen towel, find something heavy, and start smashing away! Circled the parking lot for 20 minutes only to have someone steal the spot you were waiting on? SMACK! That last item on your list is sold out everywhere? BANG! Get yelled at for not figuring out the book someone wants when they know neither the title, nor author, or even what it’s about, just that it was on Oprah a couple months ago. WHACK! I’m telling you. Great stress relief. And if that’s not enough… you get to eat cookies when you’re done.

We had something similar to these in our café around the holidays last year, and they were DELICIOUS! I’d go down almost every day on my break to grab another. When the holidays were over and they’d moved on to the next seasonal treat, I was determined to make my own. How hard could it be? It was really just a sugar cookie in bar form with some mints mixed in and topped with a peppermint frosting. Well it took me a whole year to get around to it, but I finally did it! They’re not exact replicas of the café bars, but they’re still pretty darn tasty. Sugary sweet with a cool peppermint kick, they’re the perfect pick me up after a stressful day.

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Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil
Makes 32 bars



Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup crushed or chopped after-dinner butter mints

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons milk
Food coloring, if desired
½ cup crushed peppermints or candy canes

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a large 11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Line with parchment paper and grease paper as well; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in vanilla. Add in flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in butter mints.
4. Spread batter evenly onto prepared baking sheet, smoothing top. Bake until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
5. While cookie is cooling, make frosting; in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add peppermint extract and salt. Add confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, beating until well combined. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Add a few drops of food coloring if desired.
6. Spread frosting over cooled cookie, sprinkle with crushed peppermints, then cut into bars.

Looking for more cookie ideas? Keep checking back for more of the 12 Cookies of Christmas!