Grandma’s Peppermint Cookies

Today I wanted to introduce a recipe from my grandma again, which I found in her little handwritten recipe booklet: peppermint cookies. I had to order the peppermint oil and I wondered how my grandmother got hold of it back in the days. This recipe also requires baking ammonia, which you can find in Germany during the season, but I have no idea where to get it in the U.S.  Maybe in a pharmacy? I kid you not, my grandmother has about 10 different peppermint cookies in her recipe book and about half of them require baking ammonia and all do require peppermint oil. When making them, you may think of dying your hair, but the baked cookies won’t taste anything like that. The baking ammonia makes these cookies extra soft and extra fluffy. If you are a peppermint lover, these cookies are for you!

As is pretty common with my grandma’s recipes, this one was lacking any instructions. The original recipe calls for 8 1/2 cups of flour, which is roughly one full kilo. I honestly felt that that was way too much and started with 1/4 of the recipe. I was excited that my first try worked out immediately. I basically followed the regular procedure of creaming the butter first with the sugar, adding the liquid ingredients and then the dry ingredients. I am not a professional baker, but after a while you learn the basics and what is most common. When I made these, I was reminded so much of my grandmother. I wish I could have made these for you to enjoy. I will always think of you when I eat them.

Grandma's Old-Fashioned Peppermint Cookies

Serves: About 30 cookies
Prep Time: 30min Cooking Time: 10min Total Time: 1hr

Grandma's old-fashioned peppermint cookies are prepared with baking ammonia and taste even better on the second day.

Ingredients

  • Cookie Dough
  • 30 grams of water
  • 1/2 tablespoon of baking ammonia
  • 60 grams of butter at room temperature
  • 150 grams of regular sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon of peppermint oil
  • 120 grams of sour cream
  • 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder
  • 270 grams of all-purpose flour

  • Glaze
  • Between 50-100 grams of icing sugar
  • Juice of half a lemon

Instructions

1

Boil the water and dissolve the baking ammonia in it. Set aside.

2

For the cookie dough cream the butter for a few minutes, then add the sugar and cream for another two minutes. Add the egg and peppermint oil and mix. Do this again after adding the sour cream and dissolved baking ammonia. At the end add baking powder and flour and only mix until combined. The dough will be heavy and sticky. Chill for at least a few hours or overnight.

3

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out the dough on a heavily floured surface. Also flour the rolling pin. If the dough is too hard to handle, you can also roll out between two parchment papers. Roll out about half a centimenter in thickness. Cut out circles about 5-7 cm in size. I did this with a glass.

4

As the cookies will grow slightly, place a bit apart on the baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. They will still look very pale on the top and only have the bottom slightly golden. This is perfect. Continue rolling out the scraps and cutting and baking the circles until now dough is left over.

5

For the glaze combined the icing sugar with the lemon juice until you can sperad it on the cookies. I don't like it to thick and just want a thin layer. My husband and me liked the cookies best with the glaze. The flavor will intensify on the second day.

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