Peppermint Candy Wheels

The perfect gift-giving cookie, Peppermint Candy Wheels are individually wrapped in cellophane and tied with a festive string. They may look impressive and maybe even tedious and time consuming, but these cookies really couldn’t be easier! And besides, whomever you share these with will certainly appreciate the effort!

These Peppermint Candy Wheels are the second peppermint-flavoured confection in my 12 Cookies of Christmas – Volume 5 series. As much as I try to include different textures and flavours in the series, a much-loved flavour like peppermint is hard to ignore. When it comes to Christmas baking, peppermint is just everywhere! And, do you know something, Dear Reader? I’m not complaining, because I love it!

Sharing a recipe like this to Lord Byron’s Kitchen always creates an internal battle with me. You see, I want my recipes to be appealing and of course I want you to make them in your kitchen. But, when a cookie, such as this one, involves tinting dough with food colouring, chilling the dough, rolling it into logs and forming these spiral effects, I worry if it’s worth it.

We all know that Christmastime is super busy and stressful for most people. And, as badly as we all want to pile our dessert tables and cookie platters with deliciously beautiful treats, time does not always permit. With that said, I want to assure you that the look of these cookies should not deter you, because honestly, they are quite easy to prepare. In fact, the wrapping of each cookie, which is completely optional, took longer than the prep and baking time combined!

The good news is that the wrapping part can be omitted completely. Sure, they might look prettier and certainly more festive in a cellophane wrapper, but I only did that to show you how I would package these up if I were giving them as a gift. If you are baking for your family, you can simply pile them into a food-safe container and call it a day!

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS – VOLUME 5

I’m so excited about this year’s cookie countdown! This is the fifth consecutive year; can you believe that? Each of the previous years has included 24 cookies and this year will not be any different. I’ll share a new Christmas cookie recipe each and every single day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday!

You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas cookie recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to bake the same holiday cookies year after year?

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Volume 5 of Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! Fresh off of my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas and my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas series, I’m ready to plow through the next 24 days with you!

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday baking countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! To be perfectly honest, I have made these with both salted and unsalted butter and there’s no difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It’s used in frostings quite often.  When dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies, it adds just a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, it looks very visually appealing!
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.

• Salt – This is a common ingredient in baking and cooking.  In baking it helps to enhance and balance sweetness. 
• Peppermint Extract – I’d love to pack as much peppermint flavour as possible into these cookies, but the dough can only handle a little bit. Don’t worry; a little bit goes a long way!
• Red Food Colouring
• Sanding Sugar – Coarse sugar, sometimes referred to as sanding sugar, is used sometimes for decorative purposes.  It is sometimes called pearl sugar or coarse baking sugar.

SANDING VS GRANULATED SUGAR

I use coarse sanding sugar quite often in my recipes, and I hope it hasn’t been too difficult for you to find. Sanding sugar is sometimes referred to as baking sugar, and there are some substitutes. You can use other sugars – which are basically the same, but named something differently – there’s pearl sugar and coarse sugar. You cannot, however, use granulated sugar. Let me explain why.

Whereas an individual granule of sanding sugar is large and hard, a single granule of granulated sugar is quite small. Sanding sugar will hold up to the heat in your oven without melting; granulated sugar will not. If you cannot find sanding sugar, you can skip it completely for this recipe.

You can find sanding sugar online, but it’s expensive in comparison to what you can find at a baking supply store. I buy most of my sanding sugar at Bulk Barn. They have just about every colour you will need! You can also use turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is a golden brown though, so it will throw off the colour of your finished cookie.

FOOD COLOURING

Before I get too far into this, I am just going to get this one thing out of the way. Yes, I did use food colouring to dye the cookie dough. Using food colouring is not ideal for some people, but I don’t personally have an issue with it. I know there are many “natural” ways of coloring food, so if you already employ those in other recipes, feel free to do so here too.

I have used only red. The white part of the cookie is the natural colour of the cookie dough. Together, they will give you that red and white collaboration. Using the gel type of food colouring is best in this case. The gel will allow you to tint the cookie dough without changing the viscosity of the dough. You may have to use too much of the liquid colouring to get the dough tinted enough. Adding more than 8-10 drops of liquid colouring will change the firmness of the dough and may result in a flatter cookie once baked.

If you’ve been reading Lord Byron’s Kitchen for any length of time, you will know that I’m a fan of gel food colouring. In fact, 99% of the time, I use Wilton brand gel in all of my recipes. I’m not sponsored at all by Wilton, but that particular brand is always reliable.

HOW TO MAKE PEPPERMINT CANDY WHEELS

In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, salt and peppermint extract.  Beat well to combine. Divide the dough into two portions. Add red gel food colouring to one portion and beat into the dough until fully incorporated.  Leave one portion of the dough white.

Next, divide both the red and the white dough into three equal portions and roll each portion into a log about 6 inches long. Using both of your index fingers, shape each log into a triangular shape. Lay the triangles onto one another, alternating the colours, to assemble one larger log. Sprinkle the sanding sugar over your work surface and gently roll the log onto it encouraging the sugar to stick. Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough log into ¼ inch slices.  Place the slices onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving two inches of space between each slice.

Bake for 8 minutes or until the outer edges are just slightly golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for one minute before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Once cool, stack in a cookie tin and keep at room temperature. 

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Peppermint Candy Wheels, you certainly can! Once completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. If packaging, wait until the condensation has evaporated. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!