Peppermint Patty Shortbreads Recipe (2024)

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Chiara

I'll try to transform some ingredients of the finishing in metrics (please NYT Cooking, complete measurements in metrics also in this recipe, thank you!), as in patisserie is more precise.Finishing:2drops peppermint extract200 grams granulated sugar170g honey½ teaspoon kosher salt12,5g powdered gelatin113g semisweet chocolate120g heavy cream

Dragonflyfarm

Ballpark size of cookie cutter for the expected number of finished cookies?

Blossom

These look heavenly! I adore chocolate with mint! Even better than crushed candy canes or pepoermints, if you can find them, are Andes peppermint crunch baking chips. Nor as hard on the teeth, and they have the addition of white chocolate.

Martha

Why is the peppermint extract kneaded into the dough instead of being added with the butter, sugar and salt? It seems that it would mix in better at that stage.

karaiz

These were OK. I rolled the dough into logs, refrigerated it, and cut it to 1/4-inch thick. Worked fine if less elegant. I got about 55-60 cookies (not 30!), but I can't imagine them being twice as big? I forgot to add the peppermint to the dough, but I don't think that was the missing spark it needed. I recommend NOT piping the marshmallow in a rising spiral as they looked a bit like, umm, something unappetizing when coated in chocolate. It was all nice but not wow enough for the effort.

Laura

Made these yesterday, and there was absolutely no chance of that marshmallow mixture going anywhere when inverted. It's super sticky. More of a concern was the biscuit base crumbling if squeezed too hard.

melissa

I'm thinking I might just purchase marshmallows and stick them to the cookie with melted chocolate then dip in ganache. Or possibly making a merengue cookie recipe with egg whites to pipe on the cookie and then dipped.

lbn

I suspect because this originally comes from an article that has you make one dough and split it for two recipes. You wouldn't want the peppermint for the second recipe, so you have to add it after the dough is made and split. If you're just doing this recipe, I don't see why you couldn't add it earlier.

Sarah

Has anyone tried this using agar-agar?

Sarina

If the NYT thinks making marshmallow and piping it onto cookies is “simple,” I’d hate to see what they think is hard. That stuff stuck to EVERYTHING. It was basically impossible to get it out of the mixing bowl, let alone into the piping bag. Won’t make these again-life is too short.

Zoesera

If you have a steady hand, use a tiny drop or so of peppermint oil, not extract. It may take a little more care but the payoff is a more true flavor

shawna

The shortbread cookies are great, but I could never get the marshmallow filling to set. I ended up just dipping the shortbread in peppermint-flavored ganache and calling it good.

Leslie

After reading the comments and looking at the amount of gelatin used, I decided to risk using a little bit less. I added 3 tsp. and had no trouble with it being set enough to dip it in the chocolate or piping it onto the cookie. I made them for my 3rd grade class and they gave it 5 stars :-).

Carolyn Delacorte

You can alternately use the marshmallow topping as construction adhesive to glue down loose shingles on your roof (gingerbread house anyone?) it’s the stickiest thing I’ve ever stirred up in my mixer (smelled heavenly) and it was not going into a piping bag for all the tea in China…however I did find that if I wet my fingers a little I could scoop it into a reasonable snowball and attach it to the cookie that way. The end result is similar to a neat s’mores.

chefliz

I made these last night for a party with the following adjustments: added 2-3 drops of peppermint extract with the egg yolk instead of kneading it in for even distribution and to avoid overworking the dough, omitted the marshmallow, doubled the ganache (will have some left) and added 2-3 drops of peppermint extract to ganache once it was all incorporated. The cookies were a huge hit and everyone agreed that the marshmallow layer was unnecessary. Omit and save yourself some time!

philly girl

Agree with others. Don’t repeat unless you enjoy having a nervous breakdown while your grandchildren watch! And the taste after all the hours of frustration was not worth it!

philly girl

Agree with all the comments on the marshmallow. Life is too short. Finished product’s appearance was not worth the time and effort. How on earth does the ganache go on in a smooth circle? Won’t make these again. Ever.

stacy

I forgot to get gelatin at the store so after reading through the notes I decided to simplify the recipe by just having the ganache and candy canes on top of the shortbread. I also followed someone’s advice about mixing the peppermint oil in with the sugar. They are beautiful and tasty! I ended up with about 58 2inch cookies which used the total ganache mixture.

NameGSC

Be careful about the honey you use. Apparently my honey was very fragrant and overpowers the rest of the flavors.

Spike

These are great and totally worth the effort. I recommend a gallon ziplock in lieu of the piping bag. And be firm when pressing the fluff into the ganache. I got much better results once I got a bit braver on my second tray.Also note: the ones that look too dark to give away are the tastiest. Keep those for yourself.

Sydney

I've made these twice. The marshmallow is definitely sticky but it pipes well. One dollop in the center seemed to work best, piping until it spread out to reach the edges of the cookies. The ganache has failed both times - all the cream makes it way too runny and it drips off the cookies, leaving the marshmallows only semi-covered. I had much better luck with plain chocolate melted in 30 second intervals in the microwave.

Matt W

If you want a difficult recipe that includes the stickiest homemade marshmallow that will get all over you, this is the one. Don’t even think about putting it in the piping bag. I finally got there and they tasted great, but my wife had to rescue me from marshmallow Armageddon in the meantime.

Rebecca

Instead of dealing with the marshmallow nonsense pipping, I recommend spooning the marshmallow into one cookie, putting another on top to make a sandwich and then dipping half the sandwich in the ganache.

Tracy

I had to make two batches cause I watched the first one go wrong at the adding the peppermint extract to the marshmallow stage…as soon as I added it, the mixture changed from perfect marshmallow to more of a marshmallow fluff that would not hold. The second batch I added the peppermint extract with the sugar mixture, and just added more than prescribed. The marshmallow was wonderful, held it’s shape and still tasted like peppermint. These are like holiday mallomars, absolutely wonderful.

Janet

I had read remarks on making these and decided that I was up for the challenge! Shortbread cookies where simple to make and used a 2” cutter. The marshmallow was sticky as expected but managed. We had to spread the marshmallow around the cookie with a small knife. The only different they that we did was to double dip the cookie in the ganache. These will be made again!

MH

Very good! Per another commenter's suggestion, used only 3 tsp gelatin and found the marshmallow sticky but not prohibitively so. Making disposable piping bags out of waxed paper also helped. I omitted the peppermint extract from the shortbread base, as incorporating it into the refrigerated dough seemed too fussy. More of a project than most cookies, but they turned out both tasty and surprisingly beautiful!

Dave

Meh. More trouble than they are worth. Only OK tasting. Messy to make and I have no clue how to get them to look like the picture.

MSCosta

These are tasty but that marshmallow layer is a nightmare. I felt like I was fighting an alien trying to get it in the piping bag. I lost.

sylvia

These took forever to make! Then they needed to be eaten right away as the shortbread gets soggy and the peppermint melts…

Becky

I was so excited to make this recipe because I love the combination of chocolate and peppermint. But almost nothing worked about it. I couldn’t find anything in the article about the size to make the cookies. They didn’t taste nearly enough like peppermint. FYI: I tried to make the marshmallow with agar-agar instead of gelatin and that didn’t work (not the creator’s fault). The chocolate never really melted for the ganache, so the ganache was runny and also didn’t taste strongly of peppermint.

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Peppermint Patty Shortbreads Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good shortbread? ›

Tips To Make the Best Shortbread Cookies
  • Choose High Quality Butter. No matter what brand of butter you buy, if it's real butter, you can rest assured that it's the best. ...
  • Keep Ingredients Simple. ...
  • Add Flavor. ...
  • Don't Overwork. ...
  • Shape Dough. ...
  • Chill Before Baking. ...
  • Bake Until Golden. ...
  • Add Finishing Touches.

What are common mistakes when making shortbread? ›

The most common mistakes when making shortbread are over-working the dough, and incorporating too much flour. The less you work the dough, the more crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth your shortbread cookies will be.

How to tell when shortbread is cooked? ›

Check doneness by looking for an even, light brown colour across the top of the biscuits, with slight darkening at the edges. Begin checking at the tail end of the cooking time. Undercooked shortbread will be doughy and chewy. Slightly overcooked and it will become chalky, brittle and hard.

Why do you put shortbread in the fridge before baking? ›

It comes from using a high proportion of fat (or shortening) to flour and is also where shortcrust pastry gets its name. Why do you put shortbread in the fridge before baking? Chilling the dough before baking will help the shortbread keep their shape while cooking.

Is powdered sugar or granulated sugar better for shortbread? ›

Confectioner's sugar.

This is the secret to the tender texture and perfect sweetness of these cookies.

When making shortbread, should the butter be cold? ›

Fine Cooking explains that the butter should be at refrigerator temperature. While many cookie recipes call for softened butter or at room temperature, if your butter isn't cold when making shortbread, it's likely to turn out greasy or be difficult to roll out.

What happens if you don't chill shortbread before baking? ›

Chill Before Baking

The goal is to ensure the butter in the dough is cold when it goes into the oven. This will prevent the shortbread from spreading.

What happens if too much butter is in shortbread? ›

What happens if you put too much butter in cookies? - Quora. They spread way too far out on the cookie sheet and don't get cooked right. They're too wet, and really greasy, but can be cooked to crispiness but won't have the right texture and it will be hard to reproduce the time of baking.

What happens if you don't poke holes in shortbread? ›

Piercing the shortbread with a fork is not only for decoration, but it's meant for more even baking. Poking holes in the shortbread allows the heat to penetrate the cookie, hence more even baking. Notice I'm using powdered sugar here. You'll see lots of shortbread recipes using granulated sugar.

Why is my shortbread raw in the middle? ›

The inside of the cookie is undercooked but the outside is cooked. This is going to be rather scattershot, since underbaked can mean anything from raw to slightly soft, depending on the baker. If they're really gooey and don't set when cooled, you probably just need to bake them a few minutes longer.

Can you put undercooked shortbread back in the oven? ›

Problem eight: Once cooled, if I know my biscuits are underbaked can I put them back in the oven? Jo's solution: You can. Also, if you don't eat shortbread within a few days and they go soft, you can refresh them in the oven, too.

Do you cut shortbread when hot or cold? ›

Immediately cut the shortbread, while it's warm; if you wait until it's cool, it won't cut easily. Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut each round into 12 wedges. If you've baked squares, cut each square into four smaller squares, then cut each of those into thirds to make a total of 24 strips (12 per pan).

Why does shortbread have holes in it? ›

The word "bread" comes from "biscuit bread" which was made from leftover bread dough that was sweetened and dried out in the oven to make biscuits. Why do you poke holes in shortbread? The holes allow the moisture to escape during baking and more even heat distribution. This helps dry out and crisp up the cookies.

What happens if you use self-raising flour instead of plain flour in shortbread? ›

Shortbread is not usually leavened, and self riding flour contains leavening. This will cause the short bread to rise and spread similar to a sugar cookie, and will make the shortbread more crumbly.

Can you over mix shortbread? ›

Tip - It's crucial to not over-mix shortbread to avoid it shrinking when baked.

What are the qualities of a good shortbread? ›

Good shortbread is pale, buttery, crunchy, and 'short'. This means it crumbles at every bite, giving that characteristic shortbread texture. It shouldn't be soft or chewy like cookies, and it shouldn't be browned.

What is the difference between Scottish shortbread and regular shortbread? ›

Traditional Scottish shortbread is a simple recipe made with sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Other shortbread styles will include leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda, which makes them crisp instead of crumbly like traditional Scottish shortbread.

Why do you put cornstarch in shortbread? ›

Cornstarch provides the shortbread with structure, but its biggest job is keeping the cookies extra soft, tender, and light. I love adding a small amount to chocolate chip cookies too. Optional Coarse Sugar Topping: For an optional sparkly crunch on your shortbread wedges, add a sprinkle of coarse sugar before baking.

How do you keep shortbread from falling apart? ›

Start with a teaspoon of fat and mix your dough well. If the dough is still falling apart, you can keep adding more in small increments. And at the end of the day, you can always add a little bit of water as well if your shortbread still hasn't formed a cohesive dough.

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