These thin, unassuming peppermint cookies are delicious plain or iced with royal icing or white dipping chocolate. These easy, smooth-slicing and fast-baking cookies are a great choice for a gift roll of cookie dough. This recipe makes enough for 2 rolls of dough. To make shamrock cookies for St. Patrick’s day dye whole batch green, then divide dough into three or four ropes pressed together

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
food coloring, optional

optional:

4 ounces white dipping chocolate, melted, or 1/2 batch royal icing

Cream butter, sugar, egg yolks and peppermint extract. Mix in flour.

If you want plain cookies, simply roll dough into a long (about 2 feet), thin log. If you want solid-colored cookies, add in 5-6 drops of your choice of color and mix thoroughly. If you want to make the tri-colored cookies shown, divide dough into three equal batches. Leave one plain, color one with red food coloring and one with green. Roll each batch into a long rope (about two feet long). Stack them together like a pyramid (see slicing photo, below).

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for a few hours. You can refrigerate the dough for up to a week, or divide long log into two rolls, wrap tightly in foil, and freeze until you’re ready to use it.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap cookies and slice into thin (1/8 – 1/4 inch), uniform discs. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 7-10 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove to wire rack to cool. Spread or drizzle with melted white chocolate or royal icing, if desired.