For a spicy,. fruity take on sugar cookies, give these Pink Peppercorn sugar cookie a try. The flecks of peppercorns visible in the cookie give them a Christmas vibe.
Whenever I think of Christmas cookies, the basic sugar cookie always comes to mind.
The perfect canvas for some serious Christmas artwork.
It's always find ways to jazz up the same old sugar cookies.
I am doing so with an unexpected ingredients - pink peppercorns.
That may sound strange, but pink peppercorn aren't like black peppercorns. They aren't related to them at all - see our post on the different types of peppercorns.
Pink peppercorns do a bit of a spicy bite, but they also have some fruity, berry like notes in their flavor - which I find to be very pleasant in a sugar cookie.
How to Make Pink Peppercorn Sugar Cookies
Pink peppercorn sugar cookies are easy to make. You can add the pink peppercorns to any sugar cookies recipes and use the recipe I provided below.
Pink peppercorns are more brittle than black peppercorns, so they are easy to smash up to fold into the dough. I used a mortal and pestle but you can use the back of spoon and just a little bit of force.
Chill the Dough
If you want a softer cookie, it's wise to chill the dough before baking. I like to make the dough one day, chill it overnight, and then bake the cookies off the next day.
If you don't have time, a couple hours is fine. What you are doing is trying to give the flour in the dough time to hydrate as well as keeping the butter cold, so the cookies won't spread too much when baked.
How Thick or Thin Should the Cookies Be?
For a softer sugar cookie, I go with about ½ inch thickness. You will have less cookies that way and that will take a little longer to cook, but for me they are worth it.
Want a crispier cookie? Then roll the cookies out to ¼ of an inch.
Freeze Before Baking
When you roll the cookies out that heat applied by your hands will start to soften the butter. What I like to do to even further prevent the cookies from spreading in the oven is to freeze the cookies for about 5 minutes before baking them.
More Cookies to Bake
Oatiest Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pink Peppercorn Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tsp buttermilk
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp pink peppercorns crushed
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer.
- Then add eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Mix to fully integrate.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda.
- Then add the flour 1 cup at a time until you have add all the dough and it has just come together. Don't overmix.
- Fold in the crushed pink peppercorns into the dough to evenly distribute it.
- Once finished, I like to chill the dough for at least half an hour before rolling out the cookies.
- Split the dough in two. Roll each half out to about ¼ inch of a crispier cookie or ½ inch for a softer cookie.
- Using a flour cookie cutter, get as many cookies out of the dough before re-rolling to get a couple more.
- Place the cookies on a parchment lined sheet pan. For softer cookie, refrigerate again before baking.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your cookies.
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