By September and the wedding is six weeks away. The summer heat is not gone but it has changed quality. It feels tired. The tomatoes are finished. The air in the morning is starting to have something in it that is not quite fall yet but is aware of fall.
I practiced the tea cakes again this week. I want them exactly right for the reception. The thing about tea cakes is there is very little room to hide mistakes. They are simple enough that everything shows. The butter has to be right, the nutmeg has to be enough but not too much, and they have to bake until they are just done, not past. They are a cookie that requires complete attention for twenty minutes and then forgives you when they come out.
Tyler got a haircut. He came home looking slightly different and I said you got a haircut and he said yes for the wedding and I said you have six weeks. He said he wants to be practiced. I love that about him. He practices. He rehearsed the turkey carving. He researched his grandmother biscuit recipe to compare to mine. He practices. He is not improvising his life; he is thinking it through carefully and then doing it well. I am not like that. I am more instinctive. Together we make something that is neither.
Made a casserole Saturday for Debbie gathering, squash casserole with Velveeta, which I can now make correctly on the first attempt. Debbie tasted it and said I had the right amount of Velveeta. I have arrived.
The tea cakes are still the wedding plan, but somewhere between the practicing and the Saturday casserole and Tyler coming home with his rehearsal haircut, I found myself thinking about other cookies that punish inattention — and these peppermint snowballs have that same quality I love and fear in a simple recipe: nowhere to hide. They’re buttery and barely sweet and the powdered sugar coating cracks if you rush it, and making them felt exactly like the right thing to do in a week that was all about preparation, repetition, and getting things right before it counts.
Peppermint Snowball Cookies
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus 1 1/2 cups more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup finely crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cream the butter. Beat softened butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add flavoring. Mix in the vanilla extract and peppermint extract until fully combined.
- Incorporate dry ingredients. Reduce mixer to low and gradually add flour and salt, mixing just until the dough comes together and no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
- Fold in peppermint. Stir in the crushed peppermint candies by hand until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Shape the cookies. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoons and roll between your palms into smooth 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake. Bake 12–15 minutes, until the bottoms are just barely golden and the tops are set but still pale. Watch carefully — they go from done to overdone quickly.
- First roll. Let cookies cool just 3–4 minutes — until you can handle them but they’re still warm. Roll each cookie in powdered sugar to coat. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Second roll. Once fully cooled, roll each cookie in powdered sugar a second time for a thick, snowy coating that holds.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 112 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 22mg