Here is a pretty holiday cookie:
Red Velvet Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
makes about 36
1 box Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake
6 T butter (little less than half a stick)
2 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 C crushed peppermint or candy canes
1 C powdered sugar
1 tsp cornstarch (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375°. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, mix together the cooled butter, cake mix, eggs and peppermint extract. Add in the crushed peppermint and stir. In a shallow dish, mix together the powdered sugar and cornstarch with a fork.
Duncan Hines says to form into balls, but the woman who wrote the recipe had a HARD time doing that because the dough is so sticky. So, here's her special tip:
Take two spoons and drop a blob of dough in the powdered sugar. Move it around with spoon until it is mostly covered in powdered sugar. Then, once it is already covered, roll it into a ball and place it on a cookie sheet. This is one MILLION times easier!
Press a few more crushed peppermint on the tops.
Make sure you don't over crowd the baking sheet. They spread out.
Bake for 9 - 11 minutes depending on your oven. Don't over-bake. Leave on the soft side. Take them out of the oven and cool for one minute. Then move onto a cooling rack. They will be chewy with little pieces of crunchy.
Recipe link & more pictures of the process:
http://cookincowgirl.blogspot.com/2011/12/red-velvet-peppermint-crinkle-cookies.html
You can also make Grinch Christmas cookies by using any white, yellow or vanilla cake mix and mixing in about 60 drops of green food coloring along with the butter & eggs in recipe above. Roll in powdered sugar (& cornstarch) as above.
Recipe link:
http://cookincowgirl.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-grinch-crinkled-christmas-cookies.html