Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies

Peppermint white chocolate cookies are soft and chewy, made easy with Pillsbury peppermint sugar cookie dough!

Disclosure: Pillsbury hosted me as part of a blogger’s holiday event. All opinions are, as usual, 100% mine.

Yes yes, another peppermint recipe. I am peppermint crazy and so not sorry about it 🙂 But on the off-chance that you are not, hear me out on these special peppermint white chocolate cookies. They are soft and chewy with a balance of crunchy peppermint and pockets of white chocolate morsels. Amazing!! And they are so easy to make and come together in 20 minutes or less because I used Pillsbury peppermint sugar cookie dough.

(Top L- R) Sheryl, Me, Tonia, Kate, Heather, Joan, Trish, Julie, Emily, Dana, Lisa, Jocelyn, Ashley, Gerry, Jocelyn, Shawn
(Photo from Dana’s Food Blog)

 I was EXTREMELY lucky to be a part of a group of bloggers that were invited to General Mills headquarters, home to Pillsbury and its wonderful kitchens, for a one-day fun-packed event. We all got there Thursday and gathered for a great dinner, where I nervously met bloggers that I have followed and admired my entire (short) blogging career. I was so intimidated, I bought a whole new outfit for the occasion (any excuse right?). But it was all for nothing. I had nothing to be worried about because I was seated next to Tonia (The Gunny Sack) and across from Lisa, Trish, Heather and at the same table as Julie, Ashley, and Dana. Dinner was just a great get-together of old friends. Even though it was my first time meeting everyone, not once did I feel out of place. The blogging community is the best 🙂

(L-R) Kitchen manager giving us our tasks for the day, Food bloggers being food bloggers lol! (Ashley, Heather, and Kate), my partner Dana and I prepping for our easy appetizer, Kicking Spinach Cheese Bites

The second day, we were up bright and early as we arrived at the General Mills headquarters for a fun-packed day. Dressed in our Pillsbury Bake-Off aprons, we hit the kitchens where we were welcomed by the wonderful team of women who create and test Pillsbury’s recipes. We broke up into teams to make some delicious appetizers to start and I teamed up with Dana to make some Kickin’ Spinach Cheese Bites, using the easy Pillsbury Crescents Recipe creations seamless dough sheet.  They were delicious and I can’t wait to play around more with these guys.

Since we are deep in the holiday season, we tried out some holiday cookies after snacking on appetizers. I had to take a few whiffs of the seasonal refrigerated gingerbread cookie dough as I was getting ready to make these Gingerbread-Turtle thumbprint Cookies. Smelled so good, and are one of the best holiday cookies I have ever tried.

(L-R) Peppermint white chocolate cookies, gingerbread turtle thumbprint cookies after, me in the making, gingerbread cookies all done.

Soon after the gingerbread cookies, we had 30 minutes to create our own holiday-inspired cookies using any of the Pillsbury products and the inspiration table set out.

I went classic, making these peppermint white chocolate cookies using the seasonal peppermint sugar cookie dough.

The refrigerated dough is a) so convenient for a quick cookie b) makes super soft and chewy cookies and c) smells amazing!!

These will be on my holiday rotation for a long time. I have made 4 dozen already as I sent out my holiday cookies to friends and family as soon as I got back from the trip.

Super happy to be baking in the Pillsbury Kitchens!!!

In the last half of the day, we toured the amazing photography studios of General Mills. We got a look at their orgasmic prop rooms (seriously I could live in there), had an hour food styling lesson with their professional food stylist, and lots of photography tips from the pros behind the cameras. We even came home with our own food styling and photography kits.

Thank you very much, Pillsbury, for an amazing trip!! I am so grateful for the opportunity to see the wonderful hearts behind the products and recipes.

Enjoy the peppermint white chocolate cookies recipe!

I was so happy to meet all these wonderful bloggers in person, make new friends and learn so much from their expertise! I feel rejuvenated and inspired for 2014. But for now, I’m having lots of cookies 🙂

Print

Yield: ~40 cookies

Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies

Peppermint white chocolate cookies are soft and chewy, made easy with Pillsbury peppermint sugar cookie dough!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes

Total Time 34 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Roll (30 oz) Pillsbury Peppermint Sugar Cookie Dough, chilled (Alternatively, if you can't find the peppermint flavor, use Pillsbury sugar cookie dough)
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 cup white chocolate chips, divided
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 5-6 crushed candy canes (optional for decoration)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. In a large bowl, break up the cookie dough with your hands. Add the flour and peppermint extract. Stir dough (or knead with hands) until all the flour is incorporated. Stir in 1 cup white chocolate chips.
3. Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop 2 tablespoon-sized mounds of dough and roll into a ball. Place cookie balls 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake cookies for 11-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for two minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
4. Combine remaining 1 cup white chocolate chips and oil in small microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth.
5. Drizzle over cooled cookies and top with crushed candy canes if desired. Allow chocolate to set before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.