Recipe courtesy of
Amanda Neal
for
Food Network Kitchen
Recipe courtesy of
Amanda Neal
for
Food Network Kitchen
Watch how to make this recipe.
Peppermint Spritz Cookie Bars
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- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 3 hr
- Active: 30 min
- Yield: about 24 cookies
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- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 24 servings
- Calories
- 389
- Total Fat
- 23 g
- Saturated Fat
- 14 g
- Carbohydrates
- 42 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 21 g
- Protein
- 5 g
- Cholesterol
- 59 mg
- Sodium
- 141 mg
These festive sheet-pan cookies are an ideal mashup of spritz and bar cookies. We flavored a classic rich butter cookie dough with a hint of vanilla and peppermint extract and used it in two ways: as a tender bottom crust and as melt-in-your-mouth top cookies piped out of a cookie press as lovely snowflakes. A generous layer of chocolate is sandwiched between the cookie layers, and a sprinkle of nonpareils and crushed peppermint candies adds a fun finish on top. Cut the sheet pan cookie into small rectangles and you’ll have a generous batch for cookie swaps, gifting and delicious holiday snacking alike.
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 3 hr
- Active: 30 min
- Yield: about 24 cookies
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 24 servings
- Calories
- 389
- Total Fat
- 23 g
- Saturated Fat
- 14 g
- Carbohydrates
- 42 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 21 g
- Protein
- 5 g
- Cholesterol
- 59 mg
- Sodium
- 141 mg
Ingredients
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Directions
Special equipment:
a cookie press (spritz gun) with a snowflake attachment- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the longer sides. Spray with cooking spray.
- Beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla bean paste, peppermint extract and eggs and mix to incorporate, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in another large bowl and add to the creamed butter. Beat on low until combined. Fill a cookie press fitted with the snowflake attachment with about half of the dough — this may take a few refills, depending on the size of your cookie press. Press out spritz cookies onto 2 unlined baking sheets; you’ll need about 54 spritz cookies to cover the pan. Refrigerate until chilled through and firm, about 30 minutes.
- Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan until smooth and even. Bake until just cooked through and starting to brown at the edges, 18 to 20 minutes.
- While the pan is still warm, top with the chocolate bars crosswise? in 4 rows; one line of bittersweet chocolate, one line of white chocolate, one line of milk chocolate, and one line with the remaining white chocolate, cutting the bars to fit the pan as necessary. Return the pan to the oven to soften the chocolate completely, about 2 minutes. Swirl the chocolates together with a toothpick or skewer. Set aside to cool to room temperature, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Once the chocolate is no longer hot, top with the chilled spritz cookies; they should fit snuggly. You should have 6 rows by 9 columns (54 cookies total). Sprinkle with nonpareils and crushed peppermint candies. Return the pan to the oven and bake at 350 degrees F again until the top spritz cookies are cooked through and golden at the edges, about 20 minutes more. Cool the pan on a wire rack completely, about 1 hour.
- To serve, run an offset spatula around the edges of the pan, then use the foil overhang to help lift out the cookies. Cut into rectangles. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Cook’s Note
When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)
